New Higher Education Minister must deal ‘decisively’ with corruption

President Cyril Ramaphosa axed Nobuhle Nkabane on Monday, and replaced her with Buti Manamela, who's served as the department's deputy minister since 2017.

Former KZN premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube has stepped into the deputy minister’s role.

Nkabane is under investigation by the Hawks for controversial appointments made to the Sector Education and Training Authority Board.

She and senior department officials failed to appear before the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education last Friday to account for their actions.

It is unclear whether Nkabane will still have to appear before the committee on Tuesday.

In a statement on Monday, the ex-minister thanked Ramaphosa for entrusting her with the role and described her tenure as a privilege.

Commenting on Manamela's appointment, OUTA's spokesperson Wayne Duvenhage questioned whether he will be up to the task.

"Our concern is that while he was the deputy minister all this corruption was taking place. OUTA was exposing this corruption in the various SETAs and in NSFAS since 2018. Both of these ministers, and Blade Nzimande in the past did very little.

“So, it's a mess and we just hope this new minister is going to fix it. But we're not sure how and whether he will. We will be writing to him to ask for an engagement as soon as possible."

Duvenhage says having an accountable and transparent minister is critical.

"They're about to appoint these new 21 chairpersons. It's a very important role that has to be fulfilled because if you get the wrong people in there [then] you'll have what you've had over the last 10 years. No meaningful oversight of the executive managers where the corruption does take place."