Many MPs used the debate to criticize the Minister's handling of NSFAS and the wider post-school education system.
Members of Parliament on Tuesday reacted mixedly to Higher Education and Training Minister Buti Manamela's first budget vote speech, with opposition parties accusing the department of weak accountability, governance failures and failing to tackle youth unemployment.
Presenting the budget in Parliament, Manamela announced that the Department of Higher Education and Training was allocated R149.2 billion for the 2026/27 financial year, with the bulk of the money earmarked for universities, TVET colleges, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) and skills development initiatives.
The minister framed the budget around a “skills revolution”, aimed at linking education, training and employment opportunities.
“We stand fifty years on from the morning of June 16, 1976, when schoolchildren walked out of their classrooms onto the streets of Soweto and changed the course of our history,” Manamela said.
“The youth of 2026 demand more. They demand the right to learn, the right to skills, the right to innovate, the right to work and the right to participate meaningfully in their country's economy.”
Focus on TVET Colleges and Jobs
Manamela said the government planned to strengthen digital education, artisan training and workplace-integrated learning, as well as establish TVET colleges as “engines of vocational skills”.
The minister revealed that university education will get R100.1 billion, while TVET colleges will get R14.7 billion and Community Education and Training (CET) colleges will get R3.3 billion.
He also acknowledged concerns about the gap between qualifications and employment opportunities.
“Access without success is not enough. Success without employment is not enough. And skills without economic absorption is not enough,” Manmela told lawmakers.
He said the department would introduce 24 new vocational qualifications into TVET colleges and establish regional industrial skills compacts to align training with labor market needs.
Youth unemployment a 'national crisis'
Mimmi Gondwe, deputy higher education minister from the DA, warned that youth unemployment remains one of South Africa's biggest threats.
“Today, unemployment among youth aged 15 to 24 has reached 60.9%. This is not just an economic crisis. It is a national crisis and a ticking time bomb,” Gondwe said.
He defended the role of CET colleges and outlined partnerships with private companies including Microsoft, Google, Techlot and Old Mutual to improve the employability of students.
Gondwe said the partnership with Google will provide “10,000 scholarships” in areas such as cybersecurity, data analytics and digital marketing.
He also confirmed that Techalot is recruiting TVET and CET students for workplace learning and entrepreneurial opportunities.
However, Gondwe sharply criticized the current NSFAS model.
He said, “There is no longer a need for NSFAS. NSFAS has failed again and again, and it is time to replace it with a student funding model in which our higher education institutions themselves select students and assess their financial needs.”
Opposition parties attack NSFAS, governance and SETAS
Many MPs used the debate to criticize the Minister's handling of NSFAS and the wider post-school education system.
Tebogo Letsie, chair of the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, raised concerns about the “missing middle” students who do not qualify for NSFAS but still cannot afford tertiary education.
He also shared his concern that NSFAS is growing faster than the university subsidy.
“It is great to expand access in line with the announcement in the President's State of the Nation Address. However, this must be balanced with adequate institutional support to maintain quality education and retain skilled academicians.
He said the ANC “rejected calls by the DA and anyone else associated with him to set up NSFAS and transfer funds to universities”.
“This view is anti-intellectual and not supported by any scientific evidence.
“The mismanagement of funds at these institutions already requires an SIU investigation and over two billion rand has already been recovered from the same institutions.
The MK party's Mnkobi Prince Mesezen accused the department of failing poor and working-class students, saying: “We will never support a budget that does not address the issue of free education for South Africa's poor and working-class students.”
Mesezen also questioned Manamela's decision to place NSFAS under administration and alleged political interference in the appointments.
Other MPs criticized vacancies in the department and delays in plans for the proposed Ekurhuleni University.
EFF's Sihle Lonzi told the minister: “You promised us transparency, yet inspection processes are being undermined by delays and missing documentation.”
Criticism has also focused on Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs), with MPs arguing that the billions of rands spent on skills development have not translated into jobs.
Lonzi called for Cetas to be abolished and the skills levy to be redirected towards TVET colleges and youth infrastructure programmes.
DA MP Karabo Lerato Khakau delivered the sharpest criticism of the budget, accusing the department of failing to measure whether its spending is translating into jobs and economic growth.
Khakhau argued that the department's annual performance plan lacked an “outcomes-based approach” and criticized what he described as a “tick box exercise” rather than meaningful results reflecting the impact of service delivery.
IFP supports budget but warns on accountability
The Inkatha Freedom Party supported the budget vote but warned that accountability failures remained a matter of concern.
IFP MP Sanele Zondo welcomed efforts to strengthen TVET colleges, vocational qualifications and digital transformation initiatives, but cautioned that these needed to create “real employment opportunities for young people rather than policy commitments remaining on paper”.
Zondo also highlighted persistent problems with NSFAS delays, lack of student accommodation and weak oversight within institutions such as NSFAS and SETAS.
The MP urged the minister to improve accountability to Parliament, saying, “We support this vote, but the deviation of your conduct is disturbing.”