[YCLSA Discussion] Judge overturns Minister Nzimande’s decision

[Dominic Tweedie]

Judge rules Nzimande’s Seta ‘grab’ out of order   Court will now hear plea to undo minister’s transfer of R1bn funds     Sue Blaine, Business Day, Johannesburg, 4 April 2011   HIGHER Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande’s controversial attempt to shake up SA’s training agencies was dealt a stunning blow in court yesterday.   A Labour Court judge ruled Mr Nzimande did not have the legal power to impose a new constitution on the Services Seta, and that the constitution he had tried to impose was in breach of the Skills Development Act.   Judge Annelie Basson also ruled Mr Nzimande’s appointment of former African National Congress (ANC) office bearer Sihle Moon as chairman of the Seta was invalid, as was his appointment of a new council, one of whose members was Nolwande Mantashe, wife of ANC secretary- general Gwede Mantashe.   Today, the Services Seta will return to the Johannesburg Labour Court, to ask it to overturn Mr Nzimande’s decision last week to transfer R1bn from its bank account to the National Skills Fund. Parliament heard earlier this year that the fund had a budget deficit of just under R1bn.   Attorney Itayi Gwaunza, who represents Services Seta CEO Ivor Blumenthal and eight others, said the ruling could have implications for all Setas, which were asked to sign the same constitution.   Mr Nzimande’s spokesman, Nqaba Nqandela, said the Department of Higher Education and the minister were "still studying" the judgment before commenting.   He did not answer questions on why Mr Nzimande transferred the Services Seta’s funds to the National Skills Fund, and why he placed the Seta under administration while the Labour Court judgment was pending.   Mr Blumenthal said he was "relieved" at Judge Basson’s judgment, and was "relatively upbeat" about today’s application.   "It’s not an us-or-them situation. We are really trying to find a way of accommodating our stakeholders’ concerns and what the minister is trying to achieve, which is better administration and governance of the Setas. We are not against that, but it must be done procedurally," he said.   Mr Nzimande’s actions against the Services Seta appear to be linked to his promise last year to change legislation if necessary to exert his executive authority over the Setas. They were placed under his department by President Jacob Zuma in terms of an ANC decision at its Polokwane conference.   He has since criticised the Setas for uneven performance and for not spending National Skills Fund monies. He has threatened to confiscate Seta funds and use them for other skills training.   Reforming skills training is in Mr Nzimande’s performance agreement, signed in 2009 with President Jacob Zuma. It commits him to produce 10000 artisans a year by 2015 from about 8000 now. Yesterday, Mr Nzimande said SA had invested a lot of its skills levy fund — accumulated from a 1% levy on payrolls of businesses with an annual turnover of at least R500000 — on short courses of "dubious value", while there was a shortage of artisans, accountants and engineers.   "We can’t have a training system that is 75%-80% short course (-based) ... We need to begin to be more biased towards a structured occupational trade and professional programme, because that is where we are short," he said in Pretoria after addressing a meeting of professional bodies.   Judge Basson ruled that Mr Nzimande did not have the necessary legal power to impose a new constitution on the Services Seta and, even if he had, the new constitution was in breach of the Skills Development Act.   It was argued before Judge Basson last month that Ms Mantashe had no qualifications for the appointment. With Sapa   blai...@bdfm.co.za   From: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=141615       -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to yclsa-eom-forum@googlegroups.com or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email yclsa-eom-forum-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): yclsa-eom-forum-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com .