Non-compliant colleges closed

Rustenburg – The long arm of the law is catching up with many colleges that are either not legally registered or are enrolling students for courses they are not accredited to offer.

On Tuesday 11 February, officials from the Rustenburg Local Municipality (RLM) and the Department of Higher Education and Training closed or fined at least three colleges operating in the central business district.

Member of the mayoral committee (MMC) for planning and human settlements councillor Victoria Makhaula, as well as MMC for infrastructure and technical services councillor Lucky Kgaladi, were at the forefront of the operation.

One of the colleges was found to be offering traffic policing (N1 to N3) courses despite not having the required accreditation. 

The owners of the college were fined R5,000 and their business was closed after an inspection revealed that their building did not have fire-fighting equipment, as required by the law.  

The inspection team also discovered that another college, located in Pretorius Street, was not registered to operate in Rustenburg and was offering engineering and business studies courses despite not having the necessary accreditation to do so. 

This educational facility was also shut down and its doors will only be re-opened when it has been properly registered with the Department of Higher Education and Training.  

A third facility offering computer courses was also closed and fined R2,500 for non-accreditation and failing to equip their premises with fire extinguishers.

In an interview with Platinum Weekly, RLM spokesperson David Magae urged prospective students and their parents to scrutinise colleges thoroughly before deciding to enrol.  

“Operations by the municipality targeting bogus colleges have been ongoing since last year. We urge the community to contact the Department of Higher Education and Training to verify whether or not a college is registered,” Magae said.

“As the municipality, we can only advise because this is an area outside our jurisdiction. It would be unwise to pay for a particular course before verifying whether or not the college is registered with the relevant authorities,” Magae concluded.  

South Africa has a register of all qualifications which is managed by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) and this register is referred to as the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). 

Prospective students can find a complete list of all registered private colleges and higher education institutions at www.dhet.gov.za/SitePages/DocRegisters.aspx.