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Johannesburg - A payment dispute involving the Construction Education & Training Authority (CETA) is expected to be settled by the end of the year.
The CETA, which has been under fire for non-payment of millions of rands owed to suppliers, expects to start the New Year with a "clean slate".
"We have processed all invoices for September and October and by the year-end we will have paid all current invoices," says Teboho Thejane, newly appointed chief executive.
"We have been burning the midnight oil in our efforts to get our creditors up to date and eliminate the backlog."
Non-payment to service-providers has led to angry exchanges in the media involving trainers, employers, industry bodies and CETA, accompanied by charges and counter-charges of mismanagement and corruption.
Trade union Solidarity last week called for an official audit after the authority called on the SAPS to investigate corruption charges totalling R150m.
The charges relate to false claims submitted by training providers for the registration of "ghost learners".
Solidarity said Ceta had managed to overspend its budget by R250m, after - according to Ceta claims - too many learners were registered in an attempt to expedite a solution to the skills shortage in the construction industry.
"Ceta still owes training providers R69m in this regard. The situation has deteriorated to the extent that some of the training providers have not been paid.
"Training providers are now at risk of being liquidated, which would also bring to an end the training of many learners," said Solidarity's director of training, Theuns Steenkamp.
Ceta entered into R452.7m worth of memorandums of agreement with training providers for the future training of learners.
According to Ceta, this amount was in addition to the existing R250m overspend.
Settling the non-payment dispute became a priority for Thejane when he assumed executive control of CETA following the sudden resignation of its former CEO, Themba Dlamini.
"We want to start 2006 with a clean slate, both with our accounting records, and also from the viewpoint of our relationships with our various stakeholders, including training providers and the Master Builders Association," Thejane said.
Some members of MBA have expressed bitter criticism over the conduct of affairs by CETA management.
Thejane, who joined CETA in September in the middle of the non-payment crisis, added: "I believe we have buried the hatchet with the MBA, though some issues have still to be resolved.
"CETA is not beyond criticism - indeed I welcome it if it is constructive and contributes to our joint purpose, which is building skills in the interests of the construction sector and our country."