What is a SETA?
A Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) is a body established under the Skills Development Act (RSA, 1998c) whose main purpose is to contribute to the improvement of skills in South Africa through achieving a more favourable balance between demand and supply, and by ensuring that education and training • acknowledges and enhances the skills of the current work force, (in addition to ensuring that new entrants to the labour market are adequately trained) • meets agreed standards within a national framework • is provided subject to validation and quality assurance; and • where appropriate, is benchmarked against international standards (NTB, 1999). The full list of SETA functions is contained in the Skills Development Act (RSA, 1998c). Those which affect SAQA’s work most directly are that SETAs • are accredited by SAQA as ETQAs within the economic sector (distinguished in Regulation 2(3) of the ETQA Regulations (RSA, 1998a) from the education & training sector and the social sec
