I'm attacked because I stopped open season of looting at Ceta, says CEO

Shezi says he enforced strict rules at authority

- By Mawande AmaShabalala

Construction and Education Training Authority (Ceta) chief executive officer Melusi Shezi says the allegations of governance failure against him are the work of those seeking to get their hands on the R780-million annual revenue of the entity after he introduced tighter controls on procurement processes after taking over.

Shezi, who heads the Ceta, which is one of the many sector education and training authorities (Setas), says his only sin was to improve the performance of the organisation against the wishes of rogue elements who want to loot.

When he took over in 2021, Ceta was under administration, performing at a disappointing 24%. However, after Shezi implemented several reforms, including recommending forensic reports, its targets shot up to 98%.

Shezi refuted the allegations of governance failures and interference in procurement processes against him, arguing that the improved performance of the entity backs him up.

"Obviously, where there is money, there is an interest, whether for good or for bad, there will always be noise about who is in charge of such monies and funds," said Shezi during a candid interview with Sunday World Engage.

Shezi said he was well on course to take the Ceta back to its glory days before the Covid-19 pandemic, when it was collecting levies to the tune of R1-billion a year.

The revenue plummeted to a paltry R250-million at the height of Covid-19, however, since Shezi took over in 2021, it went up to R380-million. It then spiked to R400-million, and continued its upward trajectory to R600-million before hitting the impressive R780-million mark.

"We are projecting that by 2026, we should be able to go back to reach R1-billion in revenue," he said.