CRITICAL GAPS: Labour Court halts Manamela’s bid to readvertise National Skills Fund CEO post

Higher Education and Training Minister Buti Manamela has suffered another major legal defeat after the Labour Court interdicted his attempts to readvertise the post of Chief Executive Officer at the National Skills Fund (NSF).

In a two-part judgment handed down on 13 October 2026, Judge Robert Lagrange ruled in favour of the recommended candidate, Dr Innocent Sirovha, interdicting Manamela and Director-General Dr Nkosinathi Sishi from implementing a ministerial directive issued on 17 June 2026 to restart the recruitment process.

The judgment follows a string of executive setbacks for Manamela, coming just two months after the Gauteng Division of the High Court suspended his appointment of National Student Financial Aid Scheme administrator Professor Hlengani Mathebula and reinstated the scheme’s dissolved board.

‘Hunting with his dog’

After being left in limbo for nearly a year, Sirovha, alongside the South African Youth Economic Council (SAYEC), launched urgent court proceedings following Manamela’s instruction to readvertise the National Skills Fund CEO post. Sirovha had emerged as the top candidate in May 2025 following a rigorous, merit-based selection process. Manamela sought to justify the cancellation by citing missing internal recruitment score sheets and the passage of time.

Speaking to Daily Maverick after the Labour Court judgment, Sirovha viewed the issue of re-advertising as a way for Manamela to get him out of the way.

“Judges agreed with us because the minister himself has agreed with us to say he was not saying I’m not competent... Simply put, he only wanted to hunt with his own dog. That’s what they said earlier on: that every person hunts with his own dogs. So, I understood it from that context. I think I said it in our first interview that it’s not personal,” said Sirovha.

In his judgment, Judge Lagrange made it clear that Manamela had no legal authority to intervene or overrule the recruitment outcome. He referred Manamela to Section 29(1)(d) of the Skills Development Act as the empowering provision governing the appointment of the executive officer of the fund. Parliament conferred the power and the pre-emptory duty to appoint the executive officer upon the director-general, not the minister.

Addressing the department’s excuse regarding missing internal score sheets, Lagrange said: “An organ of state cannot resort to self-help to extinguish administrative recommendations because of its own record-keeping failures... Directing the readvertisement of the post to bypass internal record-keeping failures is arguably irrational and disproportionate,” said Lagrange.

The court further penalised the ministry by ordering Manamela and Sishi to pay Sirovha’s legal costs for Part A on Scale C, including the costs of two counsel.

Sirovha emphasised that going to court was not something he had sought out, and pointed out that there was no substantive or legal need for the ministry to create a costly judicial battle when common sense could have prevailed. Instead, he argued, the leadership vacuum at the National Skills Fund directly hurts vulnerable learners across South Africa, particularly those from deep rural areas like his home village of Kakamas in the Northern Cape, or Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape. Currently, Melissa Erra serves as the acting CEO.

“The issue is the National Skills Fund has not had leadership in the form of a CEO from 2020 or even back, so at the helm when there’s a permanent CEO there’s accountability, there]s decisiveness, the whole institution becomes stable,” Sirovha stressed. “You have seen indecisiveness on some of the companies that have not paid stipends to the learners... learners could not pay, they were being chased away from sleeping outside. It’s very painful when we know these learners come from your deep rural areas... Kakamas must find an expression.”

Sirovha was interviewed by a panel that included former minister Nobuhle Nkabane, then deputy Manamela, Sishi, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Mmamoloko Kubayi, and former Social Development minister Sisisi Tolashe.

When Daily Maverick spoke to Sishi at the time, he said that the appointment process was being finalised and said he had written another letter seeking urgent attention from the Department of Public Service and Administration.

Manamela, department to account in Parliament

“We hope the ministry will study the court judgment and take action that will be in line with the judgment – we have always said that we don’t like disputes being taken to court when we have mechanisms are in place to resolve such.”

Issuing a statement after the judgment, the ministry said Manamela would respect and comply with the judgment.

“The judgment grants an interim interdict preventing the implementation of the minister’s directive to readvertise the position, pending the final determination of the substantive review application brought by Dr Khathutshelo Innocent Sirovha. The court has not made a final determination on the lawfulness of the directive nor has it declared Dr Sirovha appointed as executive officer,” said department spokesperson Matshepo Seedat.

What lies ahead

With the interdict in place, the department remains legally barred from readvertising or filling the CEO post. The matter now proceeds to Part B of the review, where Sirovha is expected to ask the court to set aside the minister’s directive permanently and direct the director-general to finalise his appointment letter.

Sirovha says he remains open to a pragmatic resolution, though he anticipates the ministry may try to drag out the legal process using public funds.

Welcoming the judgment, SA Youth Economic Council (Sayec) Vice-President Lwazi Ntombela said no official was above the law.

“The court’s decision to interdict Minister Manamela’s directive to readvertise the National Skills Fund CEO position reinforces the principle that public officials must exercise their powers within the limits of the law.

“For Sayec, this matter is about protecting the integrity of the fund and ensuring that it effectively fulfils its mandate of developing the skills of young South Africans,” said Ntombela, adding that they expected Part B to provide final clarity on the legality of the minister’s directive and the appropriate way forward regarding the National Skills Fund CEO appointment. DM