South Africa must grow TVETs to solve the tertiary space crisis and drive youth employability
During Universities South Africa’s (USAf) inaugural Thought Leadership Dialogue on 2 October 2025, Dr Denyse Webbstock, Senior Director for Institutional Planning, Evaluation and Monitoring at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), said the broader public might see increasing enrolment numbers at universities as a natural solution for the spacing crisis that South Africa is witnessing today.
However, she demonstrated that universities cannot just expand. Apart from national budget constraints, “we must also consider the quality of education provision,” she said. This raises questions of student-to-staff ratios with implications for the extent and quality of student support available, the capacity of teaching and learning infrastructure, and postgraduate students’ supervision.
Dr Webbstock said the solution lies in creating more articulation paths outside universities for those who do not get access, or do not complete. She added that this necessitates a return to the Government’s 1994 goal of strengthening the TVET sector, which was fuelled by the understanding that colleges are the engine and economic nerve centre of any developing society.
“For every professional engineer [produced in a university], for example, we need about one hundred engineering technicians [i.e. typical college products]. But do we have them?”
Dr George Mothapo (left), Secretary-General of the South African Public Colleges Organisation (SACPO) and Principal of Sedibeng TVET College, illustrated how TVET colleges are structured to generate the required technicians through aligned skills training.
TVET Colleges: Building Pathways to Work
Speaking on TVET Colleges as Feasible and Future-Oriented Post-School Education and Training Pathways, Dr Mothapo used his own Sedibeng TVET College to demonstrate that colleges, in general, design programmes matching the economic demands of their immediate locales. In the Vaal Triangle, for example, the steel industry remains a dominant source of employment, and Sedibeng’s curriculum reflects this reality. They also offer programmes linked to Rand Water and Eskom.
According to Dr Mothapo, the goal of TVET colleges is to produce graduates who can walk directly into jobs or generate employment by becoming entrepreneurs in their own right.
Learning that mirrors industry needs
The SACPO Secretary-General outlined the qualifications offered at TVET colleges, including National Accredited Technical Education Diplomas (NATED) programmes (N4 to N6 in Engineering and Business Studies) and National Certificate Vocational (NCV) programmes from Level 2 to Level 4. The latter are equivalent to Grades 10 to 12. These pathways accommodate learners with diverse academic backgrounds, including those who have completed Grade 12 and those seeking occupational skills development.
Furthermore, he said the colleges “produce artisans and occupational qualifications that are not necessarily traditional school qualifications,” highlighting Chef, Hairdressing and Plumbing training. “Ask any plumber, tiler or paver where they learned their skills. They will tell you we offer those skills at our colleges.”
He also emphasised practical exposure as a critical component of this training. “When you are on Church Street in Pretoria, opposite to the Tshwane University of Technology’s (TUT’s) Arcadia campus, please come in and get your hair, face or hair done by our students at discounted prices,” Dr Mothapo said, this time switching to the Tshwane North College in Pretoria Central as another institutional example.
“Learners enrolling with us enhance their employability,” he said with pride. “We balance our theoretical provisioning with practice to equip our learners for industry. That is why companies come to us to recruit.”
Partnerships bridging learning and employment
Industry partnerships are central to TVET operations, Dr Mothapo said, citing the Sedibeng College partnerships with Cummins and Komatsu. “Cummins & Komatsu is a company manufacturing earth-moving equipment, so next time you see a TLB, know that we produce graduates who can fix TLB engines.”
Students at a Komatsu apprenticeship. [Photo downloaded from the Komatsu site].
He went on to say that these partnerships are not symbolic. Further to granting students practical experience with specialised machinery and equipment, “Cummins & Komatsu have donated over R10 million worth of resources to support our training efforts.”
The audience learned that another partnership with Schneider Electric had yielded R2 million worth of equipment that was strengthening Sedibeng College’s training capacity in the machinery and systems found in industry settings.
Dignitaries taking a tour of the Schneiber Electric-sponsored workshop during its launch at the Vereeniging Campus of Sedibeng College in 2025. Schreiber Electric had already been sponsoring another workshop in Sebokeng since 2023. [Photos supplied by Sedibeng College].
He said such collaborations allow colleges to enhance the quality of their offerings while expanding opportunities for work-integrated learning (WIL). They also demonstrate how cooperation between the public and private sectors can supplement limited government funding for infrastructure and equipment.
Addressing funding barriers
Admitting that the industry’s funding framework can limit students’ opportunities, Dr Mothapo suggested: “We need to move away from the WIL funding models that demand completion of three years of tertiary education to benefit. Most of our students qualify in a much shorter time, yet these shorter qualifications are rarely funded or supported,” he said. He urged a review of such policies to encourage higher college graduates’ absorption into employment.
