ISETT SETA dismissals revealed

Johannesburg, 24 Oct 2007

The Information Systems, Electronics and Telecommunications Technologies Sector Education and Training Authority (ISETT SETA) dismissed five executives in the financial year ended 31 March.

The "terminations" reveal the moves taken by the board and CEO Oupa Mopaki to clean up the much-maligned organisation.

According to the organisation`s 2006/07 annual report, the executives consisted of four African males and one white male. The departments involved were finance and administration, education and training quality assurance, operations and sector skills planning.

Turning the corner

Earlier this year, Mopaki told ITWeb that its problems with Parliament`s Portfolio Committee on Labour had been as a result of its financial management. This had led to qualified audits being issued in its 2004/05 and 2006/07 financial years.

These had unfortunately overshadowed its operational performance, he said.

However, he remained confident that these challenges had been sufficiently dealt with during the year.

"I am very pleased that we have overcome the problems around our financials. Now we need to focus on ensuring the rest of the business is performing optimally. Moving forward, we need to address the efficiency and effectiveness of our processes and see what improvements can be made. We are turning the corner," he explained.

Improved performance

This year, the auditor general (AG) issued the training authority with an unqualified audit. However, he highlighted several "emphasis of matter".

The first notes the SETA does not have a legislative mandate to obtain and maintain source documentation to support revenue. As a result, it experienced difficulties in ensuring revenue was recorded on a complete and accurate basis.

The AG says the National Treasury has amended the accounting policy on revenue recognition to take legislative constraints into account and the new accounting policy became effective on 1 April.

The AG also notes that discretionary grant commitments amounted to R91.475 million, while the discretionary grant reserve amounted to only R80.132 million. He explains the discretionary grant reserve had been reduced as a result of prior year errors, which were adjusted in the current year. Accordingly, commitments were not fully covered by available reserves.

Operational success

Meanwhile, ISETT SETA continues to deliver and exceed on the operational directives set out in the National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS).

All targets on the 13 NSDS objectives were achieved, says the organisation.

Says Mopaki: "A performance rating of 120% [from the Department of Labour] suggests ISETT SETA is continuing to live up to its legislative mandate to deliver skills development programmes in the ICT sector."

However, he admits there are still challenges within the organisation.

"The introduction and implementation of new financial policies, processes and systems, and the further training of staff members played a crucial role in turning the financial performance of the ISETT SETA around.

"It is also recognised that policies, processes and systems alone can not deliver results; it is how employees appreciate these tools and their attitude towards taking full advantage of all the support systems in place for us to be able to take the ISETT SETA to the next level of performance."