Cathsseta still facing challenges

THE portfolio committee
on higher education
and training recently
pledged it would monitor
Cathsseta more closely for
the remainder of the year as
the government struggles to
promote skills.
This comes after the
committee was briefed by
Cathsseta, which is under
administration, on its
annual performance and
strategic plans.
During the briefing,
committee chairwoman,
Yvonne Phosa, said the fact
that Cathsseta was under
administration created
the impression that the
body responsible for skills
development was not doing
its job. She said people
were aware there were
skills gaps in South Africa
and Cathsseta needed
to represent government
well and properly, with full
adherence to law.
Cathsseta admitted
that in-fighting within
the Board had affected
the performance of the
organisation wherein the
targets were not met on a
quarterly basis. However,
the organisation also
highlighted its achievements
during the past few
months while it was under
administration.
Pumzile Kedama,
administrator of Cathsseta,
said he had conducted
an organisational
diagnosis and analysis to
turn Cathsseta around.
Outstanding disciplinary
cases and contracts
were reviewed, with some
contracts cancelled.
Disciplinary action was
instituted against the ceo
and cfo, which led to their
suspension. He also aligned
resources to address
immediate performance
issues to achieve targets.
Pumzile added that the
number of programmes had
been reduced from 17 to
four, to improve focus. The
four programmes are now
Administration; Corporate
Governance; Planning;
and Skills Development,
to ensure alignment
to National Treasury
guidelines.
An important strategic
challenge still facing
Cathsseta, according to
Pumzile, is the fact that
a significant number of
service providers in the
sector are urban-based
but contribute rural levies.
The levy income is minimal
relative to the actual
demand for skills across
the sectors, and this
limited income impacts
negatively on Cathsseta.
Furthermore, he pointed out
that there was no provincial
footprint and there were
poorly managed business
contracts