Parties welcome Nkabane's removal but question Manamela's appointment as Higher Education Minister

Political parties have welcomed the removal of Nobuhle Nkabane as Higher Education and Training Minister, with the Democratic Alliance (DA) saying this is the first step to restoring faith that the Government of National Unity (GNU) will not tolerate corruption.

On Monday President Cyril Ramaphosa removed Nkabane and replaced her with Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training Buti Manamela.

Ramaphosa has also appointed Dr Nomusa Dube-Ncube as the Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training.

Earlier this month, the DA laid criminal charges against Nkabane, for allegedly lying to Parliament about ANC cadre appointments.

The party claimed that Nkabane lied when she stated that the panel tasked with appointing the sector education and training authorities (Seta) board chairpersons consisted of independent people, and subsequently informed Parliament that they were not independent at all.

Nkabane faces allegations of manufacturing a scheme that saw senior ANC personalities deployed to high-paying Seta board jobs, benefiting the family of Gwede Mantashe, the former ANC Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, former ANC MECs in KwaZulu-Natal, a former ANC Deputy Minister in national government, and the ANC's provincial coordinator in KwaZulu-Natal - until she was forced to overturn these deployments.

"Seeing one ANC Minister depart Cabinet under storming clouds of lies, deceit, cadre deployment corruption and a Hawks investigation is a first step to restoring our faith that the GNU will not tolerate corruption," said DA spokesperson Karabo Khakhau.

The DA had opposed the department's budget while it was led by Nkabane, who the party described as "dishonest and incompetent".

"Our demand to President Ramaphosa was for him to act against the seriously compromised, corrupt and nefarious in the ANC, and the firing of Nkabane is the first step for him. One Nkabane does not a renewed ANC make. There is still a very long list of ANC corruption to be eradicated," the party expressed.

ActionSA said Nkabane's tenure as the Higher Education Minister offered no meaningful reform, and that it showed blatant disregard for the realities students faced daily.

"She leaves behind a national student housing backlog of more than 500 000 beds, a dysfunctional National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas) whose 2023/2024 report is nine months overdue, and a staggering R20-billion black hole at the Setas, which continue to fail in delivering skills development," ActionSA stated.

The party pointed out that Nkabane's attempt to bury parliamentary questions under 800 pages of "bureaucratic nonsense" concealed, among other things, a R11.2-million departmental travel spree.

MANAMELA APPOINTMENT

However, the party expressed concerns with Manamela's appointment as Nkabane's replacement, saying this was not a cause for celebration.

"Manamela has served as Deputy Minister since 2017 and has been seated at the centre of the department's decline. His promotion is not a clean-up but a missed opportunity to clean house entirely," it said.

ActionSA believes that the Basic and Higher Education departments should be merged.

The party has proposed expanding Nsfas to support the missing middle by raising the income threshold to R500 000 and introducing affordable, low-interest student loans repayable only after two years of employment, capped at 10% of income.

"We continue to advocate for the conversion of hijacked buildings in CBDs into safe and affordable student housing. Most importantly, we have called for the scrapping of the broken Setas and the redirection of their budgets into an innovative Opportunity Fund that delivers real skills and jobs," the party highlighted.

ActionSA said it rejected "cosmetic Cabinet reshuffles" that recycle the same failed officials while students continue to suffer.

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