South Africa: Education Bosses Blow R210 Million While Students Suffer
The Department of Higher Education and Training spent more than R210-million on catering, travel and venues, but still failed to meet many of its goals.
According to its 2024/25 annual report, the branch that runs the country’s 50 Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges spent R145-million. Yet it achieved only 13 of its 22 performance targets.
The report also shows that 410 employees resigned between April 2024 and March 2025. The department blamed funding cuts and delays in hiring for the high number of resignations.
Travel costs alone reached R174.9-million, including R10.1-million on foreign trips and R164.8-million inside South Africa. The TVET branch made up most of this, spending R115.5-million, R5.7-million more than the year before.
One of its goals was to train 6,000 lecturers in digital literacy, but only 1,718 completed the programme.
The university education branch also fell short, meeting just 11 of 26 targets. It aimed for 14,800 engineering graduates but produced only 11,851.
Many units, including legal services and exams and assessment, are struggling with more than 20 vacant posts. The report says staff burnout and missed deadlines are growing problems.
By Scrolla.
