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By Johnathan Paoli
The Democratic Alliance has intensified its efforts to hold Higher Education and Training Minister Nobuhle Nkabane accountable, filing a supplementary ethics complaint and escalating the matter to the Public Protector.
This follows revelations from prominent legal advocate Terry Motau SC, who denies ever participating in or chairing the panel responsible for the controversial appointments of Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) board chairpersons.
“In light of the new information that an alleged member of the panel denies participating, one can only wonder if a panel did ever exist, or whether the minister simply provided a list of names to Parliament of persons she believed would cover for her,” DA committee member Karabo Khakhau said.
The original complaint, which was submitted earlier this week, accused Nkabane of misleading Parliament by first claiming the SETA appointments were made by an “independent” panel and later contradicting that statement.
The new charge adds that a key figure she named as panel chair, Motau, has now publicly refuted any involvement in the process.
According to Khakhau, the minister violated the Executive Members’ Ethics Code and announced the referral of the matter to the Public Protector for further jurisdiction.
In a detailed written response to the minister seen by Inside Education, Motau categorically rejected any formal involvement.
He stated he had received a letter from Nkabane’s office on 18 March expressing intent to appoint him as chair of the nomination committee but was never briefed, never received documents, nor convened with any panel members.
Motau said he met once with the minister’s advisor, Asisipho Solani, and deputy director-general Rhulani Ngwenya to discuss logistics, but never received further instructions.
A follow-up meeting arranged for 23 March was missed by the officials, and no subsequent engagements followed.
“I did not hear anything further until I saw from the media reports that the process had been finalised and that the nominations and appointments had been made,” he said.
Motau’s name appeared on the list of panel members finally released by the minister on 17 June, following delays and mounting pressure.
The list also included four department officials, namely Solani, Ngwenya, chief director Mabuza Ngubane and chief of staff Nelisiwe Semane.
The panel’s appointments, which included politically connected individuals such as Buyambo Mantashe, who is the son of African Nation Congress stalwart Gwede Mantashe, former KwaZulu-Natal premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube, and ex-ANC KwaZulu-Natal deputy chair Mike Mabuyakhulu, sparked outrage across party lines.
The appointments were later rescinded following public and parliamentary backlash.
Inside Education reached out to Higher Education Portfolio Committee chairperson Tebogo Letsie, who confirmed he had sent letters to all five named panelists, requesting responses by 25 June.
“We are working around the clock to get a date for this meeting,” he said.
“Only after verifying the facts, will we consider further action. If anyone is found to have deliberately lied to Parliament, criminal charges could be laid under the Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament Act.”
Letsie emphasised the seriousness of the issue and said it was essential to establish whether a panel existed and if the minister violated her duties to parliament.
“We must first indicate that we will do due diligence to verify if it’s indeed true that anyone lied to Parliament and we will call panelists and the ministry with the department to ascertain if the information provided is correct or not,” he said.
The DA insists that misleading Parliament is not only unethical but unlawful.
“Since this scandal came to light, the minister has remained evasive, refusing to answer questions, delaying the disclosure of the names of the panel, continuing to conceal one of the names of the SETA appointment panel, misleading Parliament, and now, it appears, further misleading Parliament about who was on the panel,” Khakhau said.
The minister is set to face intense scrutiny as further investigations are conducted in the coming weeks.
INSIDE EDUCATION