‘R130m security training was waste of time’

Over 6,500 people did not receive certificates to find jobs

“They told us we’d be qualified for jobs in law enforcement and security. But when the programme ended, we didn’t get certificates and the training providers vanished.”

This is how Roxanne Hyster, a Cape Town resident, described her time spent in a controversial employment initiative managed by the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSiRA) and funded by the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) to the tune of R130m.

She is one of the 6,507 unemployed people who completed the training, but never received certificates or accreditation. The UIF training project was meant to upskill unemployed individuals in the security-related field as well as computer skills to improve their employability.

“It was just a waste of my time. I spent two months practically playing with them,” the 35-year-old woman said.

Today, Hyster is still unemployed.

On Wednesday, parliament’s portfolio committee on policy called for the suspension of the director and CFO of PSiRA after revelations of irregularities and possible fraud involving the R130m project. 

This was after PSiRA appeared before the committee to report on the programme, but was unable to account for why more than 6,000 people were not accredited. 

Another beneficiary, Letsielo Kotoloane from the Free State, said he spent two weeks being trained on security and computer skills by SA Tiger Security, a security company in Bloemfontein.

After those two weeks, they were told that the training was over and they should attend a ceremony to collect their certificates. However, no one showed up and they never received their certificates, he said.

He said when they investigated further, they were informed that SA Tiger Security was just a security company and not accredited to give any type of training.

“We complained to PSiRA about the problem and they told us that we were not going to get our certificates because the people who trained us did not have the proper qualifications to train us, that they were only qualified to be a security company and not a training one,” he said.

We took the matter to PSiRA, even spoke to the department of employment and labour and got the CCMA involved, but our efforts were not enough, nothing has been done.Jenna Hyster, trainee

“It was a waste of time. We were promised certificates and jobs. We did basic computer literacy training, but when it came time for the certificate ceremony, the people who had welcomed us disappeared,” he said.

Sowetan contacted SA Tiger Security for comment, but the person who answered the phone hung up and kept declining the call afterwards. He also did not respond to a text message.

Another trainee, Jenna Hyster, who is Roxanne's aunt, said: “We worked hard and we were given so much hope because at the end of the day, we were all desperate for work, but it was all for nothing. We took the matter to PSiRA, even spoke to the department of employment and labour and got the CCMA involved, but our efforts were not enough, nothing has been done.”

“When we spoke to PSiRA, they told us that there was an accreditation issue with the company that was training us.”

During the parliamentary session on Wednesday, the auditor-general revealed that though 6,507 learners were trained, only 118 were officially accredited with security qualifications from MICSeta.

It was also revealed that the programme was launched in 2019 and intended to run for six months. However, it continued for five years before being discontinued.

The AG also reported that more than R30m was paid upfront to a supplier before any training had commenced.

PSiRA said Khunjulwa Managed Services (KMS) was given the contract to provide the training. It also admitted that some learner records were still being verified and most of those who were trained either failed to complete the programme or were never properly assessed.

Sowetan visited the KMS offices in Midrand on Thursday. A staff member who identified herself as Thando confirmed the company was engaged in legal proceedings with PSiRA over the contract.

“We have legal arrangements with PSiRA. It’s irresponsible for them not to be upfront. We did our part,” she said.

When Sowetan asked for the contacts of the director and of the lawyer handling the matter, she declined to share them.

Some of the people who claim to have fallen victim to the training programme offered by KMS took their frustrations to social media.

In a 2021 Facebook post, Sabelo Nkosi said: “There was a programme in 2019 in Standerton. We did a seven-unit computer literacy programme. How do I get my certificate?”

In the same year, Nathi Ncele posted that after a three-month contract began, “we didn’t receive stipends. We signed a 12-month learnership contract and nothing came of it.”

Sowetan reached out to the department of labour's Teboho Thobejane for a comment. He then referred Sowetan to the UIF's Trevor Hatting who had not responded at the time of publication.

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