How much is CETA stipend?

Some 1 100 students at Capricorn TVET College allege that they were taken for a ride by the college management, following dissimilarities concerning a construction learnership programme that they started in June last year.Students claimed they were supposed to receive a R1 500 stipend every month, but they only received it once this year in April, whereas they started with the learnership last year.

“We were told to be grateful and keep our mouths shut when we asked why we had to complete their private buildings whereas we could be doing something better for charity organisations,” said one of the students.

Capricorn TVET College public relations officer, Justice Lebopa, said they were aware of the matter and were communicating with the Construction Education and Training Authority (Ceta) for the money to be paid into the students’ accounts.

“We do not know of the 1 100 students. We are only dealing with 400 students whose contracts we stopped to finalise the issue of accreditation as we noticed later during the learnership that programmes involving 400 students were not accredited. These students were involved in courses such as electrical construction and plumbing among others. Students will continue with their learnership programme on July 1. The learnership programme is managed by Ceta not the college hence everything should be done via them,” he said.

He added that they needed to verify students’ documents and forward the list to Ceta so that they can pay the stipends directly to the students’ accounts. He said the students were paid according to their attendance. “We cannot pay anyone who does not attend their lessons accordingly. First we need to check the attendance register and forward the list to Ceta for the money to be transferred,” added Lebopa.

Asked about the private buildings owned by college officials, he said the college was not aware of it, but said they would investigate the matter and get to the bottom of it.

One of the facilitators said they were hired in June, but their contracts were terminated in October without valid reasons. “We were paid from June up until November. We did not get our money in December. They should at least compensate us somehow since they are the ones who stopped our contracts. There were also unreasonable deductions on our salaries, but they do not reflect on the pay slip. If they want us to continue with the programme, they need to pay the remaining money they owe us first,” he said.

CETA stands for Construction Education and Training Authority. This company provides CETA learnerships to the construction industry of South Africa. Their services ensure that all the people in the construction industry that are taught by them meet the requirements of this industry. They offer hands-on training to many companies in this industry and delivers well-educated people to the workforce.

CETA learnerships usually include most fields that have an impact on the construction industry. Their programs offer selected candidates theoretical and practical training enhancing the educational process.