By Odwa Bafana Mkentane
The Portfolio Committee on Higher Education has expressed concern over persistent leadership vacancies at Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges, urging the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) to implement a long-term strategy to address recruitment delays. The call follows reports that more than 100 posts, including several senior management positions, remain vacant at Nkangala TVET College, in Mpumalanga, with many key roles being filled in an acting capacity.
The committee warned that prolonged vacancies undermine effective governance, institutional stability, and the delivery of quality education, and stressed the need for a more efficient recruitment process.
“This situation of taking too long to fill posts is a system problem, we should plan early for positions that will be vacant as a result of retirement or early retirement, unlike death, which is unplanned, this issue of the system that doesn’t assist us must be addressed,” said committee Chairperson Mr Tebogo Letsie.
The committee has given the department three months to submit a comprehensive report on how it was going to address the problem, provide a breakdown of people who will retire in the next three years and put a plan on what will happen.
Photo: DHET
