Services SETA Corruption

Since 2018, OUTA has been investigating corruption and mismanagement in the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs), particularly in the Services SETA.

There are 21 SETAs, funding through levies paid by employers, and they are intended to fund and oversee learnerships, internships, apprenticeships and skills training programmes. The SETAs cover different sectors of the economy.

In November 2018, OUTA exposed the Services SETA’s R163 million contract with Grayson Reed, a company which used a false name and charged the SETA exorbitant amounts for dubious services. In September 2019, the Services SETA finally ended that contract six months early, but failed to reclaim any of the money spent on it.

The SETAs are entrusted with enabling the youth to become skilled and gain a foothold in the economy.

The SETAs’ failure to manage their funds responsibly fails the unemployed youth and our country as a whole.



"A culture of transparency demands open governance and the disclosure of information except in exceptional circumstances."

– The South African Human Rights Commission, on the pervasive failure by public bodies to honour PAIA requests for information from the public, in its annual PAIA report for 2019/20.


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