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Higher education minister Buti Manamela has tabled a R149.2bn budget aimed at improving skills training, strengthening TVET colleges, and helping more young people find work after studying.
Delivering Budget Vote 17 in parliament on Tuesday, Manamela said the department’s priorities for the 2026/27 financial year would centre on digital transformation, the “skills revolution”, and reshaping the country’s post-school education and training system.
Manamela said this year’s budget comes as SA marks 50 years since the June 16 uprising, adding that young people today wanted more than just access to education.
“The youth of 1976 fought for the right to learn. The youth of 2026 demand more. They demand the right to learn, the right to skill, the right to innovate, the right to work and the right to participate meaningfully in the economy of their own country,” he said.
The budget supported President Cyril Ramaphosa’s call for a major overhaul of the country’s skills system, especially in TVET colleges, said Manamela. “The president called for a dual training model that links classroom learning to workplace experience.”
He acknowledged that while access to higher education had expanded significantly since democracy, the system still faced major shortcomings. “The problem before us is not simply that South Africa needs more education. The problem is that the link between education, skills, work and industrial development is too weak and in some places it is broken.”
Manamela said too many graduates were leaving institutions without finding work, while employers continued to report shortages of technical and vocational skills. “Access without success is not enough. Success without employability is not enough. And skills without economic absorption are not enough.”
He said the department would focus strongly on TVET colleges, apprenticeships and workplace training as part of what government is calling a “skills revolution”.
From January 2026, 24 new occupational qualifications were introduced at TVET colleges and government plans to increase the number of students studying practical and technical courses.
The department also plans to train 500 TVET lecturers, establish five regional industrial skills compacts and finalise a TVET turnaround strategy by September next year.
Manemela said universities will receive R100.1bn from the budget, while TVET colleges will receive R14.7bn and community education and training colleges R3.3bn.
Manamela admitted that community colleges remained underfunded.
National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) funding is expected to increase from R48.8bn this year to R54.6bn by 2028/29. The minister said government was also working to stabilise governance at NSFAS and the Setas (Sector Education and Training Authorities) after ongoing concerns about management and accountability.
“We have moved decisively on NSFAS. Where the institution fell short of the public trust placed in it, we acted within the law to restore order, protect students, and put in place a remedial path,” he said.
A major part of the budget will also go towards digital transformation in the post-school education system.
Manamela said the department planned to expand online learning at TVET and community colleges, improve digital career guidance services and introduce more programmes linked to artificial intelligence, data science, cybersecurity and software development.
“We will build curricula and partnerships in artificial intelligence, in data, in software, in analytics, and in cybersecurity,” he said.
The minister also called on businesses to work more closely with government and colleges to help train young people and create workplace opportunities.
“The private sector cannot remain a spectator to skills development. Industry must become a co-producer of the skills it requires,” he said.
Manamela said the department’s main goal was to ensure young people could move from education into jobs and economic opportunities.
“The young people of South Africa are not the beneficiaries at the end of this system. They are the reason for the system,” he said.
TimesLIVE
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