Edition February 2026

As South Africa’s economy evolves, so too must the skills that drive it. Few sectors reflect this transformation more clearly than those under the Culture, Arts, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport Sector Education and Training Authority (Cathsseta). 

Cathsseta is one of 21 Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) established under the Skills Development Act of 1998  and is tasked with nurturing talent across some of the country’s most dynamic industries. 

In an interview with Public Sector Manager magazine, Cathsseta Chief Executive Officer Marks Thibela revealed that the training authority is embracing change and strengthening its training and development focus to ensure that South Africans are Cathsseta presides over six diverse subsectors that play a vital role in employment and economic growth. 

“We preside over six subsectors, the highest being hospitality and it pays us up to 65% in levies, followed by tourism and travel services at 12%, sport recreation and fitness at 9%, arts, culture and heritage at 7%, conservation at 5%, and the remainder from gaming.”

Mandate

Thibela explained that the SETA’s mandate is threefold: “we develop sector skills plans, facilitate the development of qualifications and implement learning programmes”. 

These efforts are guided by frameworks issued by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) to ensure that SETAs remain responsive to industry needs and policy direction.

Sector Skills Plans 

For one to say they are developing sector skills plans, Thibela believes that they need to get levy-paying employers. 

“Within our sector, we are sitting with around 40 000 constituent members, of which only 17 000 pay the skills levies. The rest are small enterprises that do not have a payroll exceeding R500 000,” he explained.

The Skills Development Levies Act of 1998 requires employers with a payroll of more than R500 000 to contribute 1% of that amount to the South African Revenue Service (SARS). 

“SARS takes 2% for administration purposes, the National Skills Fund receives 18%, and the Seta keeps the remaining 80%. About 20% of the 80% goes towards mandatory grants,” Thibela explained.

Skills mismatch

While the system provides a clear funding model, Thibela said that SETA's face a major challenge of ensuring that training aligns with market needs. He added that currently, the skills mismatch is a big issue. SETA's are training on courses that are not demanded by employers,” he admitted.

“The challenge we are sitting with is that employers are not submitting their workplace skills plans. Out of the 17 000 employers that pay us, only about 2 000 are submitting the plans, resulting in a skewed picture because we have a legal requirement to produce annual plans”.

Cathsseta compensates for this data gap through in-house research. Thibela said out of the 2 000 plans, one employer may allege that they are struggling to employ a lodge manager, which becomes a critical skill that skews the overall picture. 

“To address this, we recently conducted research studies across all six subsectors”.

New and evolving skills

Thibela quoted a recent study by North West University, which he said uncovered new and evolving skills needs within the conservation sector. 

“The research found that there was a need for AI, geographical information systems, digital engagement and social media coordination, technology training, conservation coordination, wildlife monitoring systems and online reservations management,” he explained.

He added that there was also a growing need for social-ecological integration officers to ensure that communities are involved in conservation efforts, as well as roles requiring resource planning, monitoring and digital literacy.

“What really surprised us,” he noted, “was when human resource (HR) management came out as a critical need. We discovered that many people in the conservation sector started as farmers and later converted their land into conservation areas. These individuals have never managed people before, but now they are running operations that require HR skills to deal with issues like discipline, wellness and staff retention”.

Adapting to change

Thibela explained that the focus of SETA's has shifted since their inception. This is because when they started, the main focus was to look at the employed, because the money comes from the employers. However, due to socio-economic challenges in the country, SETA's were redirected to fund the unemployed. 

“That is where you see us ramping up training, which is now criticised for not addressing industry needs. The needs are not coming from the industry as we request. We need stronger collaboration from employers in identifying skills gaps,” he explained.

Once Cathsseta develops its Sector Skills Plan, it works with employers and training providers to channel discretionary grants into priority areas. It also develops qualifications from NQF level 1 to 8. 

“We stop at NQF level 8 because SETA's sit on one side of the national qualifications framework while universities sit on the academic side. We develop occupationally based qualifications,” Thibela said. 

The authority is currently updating its qualifications to reflect industry realities and the process is expected to end in June.

He urged employers under the SETA  to play their part by proving information on relevant qualifications and the relevant NQF levels for those qualifications.

Employment creation

Thibela said Cathsseta is now placing greater emphasis on working with partners that contribute to job creation. 

“We are looking for projects that have a high impact. When a partner comes to us and says they want to collaborate, we ask a simple question: how many permanent jobs will you create?,”  he said giving an example of  SANParks, which has committed to creating employment and entrepreneurship programmes. 

“The partnership we entered into has guaranteed employment for a specific number of people. We have also built strong ties with the private sector. We have entered into a partnership with McDonald’s South Africa to train 1 300 learners, of which 80% will be absorbed into permanent employment,” Thibela noted.

Through forward-looking research, modernised qualifications, and high-impact partnerships, Cathsseta is positioning itself as a driver of transformation and opportunity.

“Our goal is to ensure that the people we train are employable, that the qualifications we offer remain relevant, and that every partnership we forge contributes meaningfully to job creation and sector growth. That is how we embrace change – by preparing South Africans for the skills of tomorrow, today,” he concluded. ❖