MPs clash over Manamela’s R149.2 billion higher education budget vote
· Citizen
Members of Parliament delivered mixed reactions to Higher Education and Training Minister Buti Manamela’s first Budget Vote speech on Tuesday, with opposition parties accusing the department of weak accountability, governance failures, and failing to tackle youth unemployment.
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Tabling the budget in Parliament, Manamela announced that the Department of Higher Education and Training had been allocated R149.2 billion for the 2026/27 financial year, with the bulk of the funding earmarked for universities, TVET colleges, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas), and skills development initiatives.
The minister framed the budget around what he called a “Skills Revolution”, aimed at linking education, training and employment opportunities.
“We stand fifty years from the morning of 16 June 1976, when school children walked out of their classrooms and into the streets of Soweto, and changed the course of our history,” Manamela said.
“The youth of 2026 demand more. They demand the right to learn, the right to skill, the right to innovate, the right to work, and the right to participate meaningfully in the economy of their own country.”
Focus on TVET colleges and jobs
Manamela said government planned to reposition TVET colleges as the “engine of occupational skills”, while also strengthening digital learning, artisan training, and workplace-integrated learning.
The minister revealed that university education would receive R100.1 billion, while TVET colleges would get R14.7 billion and community education and training (CET) colleges R3.3 billion.
He also acknowledged concerns about the disconnect between qualifications and employment opportunities.
“Access without success is not enough. Success without employability is not enough. And skills without economic absorption are not enough,” Manamela told MPs.
He said the department would introduce 24 new occupational qualifications at TVET colleges and establish regional industrial skills compacts to align training with labour market needs.
Youth unemployment a ‘national crisis’
Deputy Higher Education Minister Mimmy Gondwe, from the DA, warned that youth unemployment remained one of South Africa’s biggest threats.
“Today, youth unemployment, among those aged 15 to 24 years of age, stands at a staggering 60.9%. This is not merely an economic crisis. It is a national crisis and a ticking time bomb,” Gondwe said.
She defended the role of CET colleges and outlined partnerships with private companies, including Microsoft, Google, Takealot and Old Mutual, to improve student employability.
Gondwe said the partnership with Google would provide “10 000 scholarships” in fields such as cybersecurity, data analytics and digital marketing.
She also confirmed that Takealot was recruiting TVET and CET students for workplace learning and entrepreneurial opportunities.
However, Gondwe sharply criticised the current Nsfas model.
“There is no longer a need for Nsfas. Nsfas has repeatedly failed, and it is time to replace it with a student funding model which sees our higher education institutions themselves select students and assess their financial needs,” she said.
Opposition parties attack Nsfas, governance and Setas
Several MPs used the debate to criticise the minister’s handling of Nsfas and the broader post-school education system.
Portfolio Committee on Higher Education chairperson Tebogo Letsie raised concerns about “missing middle” students who do not qualify for Nsfas but still cannot afford tertiary education.
He also shared his concerns that Nsfas is growing faster than university subsidies.
“Expanding access in line with the president’s State of the Nation Address pronouncement is great. However, this must be balanced with adequate institutional support to maintain quality education and to retain skilled academics.
He said the ANC rejected “calls by the DA and anyone else associated with them to disestablish Nsfas and transfer funds to universities”.
“This view is anti-intellectual and is not supported by any scientific evidence.
“Mismanagement of funds at these institutions has already necessitated SIU investigations and recoveries worth over two billion rands from the same institutions have already been done.
The MK Party’s Mnqobi Prince Msezane accused the department of failing poor and working-class students, saying: “We will never support a budget that does not address the issue of free education for the poor and the working-class students of South Africa.”
Msezane also questioned Manamela’s decision to place Nsfas under administration and alleged political interference in appointments.
Other MPs criticised vacancies in the department and delays around plans for the proposed Ekurhuleni university.
The EFF’s Sihle Lonzi told the minister: “You promised us transparency, yet oversight processes continue to be undermined by delays and missing documentation.”
Criticism also centred on Sector Education and Training Authorities (Setas), with MPs arguing that billions of rand spent on skills development had not translated into jobs.
Lonzi called for Setas to be scrapped and the skills levy redirected toward TVET colleges and youth infrastructure programmes.
DA MP Karabo Lerato Khakhau delivered one of the sharpest critiques of the budget, accusing the department of failing to measure whether its spending was translating into jobs and economic growth.
Khakhau argued that the department’s annual performance plan lacked a “results-based approach” and criticised what she described as “tick box exercises rather than meaningful outcomes that reflect the impact of service delivery
IFP backs budget but warns over accountability
The Inkatha Freedom Party backed the budget vote but warned that accountability failures remained a concern.
IFP MP Sanele Zondo welcomed efforts to strengthen TVET colleges, occupational qualifications and digital transformation initiatives, but cautioned that these needed to produce “real employment opportunities for young people rather than remaining policy commitments on paper”.
Zondo also highlighted persistent problems with Nsfas delays, student accommodation shortages and weak oversight within entities such as Nsfas and Setas.
“We support this vote, but the deflection of your conduct is troubling,” the MP said, while urging the minister to improve accountability to Parliament.