Higher Education, Science, and Technology Minister Blade Nzimande has placed the Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA) under administration.
Nzimande made the decision after he was notified of serious allegations of "governance failure and gross financial mismanagement, including, but not limited to irregular payments of employees’ pension funds and salary increases by the CETA", his office said in a statement on Saturday.
Some of these alleged misdemeanors were aired in a hearing in Parliament, with the portfolio committee expressing serious concern about the state of affairs at the CETA. The committee also cited its lack of confidence in the CETA board, and urged Nzimande to take action as a matter of urgency.
“Given the challenges facing the CETA, and after careful consideration, I have decided to place the CETA under administration so as to address all the concerns and governance issues which impact negatively on its critical mandate," Nzimande said in the statement.
"I have also mandated the administrator to investigate all these matters, including allegations of corruption and improper use of CETA funds. I have also instructed the administrator to immediately stabilise the CETA and ensure that its daily operations are normalised.”
Nzimande said he took the decision in order to restore good corporate governance in the CETA and to mitigate against the risk of further mismanagement and governance failures which could result in a total collapse of the CETA’s operations.
The decision was also informed “by the allegations being made against some of the members of the board of the CETA, with some potentially having a conflict of interests in relation to the disbursements and utilisation of CETA funds. Therefore, in order for these matters to be impartially and thoroughly investigated, it is imperative that we dissolve the board”.
He urged all the CETA stakeholders to fully cooperate with the investigations, adding he had received a request for a meeting with the Master Builders' Association.
“I will meet with this association at the earliest available opportunity, as they are a very important stakeholder, both in the construction industry and in the CETA itself,” Nzimande said.