The SA Qualifications Authority (SAQA), which retrenched more than half of its staff earlier this month, has been burdened with delays in the verification of local qualifications and the evaluation of foreign certificates, diplomas and degrees.
In a notice to applicants, the government entity said it was going through “a transitional period that has resulted in some delays in the processing of SA and foreign evaluation applications”.
“We are doing our best to expedite applications and respond to inquiries and apologise for the inconvenience caused.”
SAQA, which had 169 employees, retrenched 89 since the beginning of May because of budgetary constraints.
The entity has been described as one of the better-functioning parastatals, with a history of clean audits.
It falls under the department of higher education and its functions include overseeing the National Qualifications Framework – registering qualifications on the NQF and maintaining the national learners’ records database.
If a government department or a private company wants to check whether a prospective employee’s qualifications are valid and authentic, it goes to SAQA.
Last year, Treasury took away R2.6bn from the department of higher education’s budget and channelled R1.1bn of it towards the SAA bailout.
On Saturday, more than 40 of the retrenched workers met officials from the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) to challenge the retrenchments.
In a statement last Tuesday, Nehawu condemned the retrenchments, saying they would lead to delays in the verification of qualifications of jobseekers.
What decisionmakers don’t realise is that they are taking away food from our plate.
— Kobi Masinge
Kobi Masinge, one of the retrenched staff members, said that at a meeting with Nehawu on Tuesday it was resolved that its national legal office will refer the case to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) for conciliation.
She told Sunday Times Daily that staff had requested to see the new working structure during a meeting last year but were not allowed to see it or give inputs.
“In this new redesign, we were told by SAQA management that employees will be subjected to an interview process to fight for their jobs again and that an equal chance will be given to everyone.”
She said they raised concerns that the interview process might not be fair and that “people will be selected based on favouritism”. Masinge, who has been working at SAQA for 13 years, was told candidates with a higher qualification than hers were chosen when she queried why she had not been reappointed.
“But the people appointed had no experience in the relevant position whatsoever.”
Her colleague, Rito Tshuma, who has an honours degree from the University of Johannesburg and seven years of experience working at SAQA, said he was not happy about how it handled the retrenchment process, alleging it was “not fair and objective as prescribed by the LRA [Labour Relations Act]”.
“I was not shortlisted for all the positions I applied for and people less qualified and experienced than me were shortlisted and appointed.”
He said he had been unfairly suspended since February for raising the genuine concerns of workers as president of Vesu (a body representing the non-unionised workers) and then retrenched earlier this month.
“I only learned of my retrenchment through SAQA’s lawyers and not through the HR [human resources] department.”
Tshuma, a father of three, believed he was “ousted from the organisation” because he had been vocal during negotiations with management.
There is no staff representative on this task team which is very concerning. As such, the outcomes are those that are very much anti-black.
— Rito Tshuma
In a letter to SAQA’s board in February, he wrote: “The task team that dealt with the redesign is not representative of the demographics of SAQA. There is no staff representative on this task team which is very concerning. As such, the outcomes are those that are very much anti-black.”
Joe Samuels, the former CEO of SAQA, said: “SAQA said their organisation was ‘bloated and inefficient’. Their new reduced staff structure will be ‘efficient’ and ‘effective’ to deliver on SAQA’s legal mandate. They retrenched 89 staff members. Now SAQA says they cannot deal with all their work.”
Responding to Masinge’s claim that staff were not shown the new structure, SAQA CEO Julie Reddy said it was discussed at a meeting with staff on January 26 at which Masinge was present.
She said they received 37 internal applications for the post Masinge had applied for and “the best candidates were shortlisted, interviewed and appointed”.
Commenting on Tshuma’s assertion that people less qualified and experienced than him were shortlisted and appointed, Reddy said: “We received 34 internal applications for the posts Tshuma applied for, and those who were successful not only fully met the requirements but had added advantages.”
She said the entire retrenchment process was facilitated by a commissioner from the CCMA (Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration).
She denied Tshuma was not reappointed because he was vocal in his negotiations with management, saying: “It is not true that Tshuma or anybody else’s contributions were used as a factor in the retrenchment process.”
Reddy said SAQA “fully understands the anguish that goes with losing one’s livelihood”.
“As a result, all retrenched employees have access to SAQA’s wellness programme for the next three months.”
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