Higher Education and Training Minister Buti Manamela has tabled a R149.2 billion budget anchored on what he described as a “skills revolution” intended to strengthen the link between education, work, and industrial development.
The department’s Budget Vote presented in Parliament on Tuesday, is aimed at driving digital transformation, expanding technical and vocational training, and repositioning South Africa’s post-school education and training system to respond more directly to employment and economic needs.
Manamela stressed that the budget must become more than a budget of transfers, but a budget of “transformation, coordination, skills, accountability, and outcomes.”
The department’s allocation for the 2026/27 financial year has increased from R142.4 billion in 2025/26 to R149.2 billion, while total spending over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework is projected at R468 billion.
Transfers and subsidies account for R134.9 billion, or 90.4% of the total allocation.
Universities remain the largest component of the budget, receiving R100.1 billion, representing approximately 82.4% of the programme budget.
Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges receive R14.7 billion, reflecting a 6.3% increase as government intensifies efforts to position TVET institutions as centres of occupational and technical skills development.
Community Education and Training (CET) colleges receive R3.3 billion, which Manamela acknowledged highlighted the structural underfunding of the sector.
Manamela noted that TVET and CET colleges are still under-scaled relative to the size of the country’s population and the demands of its economy.
“TVET is central to the production of mid-level technical and vocational skills. CET provides the second-chance opportunities that reconnect young people and adults to the education and training system. Both must grow — and both must improve,” the Minister said.
The Minister announced that the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is projected to increase from R48.8 billion in 2025/26 to R54.6 billion by 2028/29, with skills levy income projected to rise from R27.7 billion in 2026/27 to R31.1 billion by 2028/29.
Manamela said the budget priorities centred around three strategic areas, including digital transformation, the skills revolution, and reshaping the size and structure of the post-school education and training system.
He announced plans to expand online and digital learning platforms, modernise data systems, introduce online TVET and CET offerings, and strengthen digital career guidance services.
The department also plans to deepen investment in artificial intelligence, software development, cybersecurity and data-related skills through partnerships with leading technology companies.
“The real question is whether the system can plan, teach, track, fund and connect people to opportunity at the speed and scale that the moment requires,” Manamela said.
The Minister said the “skills revolution” would focus on occupational qualifications, apprenticeships and artisan development, workplace-integrated learning, regional industrial skills compacts, and employer participation.
Among the targets announced were the establishment of five regional industrial skills compacts, employer participation agreements through Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs), and increased artisan and occupational skills training.
Manamela said government is finalising the university enrolment plan for 2025 to 2030, develop a five-year TVET enrolment plan, auditing the CET landscape, and continue work on new institutions, including the proposed Ekurhuleni University and new medical and veterinary schools.
“We are converting agricultural colleges into higher education colleges, and we are addressing student housing and infrastructure as the precondition for any meaningful expansion.”
He stressed that the effectiveness of the budget would ultimately be judged by whether it improved opportunities for young people.
“The test of this Budget Vote is not whether the department spends. The test is whether a young person in Mitchells Plain, in Giyani, in Rustenburg, in Lusikisiki, in Kuruman, in Mdantsane, or in Soweto, can see — and can walk — a pathway from learning to livelihood,” Manamela said. – SAnews.gov.za
