ANALYSIS | Time for Manamela to find his Rassie moment 

After just 310 days in his post as higher education and training minister, Buti Manamela finds himself on the ropes as he faces wave after wave of attack.

In this short time, he has faced no fewer than four legal challenges to his decisions to intervene in various entities under his watch, the latest being a challenge to his decision to place the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) under administration.

Like Rassie Erasmus — one of the latest recipients of South Africa’s highest national order — when he took over the Springboks in 2017, Manamela walked into a higher education space in a state of crisis and institutional disarray.

When Erasmus took over coaching the Springboks, the team that has now won two Rugby World Cups in succession under him was ranked sixth in the world and had lost just under 50% of its previous 25 Test matches.

But Erasmus had a vision. Though he was met with criticism and doubt on all sides, the coach stuck to his guns, galvanising his team around a common purpose, and this week it all culminated in his receiving the highest honour that can be bestowed on a South African citizen.

For his part, Manamela replaced a minister who was removed after it was found she had violated every governance protocol there was to hand control of the sector education and training authorities (Setas) to politically connected cronies.

The Setas, to which the government allocates more than R20bn annually for much-needed skills training, were and continue to be ineffective. The National Skills Fund, another cash cow with just under R6bn in funding, is such a crime scene the Special Investigating Unit ought to set up a permanent office there.

Recently, this paper’s sister publication revealed that the NSFAS student stipend programme is in such disarray that one employee saw a business opportunity and started giving cash loans to students — charging a whopping 45% interest on them.

With no full-time CEO, two reports pointing to millions of rand having been wasted on ghost students. With stakeholders up in arms, NSFAS is on the brink of financial collapse. The situation is so dire that finance minister Enoch Godongwana has publicly spoken about the possibility of shutting it down and having the government make direct payments to students, universities and private residence providers.

It is not surprising that at the heart of this latest impasse between Manamela and the lawmakers is an effective battle for the soul of NSFAS — an institution that literally holds the key to economic emancipation for hundreds of thousands of this country’s most vulnerable citizens.

Last November, then NSFAS board chair Karen Stander resigned, citing a toxic working environment and threats to her safety. In her resignation letter, she expressly accused acting CEO Waseem Carrim of persistent noncompliance with regulatory requirements, defiance of board directives, and severe breaches of good-governance standards.

Even without last month’s resignations, it was clear NSFAS needed to be put under administration. Thus, it defies all logic that parliamentarians in the portfolio committee on higher education, who are well-versed in these issues, are fighting this move.

It is not surprising that at the heart of this latest impasse between Manamela and the lawmakers is an effective battle for the soul of NSFAS — an institution that literally holds the key to economic emancipation for hundreds of thousands of this country’s most vulnerable citizens.

Media reports state that this latest skirmish centres on a fight over filling the vacant CEO post, with some board members backing Carrim and others preferring former presidential staffer Busani Ngcaweni.

What cannot be doubted, however, is the minister’s passion and commitment to higher education. Publicly, he speaks about his vision to build an agile, digitally integrated and equitable post-school education and training system that directly serves South Africa’s socioeconomic needs.

This would be through boosting digital learning and innovation, encouraging systemic growth and stability, building institutional governance that will protect students’ funding and welfare, and championing sector parity by expanding the capacity of and practical skills training at technical and vocational education and training colleges, as well as at community education and training colleges.

To be sure, Manamela’s conduct to achieve his vision is not entirely without fault.

What he needs to be cognisant of is that good political leadership demands a dedication to the principle that, even in the face of dishonest attacks, the executive needs to be seen to be accountable to parliament. Manamela’s move in delaying appearing before the portfolio committee this week can easily be seen as reluctance to engage in a necessary constitutional process.

This moment calls for bold leadership that speaks truth to any power, and trust that South Africans who observe the debate will reward his bravery and stand with him in his truth. Rassie never backed down from a fight.

It is one of the many ways he can set an example to those young people who look to him as an example of the calibre of leadership required to awaken the giant that is South Africa.