DA lodges criminal complaint against Nobuhle Nkabane over alleged deceit

Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane’s spokesperson says the DA's decision to lodge a criminal complaint against the Minister appeared to be a tactic aimed at drawing attention away from “the real work of governance and development”.

“The Minister has consistently acted in good faith and within the bounds of the law,” Nkabane's spokesperson Camagwini Mavovana said.

The DA on Tuesday lodged a criminal case against Nkabane, accusing her of lying to Parliament about the appointment of ANC-linked individuals to Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) boards.

DA federal chairperson Helen Zille and DA MP Karabo Khakhau, who serves on the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training, lodged the charges at the Cape Town Central police station.

Khakhau said the charges relate to Nkabane's alleged deliberate misrepresentation of the appointment process for SETA board members as she had claimed an “independent” evaluation panel was responsible for the selections.

“She falsely claimed an ‘independent’ panel made the appointments — including a chair who confirmed he wasn’t involved,” said Khakhau.

Khakhau accused Nkabane of facilitating “fraudulent” appointments by misleading the Parliamentary committee, and said the so-called independent panel had included her own Chief of Staff and an ANC Youth League leader.

“Most damningly, she falsely named Advocate Terry Motau SC as the chair of this panel, a claim he has unequivocally denied in writing. He made it clear he had no knowledge of, nor participated in, the process,” she added.

In a statement, the DA said: “This is not a case of poor judgement; it is a flagrant and deliberate attempt to deceive Parliament and the South African people. Minister Nkabane has broken the law and violated her oath of office. The DA will not stand by while ministers who lie, manipulate processes, and protect ANC cronies remain in office.”

The party said it would not support the Department of Higher Education and Training’s budget while Nkabane remains in office and vowed to oppose all budgets led by ministers “under criminal investigation for corruption or misconduct”.

Zille said the party was taking this step because of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s “inaction” in the face of corruption within the executive.

“We’re here today for the simple reason that President Ramaphosa refuses to be as good as his word and act against corruption, act against criminality in our Parliament,” Zille said.

“Serious fraud and the misleading of Parliament are somehow condoned by President Ramaphosa’s government. That is an enormous double standard.”

Zille described the SETA appointments as a “blatant lie to a committee of Parliament,” and added that in previous cases, such acts were treated as both fraud and a criminal offence.

She said an investigation by Khakhau had revealed that the people responsible for selecting board members included three senior employees from the Minister’s department.

The DA called on Ramaphosa to act swiftly and remove Nkabane from office, warning that continued inaction would implicate him in enabling corruption.

Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya did not respond to a request for comment.

Mavovana said they note the DA's decision to lodge a criminal complaint against the Minister.

"Dr Nkabane’s focus remains on delivering tangible outcomes for young people, including today’s Budget Vote speech, which outlines strategic investments in skills development, innovation, and inclusive economic growth," Mavovana said.

Cape Times