Political interference, corruption and nepotism rife at TVET colleges, study reveals

30 Jun 2024

A study of TVET colleges has made several recommendations, including tightening the appointment and vetting processes of council members and capping members’ fees.

South African public colleges are plagued by political interference, corruption and nepotism, a study has revealed.

The ground-breaking research on the evaluation of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges was conducted by Mzabalazo Advisory Services (MAS) in February. It was one of 30 research projects commissioned by the Department of Higher Education, Science and Innovation in 2019 and funded by the National Skills Authority.

The five-year research programme was undertaken by the University of the Western Cape Institute for Post-School Studies (IPSS) working with MAS, the University of Cape Town, Rhodes University, Nelson Mandela University, the University of Fort Hare and Cape Peninsula University of Technology.

Other partners were Jet Education Services, the Swiss-South African Cooperation Initiative, the University of Nottingham, DNA Economics, AfriGIS and Advocacy Aid.

UWC spokesperson Gasant Abarder said they researched a broad range of issues, which focused on aspects including governance, infrastructure, curriculum, student issues and lecturer development. The IPSS was the lead research partner.

The process

The study entailed reviewing documents and conducting interviews and surveys with department officials, TVET council members, the South African Public Colleges Organisation and the South African Further Education and Training Students Association.

A survey was distributed to council members at 48 colleges and received 300 responses. Johannesburg Central and Letaba colleges were under administration at the time.

Council members also completed self-evaluation forms in the second half of 2023, which evaluated council performance across six dimensions: leadership and oversight, structures and relationships, accountability, compliance, performance, and meetings and communication. This generated 97 responses.

The department tabled a report in the parliamentary portfolio committee on higher education in November 2019, which indicated that 11 of the 50 TVET colleges acted inappropriately during 2018 and 2019.

The study stated that these lapses included mismanagement, maladministration, nepotism, theft, corruption and racism.

One criticism of colleges, the study stated, was that they were disconnected from industry needs.

The interviewees suggested that this had become an increasingly important subject for councils and that such discussions were leading to action in several colleges.

At the time of the research, most college councils were established and constituted.

However, only 16 (32%) had all their members appointed in terms of the Continuing Education and Training Act.

“Finding donor representatives also poses challenges for many of the colleges, and a suggestion was made that this position be renamed, as it has the connotation that the person’s only role is fundraising for the college,” the study reads.

The annual replacement of SRC members was considered counterproductive because they only began to understand their role and contribute to meetings towards the end of the year.

Some interviewees said the department’s process for vetting and appointing ministerial council members was lengthy, leading to positions being vacant for long periods.

“They noted that the vetting process has not guaranteed that all ministerial appointments are suitable council members,” the study found.

At least three principals interviewed said they had problems with ministerial appointees who came into councils with political agendas.

One principal made a plea against “cadre deployment”.

Another principal said, “Even politicians will phone you and ask, ‘Do you have a vacant position in council?’ ‘Why?’ ‘We want someone to get in,’ and I said, ‘No, I don’t appoint members. The minister does.’ ”

‘Jostling for positions’

The study found that more than 80% of members who responded to the self-evaluations said there was open and transparent communication, meaningful participation and timely resolution of issues at their meetings.

“Although some concern was expressed over political appointments and people jostling for positions on the council in the belief that money could be made, these were often short-lived once it became clear that systems were in place to curb corruption,” the study found.

However, the study found that in a handful of colleges there was constant pressure to field new appointments and accusations of cadre deployment.

“Overall, findings indicate that councils are constituted and meet at least four times a year, which is in line with legislation. The vetting process was also noted as a filter to sift out persons without qualifications or skills that could be useful to the councils’ tasks.”

The study said there seemed to be a perceived improvement in the competence and functioning of the current councils compared with those before 2019.

Many of the current council members were highly qualified and made a good contribution to college governance.

“Former minister of education Naledi Pandor did quite a great job. We had to send our CVs and were nominated based on our qualifications. All went through a vetting process,” a council member told researchers.

Internal tensions

Many colleges have been subjected to student strikes, allegedly as a result of political interference from the outside.

The study said student strikes had paralysed the functioning of some colleges.

Several colleges had challenges with non-SRC political student groups.

Tensions were fuelled by the view of council members that management did not adequately implement their decisions or report appropriately.

On the other hand, management felt that members involved themselves in operational matters and tried to influence appointments and the awarding of tenders.

A council chairperson told researchers that there was “resistance and pushback when inquiring about resources.

“There is a need to understand that governance is not interference but support. That is building trust between operations and governance,” the chairperson said.

In one example, the chairperson of the previous council forced permanent appointments to be made for people whom the college later had to retrench.

The study found that tensions between councils and management ran along disjointed lines of accountability and uncertainty over who had the final authority over colleges.

“Suspicion runs both ways. While councils may see their role as keeping management accountable, management is as likely to consider the council a conduit for corruption (given the South African experience with corporate boards).”

Interference

Some colleges had challenging relationships with communities in their surrounding areas.

“Political organisations want to interfere with the running of the college. A business unit in one of our areas wanted to see us because they were complaining that they ‘see tenders and they’re not even informed about that’. They are the first people who need to be cared about and they wanted to be part of it,” a council member commented.

Interviewees said some individuals treated council membership as a career or as an income source and tried to influence appointments and procurement.

The study found there was a view that many members attended meetings primarily for the fee that they received.

One interviewee said that politicians still asked for positions on the council for their friends. DM

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South Africa

The process

‘Jostling for positions’

Internal tensions

Interference