CEO rejects Transport Seta scandal claims
· Citizen
The chief executive officer of the transport education and training authority (Teta), Maphefo Anno-Frempong, has dismissed allegations of poor governance and claims the authority failed to approve discretionary grants last year.
The delays, she said, were the result of compliance concerns, audit findings and a board transition that left the institution without approval authority for several months.
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Recent media reports alleged she colluded with a private entity to manage millions in grant funding.
CEO of Transport Seta rejects allegations of collusion
Anno-Frempong rejected the allegation and in a public letter, the authority and its board have disputed the claims, citing a probity audit that revealed discrepancies in the grant allocation process.
According to the allegations, R384 million in discretionary grants for the 2025-26 financial year were not approved at the start of the cycle in April last year.
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Critics have said Teta hardly approved grants during the period, stalling new programmes. Anno-Frempong said implicated staff in possible irregularities may have approached the media to deflect scrutiny.
She said the delays followed the discovery of compliance irregularities in the allocation process and the expiry of the board’s term before approvals could be finalised.
Teta’s financial year runs from April to March. Anno-Frempong said by November 2024, discretionary grants for the 2025-26 financial year were advertised, with applications closing in early December via an online system.
Notice state incomplete submissions
The notice, she said, explicitly stated incomplete submissions would not be evaluated and would be rejected.
The evaluation committee set up to manage applications then initially recommended allocations totalling R450 million.
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After internal adjustments, the recommended amount was reduced to R384 million and prepared for submission to the board in March 2025.
But an internal audit report issued in January 2025 flagged material irregularities in the previous grant cycle, she said.
Anno-Frempong said auditors rated the findings at the highest level of concern.
Highest level of concern
When the fresh process was subjected to further scrutiny, inconsistencies were found.
Legal compliance checks conducted before board submission identified 10 companies on the recommended schedule that were deregistered.
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Anno-Frempong said more than half of the applications reflected inconsistencies or non-compliance.
The board, whose term expired on 31 March, 2025, met on 25 March to consider the recommendations.
According to Anno-Frempong, board members debated whether it was appropriate to commit an incoming board to a large allocation decision days before its term ended.
‘Ethical dilemma’
“They had an ethical dilemma,” she said.
The board resolved to defer approval and allow the incoming board to apply its mind to the process.
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But no new board was appointed until September 2025.
In May, the higher education minister secured limited Public Finance Management Act authority from the finance minister allowing Seta CEOs to perform certain board functions temporarily.
Anno-Frempong said authority did not extend to approving discretionary grant allocations under the Skills Development Act.
Multi-year training programmes limited
“A legal opinion advised that I could not approve the allocations in the absence of a board,” she said.
During this period, multi-year training programmes continued in limited form.
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