The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it will refer the Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Nobuhle Nkabane to the Ethics Committee for misleading Parliament.

🚨 The DA will refer Minister Nobuhle Nkabane to the ethics committee for misleading Parliament when she stated that all members of the SETA Board Panel were independent.

The panel had ANC-aligned cadres, her office staff, and the department’s officials: https://t.co/i0jAlRvrmh…

— Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) June 17, 2025

The party says Nkabane misled the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training when she stated that all members of the Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) Board Chairpersons Selection and Evaluation Panel were independent.

This is after the minister released the names of the panel which reportedly assisted her in making appointments that caused a public outcry and she ended up withdrawing them.

The DA’s national spokesperson Karabo Khakhau says the names of the panel are not independent but rather an indication of what she’s described as cadre deployment.

“This is a clear indictment. This was a clear case of cadre deployment. We also want the second name of the person that was missing that the minister is concealing is refusing to reveal who that person,” says Khakhau.

She say the DA will request that all the minutes of the panel be made available to the committee, in full as well as reports sent to the National Skills Authority for final consideration of the appointments.