What happened to "The people shall govern"?
On 4 May 2011 05:54, Dominic Tweedie <[email protected]> wrote: > > [image: Business Day] > > > *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 > > [email protected] > > *From: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=141615* > * * > * * > * * > > -- > You are subscribed. This footer can help you. > Please POST your comments to [email protected] 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 [email protected]. > 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): [email protected] . > -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] 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 [email protected] . 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