Nkabane defends R142bn education budget amid corruption allegations and opposition rejection

Daily Maverick

a day ago

Minister of Higher Education and Training Nobuhle Nkabane says her budget is a step towards improving the post-school education and training sector.
In a robust parliamentary debate, opposition parties, including the ANC's main Government of National Unity partner, the Democratic Alliance, were vocal in rejecting the Higher Education and Training budget on Thursday, 3 June 2025.
Minister of Higher Education and Training Dr Nobuhle Nkabane's budget proposals for 2025/26 came under fire over a lack of trust in her and her department. This was mainly due to controversial appointments in the Sector Education and Training Authorities (Setas) and issues with the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, NSFAS.
Nkabane has been under fire over her controversial Seta board appointments, along with a panel she established that raised concerns after Nkabane called it 'independent', while it consisted of people who worked in her department. She also named advocate Terry Motau as chairperson of the panel, which Motau slammed as false, leading to Nkabane issuing an apology.
Budget tabled
Nkabane said she had dedicated the budget to those within education who had recently been killed, such as Sisonke Mbalekwa and Sinethemba Mpambane, both from Walter Sisulu University (WSU). The budget allocation for the current financial year is R142.4-billion, of which Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges are to receive R14-billion.
The combined allocation for the Setas and the National Skills Fund is R26-billion. NSFAS funding rises to R48.7-billion this year.
Universities will receive R96-billion this year, while Nkabane acknowledged a R1.4-billion deficit in the universities' budget as a result of US funding cuts. She said that the NSFAS budget would 'not [be] sufficient to meet the growing demand for access to higher education'.
Nkabane said the budget was a step towards improving the efficiency and performance of the post-school education and training (PSET) system. She said NSFAS was in the process of cancelling the more than R2-million rental contract for its Cape Town office.
In addition, 'NSFAS conducted a comprehensive legal review on the contracts of student accommodation intermediaries who are charging 5% fees. We are waiting for a final report for us to decide in this regard. This is our commitment to clean governance, accountability and transparency, and to root out any potential corruption and maladministration in PSET,' said Nkabane.
Chairperson of the parliamentary committee on higher education, Tebogo Letsie (ANC), supported Nkabane's budget. Letsie said the budget was a political commitment rooted in the Freedom Charter and shaped by the developmental vision of the National Development Plan.
Those who did not support the budget 'will be saying to you that your poor child must not go to school, must not go to university because they are not programming their future… They must be saying that all the owners of properties must lose their properties. They will be saying all workers in our universities, our colleges and everywhere else must go home because those universities and student colleges must close down.'
Rejection
The Democratic Alliance rejected the budget. The party's Karabo Khakhau said 'the ANC wants the people of this republic to believe that a fight against corruption is a fight against the future of this country… The real enemy of progress against young people here is Minister Nkabane. It is the ANC that is protecting her and corruption. It is President Ramaphosa for refusing to fire her… I dare you: do the right thing in honour of these people (Mbalekwa and Mpambane) — resign.'
Sihle Lonzi (EFF) also rejected Nkabane's budget, but said that the DA and the ANC were in a 'fake fight'. According to Lonzi, the DA's narrative was a deliberate distortion at best or sheer ignorance at worst.
'The state of student accommodation in South Africa is not only inhumane; it's gross negligence… Why can you not develop an efficient payment system that will pay students, institutions, and accommodations directly… You must blacklist corrupt board members, Minister. You must blacklist corrupt CEOs,' demanded Lonzi.
Sihle Ngubane (MK party) rejected the budget and called out the minister for saying it was dedicated to those who had died, because 'the department, under the minister, and its negligence, caused the death of this student (Mbolekwa),' said Ngubane.
'When you (Nkabane) say drive inclusive growth and job creation, there is no inclusive growth in this government, there is no economy, and there is nothing,' said Ngubane.
Other parties such as Al Jama-ah, the Inkatha Freedom Party, the Patriotic Alliance, Build One South Africa and Rise Mzansi supported the budget.
When Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training and DA member, Mimmy Gondwe, took the stand, she was immediately asked by the EFF's Lonzi whether she supported the budget.
Gondwe did not reply directly, but instead highlighted numerous interventions, oversight visits, partnerships, and student-centred initiatives undertaken under her leadership since July 2024.
She emphasised that the budget had to reflect a determination to build an ethical and inclusive education system. DM