ANC's Mbalula says there was no intent from Nkabane to mislead Parliament

JOHANNESBURG - The African National Congress (ANC) says its deployed Minister of Higher Education Nobuhle Nkabane did not "lie" to Parliament but made a "mistake" with the appointments of the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) chairpersons.

Nkabane recently came under pressure after announcing SETA chairpersons, which included a number of ANC-linked persons.

The minister later told Parliament that the names of the chairpersons were recommended to her by an independent advisory panel, which was dominated by people working in her department.

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The ANC has been under pressure from some of its Government of National Unity (GNU) partners to take action against Nkabane for lying to Parliament.

The minister submitted a list to Parliament, which said her "independent" advisory panel was chaired by Advocate Terry Motau.

However, she was forced to rescind Motau's name after he wrote to Parliament saying that he played no part in the appointment of the politically connected SETA chairpersons.

At a media briefing on Monday, ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula said the minister had corrected her mistake by restarting the entire process.

"There was no intent to mislead Parliament and certainly no malice. Upon becoming aware of the error, the minister promptly apologised to Parliament and issued a formal written apology to Motau, personally and publicly, acknowledging the mistake and correcting the record."

Mbalula has accused the Democratic Alliance (DA) of "performative politics" by laying a perjury case against Nkabane with the police.