He said TVETs also experience a high dropout rate. “We’ve got systemic challenges of NSFAS [the National Student Financial Aid Scheme], which starts to pay allowances only in March,” he said, implying that the absence of material support for students in the first two months at university does push some of them out. “My college is next to two universities, the Vaal University of Technology and the Vanderbijlpark Campus of the North-West University. Our students share accommodation and therefore know that NSFAS pays a higher accommodation allowance for university students, as if they’re occupying better rooms than my students.
“We need to challenge that. It’s a systemic issue.”
Other challenges facing TVETs
When asked by USAf’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Phethiwe Matutu, whether TVET colleges could ease universities’ space constraints, Dr Mothapo explained that colleges face similar limitations. “Every year, the government tells us that if we take in more, we are on our own,” he noted, pointing to budget restrictions and infrastructure capacity as key barriers.
Beyond enrolment, colleges also struggle to meet industry demand for specific critical skills, such as diesel mechanics. Dr Mothapo said South Africa’s trucking sector is overwhelmed by “a severe shortage of diesel mechanics because there are more trucks on the road than the mechanics we produce at the college.” He would later explain that this was not a space issue, but a combination of factors:
- Limited career guidance in basic education, leaving students unaware of opportunities in motor mechanics.
- Negative perceptions of the trade as a “dirty career,” shaped by images of informal mechanics working in oil-stained gear.
- Lack of mentorship, which prevents students from seeing motor mechanics as a viable, in-demand profession.
He said undersubscription at Sedibeng College had forced them to downsize their diesel mechanics training facilities. Recruiting qualified instructors had also been difficult, realising success only after headhunting retired professionals recently. Dr Mothapo emphasised that stronger awareness campaigns could help shift perceptions and attract more students to the field.
Graduates’ employment challenges
Noting reported reluctance by some employers to recruit TVET graduates, the event Moderator, Ms Cathy Mohlahlana, asked how colleges were responding. Dr Mothapo blamed that on a lack of appreciation in some quarters of the quality of training available at TVETs. “We now organise business breakfasts for prospective employers to explain our training offerings and demonstrate our students’ value,” he said.
Limited articulation to universities
Dr Mothapo acknowledged that articulation remains limited. “Universities do not recognise NATED qualifications the same way they do matric [the National School Certificate],” he added. “We need greater integration between TVETs and universities to make mobility seamless.”
From the audience, Ms Relebogile Mashile (left), a Chartered Accountant and Senior Lecturer at the University of Pretoria, asked whether the aim of improving articulation is to help TVET students advance into university studies or to strengthen their trade qualifications. Dr Mothapo responded that both pathways are necessary. “We have students who do desire to go into university. That is the exact reason why I said we do not have a one-size-fits-all solution,” he said.
He explained that while some colleges have initiated bilateral arrangements with universities, a broader national framework is required. “Various colleges approach universities in their individual capacity to create streamlined articulation processes. However, that is an outdated model. What we need is a conversation between all colleges and all universities so that any student can move from any college to any university in the country.”
He added that a new dual-enrolment model is being explored, allowing students to register for modules at both a college and a university. “This would allow them to complete some modules simultaneously and reduce the time needed to obtain a degree,” he said.
Some of the in-person delegates at the USAf’s inaugural Thought Leadership event comprised senior academics, representatives of TVET colleges, professional education bodies, career development organisations, corporate foundations, and education-focused non-governmental organisations.
Equipping students for future jobs
Although the national development plan target is to grow TVET enrolments from the current 550,000 to 2,500,000 by 2030, Dr Mothapo was emphatic: “We will not reach that number. Rather than produce more unemployed graduates, we have shifted our focus to ensuring that those who exit the system can pursue one of three pathways: immediate employment, entrepreneurship, or articulation into university.”
He highlighted the introduction of new occupational programmes accredited by the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO), noting their impressive success rate of around 99%. By contrast, the success rate for students enrolled in the NCV (equivalent to Grades 10 and 11) is only 10%. “It’s not value for money when 90% cannot make it,” he explained. This necessitated a review of NCV offerings in favour of more viable programmes, such as cybersecurity technicians training through the college’s Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) laboratories.
Dr Mothapo added: “We also offer programmes in robotics and mechatronics (above) — skills in high demand at Volkswagen (VW). If you visit their plants in Gqeberha, Fort Hare, or Pretoria, you will see these skills in action. We equip our students with modern technologies aligned to industrial growth and national development, while fostering industry partnerships to enhance employability.”
He also referred to opportunities for collaboration between TVET colleges, Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs), universities, and research councils. Such partnerships, he explained, allow colleges to align programmes with emerging sectors including renewable energy, green manufacturing, and digital services. Evidence-based planning, he said, would strengthen the impact of limited funding and improve graduate outcomes.
Thoriso Kolobe is a Communication Consultant contracted to Universities South Africa.
