The IT sector education and training authority (SETA) has rejected reports that it is in the midst of crisis as a result of the removal of its acting chairman and a disciplinary hearing against its CEO.
The Information Systems, Electronics and Telecommunications Technology (ISETT) SETA is one of 25 SETAs put in place in terms of the Skills Development Act of 1998. Each SETA is responsible for administering the sector`s skills development funds. These funds are contributed by IT companies within the SETA, in the form of levies on employers` payrolls. The funds are intended to help develop the SA workforce.
Last week, the acting chairman of the ISETT SETA board, Innocentius Makola of the Communications Workers` Union, was removed from his position after the ISETT board passed a vote of no confidence against him.
At the same time, a disciplinary hearing is underway against SETA CEO Mateli Mpuntsha after allegations of an irregularity related to a salary payment. The verdict of this hearing is to be announced on Thursday. The leadership changes apparently follow disputes over finances between Mpuntsha and Makola.
The SETA board has named Errol Maherry as acting CEO and Thabo Mpama as acting chairman in the interim.
Despite the changes, Mpama says the ISETT SETA is not in trouble, as the rest of the board and the SETA`s permanent staff are maintaining continuity in the SETA`s day-to-day operations.
However, Mpama and the rest of the board concede that the SETA`s progress has been slower than that of other national SETAs, and that operations have not been without their problems.
In response to rumours that major IT companies are disillusioned by a lack of progress and are threatening to move to other SETAs, such as the Services SETA, the board says it is not aware of such plans. If companies should choose to fall under another SETA, development funding from their training levies would effectively be lost to the IT sector. The ISETT SETA board has given the assurance that it has plans for more definite progress in the year to come.
The board has also rejected rumours that R12 million in unallocated discretionary funding will revert to the National Skills Fund at the end of the fiscal year. The board says R2 million has been allocated, and the rest of the money has been earmarked for projects - among them learnership incentives and the generation of unit standards - and will not be lost to the IT sector.
"The leadership and progress issues will be finalised at the SETA`s AGM on 26 March," says Mpama. "At the AGM, we will also be in a position to release our financial results and outline concrete plans for progress in the year ahead."
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