Public Service Sector Education and Training Authority – Infographic – Expenditure and Revenue

As one of 21 SETAs, PSETA’s mandate is to develop the skills and competencies of people in the national and provincial public service. Unlike the other SETAs, PSETA’s employer base does not pay a skills development levy, as the relevant legislation recognised that government departments pay for their training directly. Instead, PSETA receives an annual allocation from National Treasury via the DPSA. In 2012/13 this allocation was R22.3 million (56% of PSETA’s R40 million income). An additional R15.6 million was sourced from the National Skills Fund for project funding. However, these projects reflect the National Skills Fund’s focus on the unemployed, rural youth and artisanships, not the core areas of PSETA’s focus. PSETA has a history of poor governance and financial mismanagement, and was placed under administration in 2010. It implemented a new governance framework in 2013, but it is not yet clear whether the organisation has been turned around. The study found that 50% of PSETA personnel have administrative roles; this proportion is excessive, but is typical of organisations that lack direction and are inwardly focused.In 2013, a DPSA circular sent to all government departments under PSETA required them to forward 0.5% of their training budgets to the organisation, which would have amounted to R100 million. However, these transfers have been held in abeyance on Treasury instruction. Treasury and PSETA agreed that the organisation has plans to spend only about R60 million; the matter had not been finalised at the time of the study.