As the 2026 academic year looms, South Africa’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training sector finds itself at a critical crossroads. While campuses prepare to welcome thousands of students, a profound leadership vacuum and a chronic shortage of specialist educators threaten to undermine the very institutions tasked with solving the nation’s skills crisis. South Africa’s 50 registered public Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges are bracing for the return of students in the coming weeks.
However, the halls may be emptier than expected, not of pupils, but of teachers. Professor Mbulungeni Madiba, Dean of Education at Stellenbosch University, warns that colleges are grappling with a severe lack of qualified staff, particularly in high-tech fields like mechatronics. Daily Maverick spoke to Madiba, Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training Mimmy Gondwe, and the Deputy Director-General responsible for TVET colleges, Sam Zungu, on the readiness of colleges for the 2026 academic year and plans to overcome the challenges that were faced in 2025.
According to Madiba, the shortage of TVET lecturers is driven by systemic and interconnected factors, including the strong pull of industry, where qualified artisans, engineers and IT professionals earn significantly higher salaries and enjoy greater professional prestige than in TVET teaching. He says there is a failure to retain teachers. In January 2025, the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education noted that students of Taletso TVET College in Mafikeng, North West, were struggling due to unfilled critical posts, including a permanent principal and other positions in corporate, academic and innovation services, among other things.
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Daily Maverick questioned Zungu about this, and he confirmed that the acting principal, MZ Nkomo, had been permanently appointed on 1 April 2025. Other colleges advertising principal positions include the King Hintsa, Lovedale, Mthashana and Gert Sibande colleges, and “recruitment processes are under way”, said Zungu. He added that the Department of Higher Education and Training was also offering bursaries for lecturers to upskill their qualifications in scarce skills areas.
With the academic year set to start, Zungu says the plans for 2026 include: In 2025, funding delays at the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) hindered students, resulting in protests that damaged campus infrastructure. In June 2025, theDemocratic Alliance condemnedthe burning of the offices of the Northern Cape Urban TVET College after students protested due to delays in receiving their NSFAS allowances.
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