Construction contractors industry body Master Builders South Africa (MBSA) has called for an urgent meeting with Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister Blade Nzimande, to provide clarity on the prospects of thousands of learners who are in training programmes supported by the Construction Education and Training Authority (Ceta).

Nzimande on January 29 placed Ceta under administration to facilitate an investigation into allegations of financial mismanagement and maladministration.

“We have thousands of learners placed with building contractors on learnerships, apprenticeships and candidacy programmes and the immediate concern is to ensure that the placing of Ceta under administration does not result in unintended consequences for these programmes and for skills development in the construction sector,” says MBSA president John Matthews.

He confirms that MBSA had been aware of ongoing challenges at Ceta, which were resulting in significant delays in the payment of training grants, bursaries and stipends to employers and learners.

At just below 10% of the total labour force of the country, the construction industry remains one of the largest employers in the country. However, the lack of qualified and experienced workers has been cited as one of the biggest threats facing the industry.

To improve the delivery of skills programmes in the country, Nzimande made an undertaking to implement a contract management system to keep track of the flow of funds, so that financial management becomes more transparent within the Department of Higher Education and Training.

He also indicated that there would be consequences for individuals who failed to comply.

“As an industry body, maintaining a steady supply of the required building skills for the country is at the core of what we do for our members, and we remain committed to working with the Minister to ensure that Ceta is more effective and delivers the skills needs of the industry.

“We also support any action aimed at entrenching good corporate governance and better performance, but we are concerned that this development may jeopardise current skills programmes and those that are planned for the near future,” says Matthews.