About 800 young South Africans face an uncertain future after the National Skills Fund (NSF) suspended a R354m internship project midway through a two-year programme.
The suspension follows allegations of “repeated contractual non-compliance” against Phila Jordan Capital (PJC), the company contracted to run the programme. PJC denies the claims, insisting “this is a crisis of the NSF’s making”.
The project aims to train young people in engineering and technical competencies through placements at various training centres, including Denel, South African Airways Technical (SAAT), Hamba Nathi and Ntalane.
Students receive on-the-job training or internships, with accommodation, travel and food covered by the NSF.
Ayavuya Onceya, 30, a single mother from the Eastern Cape, is enrolled in an integrated electrical engineering programme at Denel in Pretoria.
“I have three children, aged nine, six and one. My one-year-old was three months when I left home and started the programme in March last year. That shows how serious I am about my training,” she told the Sunday Times this week. “This was my opportunity to escape this hard life of single-parent poverty. Now I don’t know what I will do.”
She said her children were looked after at home by their granny.
“For now, I am staying in the accommodation that was organised for us, but I am out of money and I haven’t received my monthly stipend for two months, so I am running out of food and toiletries and we have no answers.”
She has no backup plan.
“I have electrical engineering qualifications — from N1 to N6 — from Buffalo City College, but I need to complete my practical training with Denel so I can get my diploma. I am too far down this road to make another turn,” she said.
Tebogo Makwa, 31, from Thaba Nchu in the Free State, has been doing on-the-job training at SAAT.
“I used to work in retail, but I’ve always been interested in technical matters. This opportunity seemed like a way [into] that world,” said Makwa.
He started in March last year.
“If the programme falls flat now, it will have been a completely wasted year for me and the other students. I really don’t want to go back to walking around handing out my CV.”
His family remains in Thaba Nchu. “I’m the one who made it out. It will be very sad to have to return.”
PJC’s Phila Jordan blames the NSF for the withdrawal of funding.
“Nearly 800 learners will now not be able to qualify for their certificates because the National Skills Fund has withdrawn its funding,” he said.
“This is a crisis of the NSF’s making. We engaged them beforehand and told them of the challenges the students were facing — including living without electricity after the owner of the accommodation failed to pay the municipal bill and was cut off by Tshwane. We had no choice but to move the students,” he told the Sunday Times.
PJC says the relocation was discussed with the NSF and approved. The NSF denies this.
Jordan said PJC had then funded accommodation and transport for the students, and had urged the NSF to meet its commitments and at the very least pay the students’ stipends. Negotiations between the NSF and PJC had continued through to the end of May.
“Despite the NSF urging learners to continue attending training, learning and workplace activities, the learners are expected to negotiate with their employers themselves,” Jordan said.
He denied any financial mismanagement and said the termination of the agreement halfway through the programme was “unethical and possibly criminal”.
NSF spokesperson Lebohang Somo denied Jordan’s claims.
“The NSF has terminated its agreement with Phila Jordan Capital, the implementing partner responsible for the training programme in Gauteng, following repeated contractual non-compliance resulting in breach of the agreement provisions, persistent learner welfare concerns, identified governance failures and concerns regarding the management and utilisation of public funds,” said Somo.
“Central to the NSF’s concerns was the continued unauthorised relocation of learners from Johannesburg to Pretoria and other areas without prior consultation or approval from the fund, despite explicit directives instructing the service provider not to proceed with such relocations.”
While Jordan believes the NSF has no say in matters involving third-party vendors, Somo disagrees.
“The National Skills Fund has a responsibility to protect learners, safeguard public funds, and ensure that all implementing partners uphold the highest standards of governance, accountability and ethical conduct,” Somo said. “We cannot allow a situation where learners are subjected to instability and hardship while public resources are not adequately accounted for.”
Although the memorandum of agreement between NSF and PJC has been terminated, Somo said there is light at the end of the tunnel for students.
“No learner will leave the programme. The NSF’s priority is the learners and ensuring continuity of the programme. We are working overtime to rescue the programme, and engagements are already at an advanced stage with the skills development professionals.
“The issue of stipends is at the heart of these arrangements, and soon the NSF will issue a statement on the work done to save the project. We are doing everything possible to address the issue. We need to appreciate that we are here because of PJC’s failures.”
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