Governance and institutional arrangements in the manufacturing engineering and related services SETA

Abstract

The Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs), established in terms of the Skills Development Act, 97 of 1998, are seen to play a key role in delivering skills development central to addressing the triple challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality. The SETAs performance has been criticised with concerns being raised about their capacity, governance crises and corruption. One of the key challenges impeding the success of the skills development system lies in its institutional arrangements. The organisational structure and reporting requirements appear to be highly complex with SETAs reporting to various line ministries, such as the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), and National Treasury. The governance system comprises of multi-layered stakeholders. The purpose of the research is to explore and understand the nature of governance within the Manufacturing Engineering and Related Services SETA (merSETA), one of the 21 Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs). The research followed a case study design that used a qualitative approach. Thirteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with members of the various stakeholder fora, such as the Accounting Authority, and sub-committees governing the merSETA. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. Findings of the research based on the perceptions of the respondents and corroborated with the review and analysis of internal documents included: governance challenges as a result of the prescriptive targets and expenditure directives from the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and National Treasury respectively; the need for more senior players within the merSETA; the issue of ’mission creep’; institutional challenges (such as decision making and challenges pertaining to planning and reporting) and performance and monitoring and evaluation. The recommendations of the research include a review of the composition of the Accounting Authority and sub-committees of the merSETA, a review of the scale and scope of the mandate, holistic capacity building of stakeholders and the organisation, and that the Minister of the DHET pronounces on the long term vision of the SETA landscape in iii respect of the number of SETAs that will be retained as well as a review of the current 5 year (re)establishment of the SETAs.