DA lays criminal charge against Higher Education Minister Nkabane
The party said it doesn’t believe the move is premature, and that by Nkabane’s own admission and the facts presented to Parliament show that she misled them over the appointment of boards for Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs).
DA federal chairperson Helen Zille outside the Cape Town Police Station on 1 July 2025, ahead of laying criminal charges against Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane. Picture: Lindsay Dentlinger / Eyewitness News
CAPE TOWN - The Democratic Alliance (DA) has laid a criminal charge against Higher Education Minister, Nobuhle Nkabane, at the Cape Town Central Police Station.
The party said it doesn’t believe the move is premature, and that by Nkabane’s own admission and the facts presented to Parliament show that she misled them over the appointment of boards for Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs).
Nkabane filled the independent panel that ostensibly advised her on the SETA board appointments with staffers from her office.
DA Member of Parliament (MP) Karabo Khakhau, who exposed the appointment of African National Congress (ANC) cadres to these boards, has laid the charges in terms of the Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament Act.
The party’s federal chairperson, Helen Zille, said President Cyril Ramaphosa has displayed double standards by firing its member, Andrew Whitfield, as a deputy minister for unsanctioned personal travel, while the ANC is not acting against its own errant members.
“This was a blatant lie to Parliament and a misleading of Parliament. This has been held in the past to be fraud and lying to Parliament, and fraud, are two criminal contraventions. They are not just indiscretions, or lack of consideration, or perhaps disrespect, as some people believe has been shown to President Ramaphosa by our colleague, Andrew Whitfield,” said Zille.