SETA Rot: R700m+ Irregular in a Year, Ghost Graduates, R300m on Lawyers at CETA, SIU Proclamations Across the Skills System

R700 million+ (irregular expenditure across SETAs, 2023/24, AGSA)

documented loss

The 21 Sector Education and Training Authorities spend about R20 billion a year of skills levies with the least scrutiny of any part of the state. The Auditor-General recorded more than R700 million in irregular expenditure across them in 2023/24. Services SETA was placed under administration after Werksmans found tenders awarded without advertising and unsigned score sheets; CETA spent about R300 million on lawyers and R4 million on a board trip; MerSETA reported nine graduates where auditors found none; LGSETA understated liabilities by R52.2 million with an audit chair doing business with the entity. SIU proclamations found ghost learners and procurement fraud; consequences have been resignations and one plea.

The Record The Evidence What Was Lost Implicated Institutions The Paper Trail

The Record

Every employer pays 1% of payroll into the skills levy, and most of it flows to the 21 Sector Education and Training Authorities. They are the least-examined R20 billion in the state. The Sunday Times' July 2025 review of the Auditor-General's outcomes found more than R700 million in irregular expenditure across the SETAs in 2023/24. Services SETA, the largest, was put under administration after a Werksmans investigation found tenders awarded without advertising and evaluation score sheets unsigned; its commitments were cut from R4 billion to R2.3 billion. The Construction SETA spent about R300 million on legal fees and R4 million on a board trip it defended until told to cancel, and wrote off a R15.7 million failed project. MerSETA reported nine graduates from a programme where auditors found none. LGSETA understated its liabilities by R52.2 million while its audit committee chair did business with the entity.

Proclamation R41 of 2020 authorised the SIU across several SETAs; further proclamations followed, including CHIETA in June 2025. The SIU found ghost learners and procurement fraud. Consequences to date: officials who "resigned" before discipline, an EWSETA CEO cleared, and one guilty plea at AgriSETA for R1.9 million. The record sits beside the National Skills Fund and NSFAS files as the third leg of the skills-funding system in this archive.