The State Information Technology Agency (SITA) has asked for yet another deadline extension to clear the backlog of outstanding certificates for the National Certificate Vocational qualification.
The state's ICT procurement agency asked the portfolio committee of the Department of Higher Education and Training for an extension to June.
This move follows the commitment made by SITA last year, that it would clear the backlog of certificates owed to graduates.
This week, the portfolio committee heard that SITA was unable to meet its 31 January deadline.
The committee called on SITA to prioritise the issue of certification backlogs in order to allow young South Africans an opportunity to be on the job market.
Chairperson of the committee Yvonne Phosa said failure to deliver on this area of service delivery affected many young lives and their employability.
"The committee is adopting a zero-tolerance approach on this issue. This is about the lives of those students who are affected. These are people who are suffering as a result of poor performance by the entity despite all the efforts government is making to increase access to education," said Phosa.
"The failure of clearing the backlogs talks to lack of responsiveness to the needs of young South Africans and reflects badly on the entity," she stated.
SITA has been tasked with issuing graduate certificates for the period 2007 to 2011, with 129 932 technical and vocational education graduates still without their certificates.
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