SETA is not one organisation. There are 21 Sector Education and Training Authorities, each covering a different industry, and every one of them has its own offices, its own levy account and its own contact numbers. Searching for a general SETA number will not get you far until you know which of the 21 covers your employer or your qualification. If you do not know, the department that oversees all of them is the right first call.
Official contact channels
These are the Department of Higher Education and Training numbers, which cover the SETA system as a whole:
- DHET call centre: 0800 87 2222
- DHET call centre email: [email protected]
- DHET head office switchboard: 012 312 5911
- Career helpline, for study, learnership and apprenticeship advice: 086 999 0123
The call centre is the number to use when you do not know which SETA applies to you. The career helpline is a different service and answers questions about what to study and where, rather than levy, grant or accreditation questions, which belong with the individual SETA.
Services and responsibilities
SETAs are established under the Skills Development Act. Each one receives a share of the skills development levy paid by employers in its sector and puts it back into training through mandatory and discretionary grants. They also accredit training providers, register learnerships and apprenticeships, quality assure the training that results and publish a sector skills plan for their industry. The practical consequence is that a levy question, a grant claim and an accreditation application all go to the same place: the SETA that covers the employer, not the department.
These are the 21 SETAs and their official websites, as listed by DHET:
- AgriSETA, agriculture: agriseta.co.za
- BANKSETA, banking: bankseta.org.za
- CATHSSETA, culture, arts, tourism, hospitality and sport: cathsseta.org.za
- CETA, construction: ceta.org.za
- CHIETA, chemical industries: chieta.org.za
- ETDP SETA, education, training and development practices: etdpseta.org.za
- EWSETA, energy and water: ewseta.org.za
- FASSET, finance, accounting and related services: fasset.org.za
- FoodBev SETA, food and beverages: foodbev.co.za
- FP and M SETA, fibre processing and manufacturing: fpmseta.org.za
- HWSETA, health and welfare: hwseta.org.za
- INSETA, insurance: inseta.org.za
- LGSETA, local government: lgseta.org.za
- merSETA, manufacturing, engineering and related services: merseta.org.za
- MICT SETA, media, information and communication technologies: mict.org.za
- MQA, mining qualifications: mqa.org.za
- PSETA, public service: pseta.org.za
- SASSETA, safety and security: sasseta.org.za
- Services SETA: servicesseta.org.za
- TETA, transport: teta.org.za
- W and R SETA, wholesale and retail: wrseta.org.za
Two entries on the DHET page are worth checking against the list above before you click them. The EWSETA entry displays ewseta.org.za but links to eseta.org.za, which is a different address, and Services SETA appears in one place spelled with a single s in the middle. The spellings above are the working ones.
Office and address information
- DHET head office: Pretoria, 0001
- DHET postal address: Private Bag X174, Pretoria, 0001
Each SETA runs its own head office and most keep provincial or regional offices as well, with those addresses published on the individual SETA websites rather than centrally. Walking into the DHET head office with a levy, grant or accreditation query will not help, because the department sets policy and monitors performance while the SETAs administer the money and the accreditation.
Applications and escalation
Almost everything an employer or a learner needs is handled by the SETA rather than by the department:
- Workplace skills plan and annual training report submissions, which unlock the mandatory grant
- Discretionary grant applications, bursaries and learnership funding
- Accreditation as a training provider, and registration of assessors and moderators
- Certificates for completed learnerships, apprenticeships and skills programmes
The levy itself is the exception. The skills development levy is collected by SARS from employers through the monthly EMP201 declaration, so a question about whether a levy was paid, or about the amount, starts with SARS and the payroll records rather than with the SETA.
If a SETA does not resolve a matter, the DHET call centre on 0800 87 2222 is the escalation point, and the National Skills Authority at nationalskillsauthority.org.za advises the Minister on skills development policy and on SETA performance. Serious governance failures at a SETA are referred by the Minister to that authority, and the department publishes those referrals in its media statements, so a SETA that has stopped responding may already be under intervention.
Sources
- dhet.gov.za contact page, for the call centre, career helpline, switchboard and postal address
- dhet.gov.za SETA links page, for the list of all 21 SETAs and their official websites
- dhet.gov.za media statements, for the referral of SETA governance matters to the National Skills Authority
All contact details on this page were read from the department own website and verified on 2 September 2026.