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What is CHIETA?
CHIETA is the Chemical Industries Education and Training Authority. It is one of South Africa’s 21 Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs), the statutory bodies set up under the Skills Development Act of 1998 to plan and fund skills development for each sector of the economy. CHIETA’s sector is the chemical industries: it works out which skills employers in the sector need, and it funds training, learnerships and bursaries to supply them, both for people already working in the sector and for people trying to enter it.
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In short, CHIETA means the Chemical Industries Education and Training Authority, the SETA for employers in the chemical sector. This guide covers what CHIETA does, which industries fall under it, how training providers are accredited for its qualifications, and how its grants, learnerships and bursaries work. If your search for CHIETA courses is really about accredited training in business, management or workplace skills, BOTI’s accredited training courses list the QCTO and SETA programmes BOTI is accredited to offer, for employers and individual learners alike.
Who oversees CHIETA?
CHIETA falls under the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), the department responsible for post-school education and training. Because it manages public money raised through the skills levy, CHIETA reports to the department and is governed by the Public Finance Management Act. Under the Minister’s June 2026 Directive on pre-2009 qualifications[1], SETAs also report quarterly to the Minister through SAQA on qualification development, provider accreditation and enrolments.
Like the other SETAs, CHIETA started operating in 2000. All 21 SETAs, CHIETA included, are licensed until 31 March 2030. In February 2026 the President announced that the SETAs will be rationalised, and in April 2026 the Department of Higher Education and Training said it expected to take options to Cabinet during the 2026/27 financial year. Until a decision is announced, CHIETA continues to collect its share of the levy and to run its grants, learnerships and bursaries.
Which industries fall under CHIETA?
CHIETA serves employers in the chemical industries. Its sub-sectors include pharmaceuticals, base chemicals, speciality chemicals, surface coatings, petroleum, fertilisers, explosives, glass and fast-moving consumer goods. Activities within CHIETA’s scope include:
- petroleum refining and synthesis, and the wholesale and retail trade in solid, liquid and gaseous fuels
- coke oven products and the processing of nuclear fuel
- nitrogen compounds and fertilisers, including organic fertiliser, and other chemicals and raw materials used in agriculture
- plastics and synthetic rubber
- paints, varnishes and similar coatings, mastics and printing ink
- medicinal chemicals, pharmaceuticals and botanical products
- soap, detergents and other cleaning compounds, and chemically based personal care and beauty products
- speciality chemicals for industrial use
- explosives and pyrotechnic products
- glass and glassware, including glass containers, kitchenware, tableware and scientific, clock and watch glasses, and other non-metallic mineral products
- primary batteries, cells and accumulators
- industrial gases in compressed or liquefied form
- industrial research
An employer pays its skills levy to one SETA, so it is worth confirming that your levy goes to the SETA that matches your main business. If you are unsure whether your company falls under CHIETA, CHIETA can confirm it.
What does CHIETA do?
Every SETA has the same core job under the Skills Development Act, and CHIETA applies it to the chemical industries. In practice, CHIETA:
- draws up a sector skills plan that identifies the skills employers need, including scarce and critical skills
- receives Workplace Skills Plans (WSPs) and Annual Training Reports (ATRs) from employers and pays mandatory grants to those who qualify
- awards discretionary grants for PIVOTAL programmes such as learnerships, and for bursaries and scarce skills
- helps find workplaces where learners can do practical work, and supports the development of learning materials
- helps employers, learners and providers set up learnership agreements, and registers them
- supports Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges, community training initiatives, small businesses, cooperatives, trade unions and NGOs in meeting the sector’s skills needs
- works with the QCTO as one of its Quality Partners on developing and quality-assuring occupational qualifications for the sector
CHIETA’s aim is a steady supply of skilled people for the sector: more access to occupational training for workers and for unemployed people, better language and numeracy skills where these hold learners back, and wider use of workplace-based learning.
CHIETA accreditation: how training providers are accredited
Searches for CHIETA accredited training providers reflect how accreditation used to work. Under the older system, SAQA accredited CHIETA as an Education and Training Quality Assurance body (ETQA), and CHIETA accredited providers to offer unit-standard (pre-2009) qualifications in its sector.
That has changed. A provider that wants to offer an occupational qualification, part-qualification or skills programme in the chemical industries now applies for accreditation directly to the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO). The QCTO runs accreditation with its Quality Partners, which include the SETAs, under signed service level agreements. QCTO accreditation lasts five years from the date it is granted, and the QCTO can withdraw it.
Providers that CHIETA accredited for legacy qualifications keep that accreditation only until each qualification’s teach-out period ends. To offer the replacement occupational qualification, they need QCTO accreditation.
The process follows a familiar pattern. The provider submits an application with supporting documents, the application is evaluated, and a site visit checks that the venue, equipment and staff are ready. The provider then receives a letter with the outcome. Providers must show that they can deliver the qualification as it is registered, with suitable facilitators, assessors and moderators, sound assessment practice and proper learner policies, such as an appeals policy.
If you are choosing a provider for CHIETA-funded training, ask for its accreditation letter and check that the exact qualification or skills programme is on its scope, with dates that cover your enrolment.
CHIETA funding: the levy and grants
CHIETA is funded from the Skills Development Levy (SDL) paid by employers in its sector. The levy is 1% of payroll, paid monthly through the South African Revenue Service (SARS)[2]. It is split as follows: 20% goes to the National Skills Fund and 80% to the employer’s SETA. Of the total levy, the SETA uses 20% for mandatory grants, 49.5% for discretionary grants and 10% for administration, and 0.5% goes to the QCTO[3].
Mandatory grants
The mandatory grant is 20% of the levy an employer paid[3]. It supports the training the employer plans and reports on, and the information in WSPs and ATRs also feeds CHIETA’s sector skills plan. To qualify, an employer must:
- be registered with SARS for the skills development levy and pay it to the correct SETA
- be up to date with levy payments
- submit its Workplace Skills Plan and Annual Training Report by 30 April each year[3]
- provide signed evidence of consultation with organised labour, where this applies
Mandatory grant money that is not claimed moves into discretionary funding by 15 August each year[3].
Discretionary grants
Each year CHIETA approves a discretionary grant policy in line with the SETA Grant Regulations[4]. The main target is PIVOTAL programmes: Professional, Vocational, Technical and Academic Learning programmes that lead to qualifications or part-qualifications on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). Discretionary grants can also support:
- scarce and critical skills identified in the sector skills plan
- bursaries for employed and unemployed people
- national skills priorities and CHIETA’s annual performance plan
- projects with registered trade unions and NGOs
To apply, employers must have submitted their WSP and ATR, fall within CHIETA’s sector, be up to date with levy payments (unless formally exempt) and use accredited training providers. Applicants complete the form for their category (private employer, public employer, training provider or unemployed learner) and attach company registration documents, proof of levy payment, SARS registration or exemption, proof of registration with professional bodies where relevant, and details of the assessors and moderators for the qualification. Discretionary grants are not guaranteed: they depend on CHIETA’s priorities for the year and on the funds available.
CHIETA learnerships
A learnership is a structured programme that combines theory with practical work in a real workplace and leads to a qualification registered on the NQF. Because of that, learnerships count as PIVOTAL programmes, and they are one of the main things CHIETA funds.
CHIETA does not run learnerships itself. Employers in the sector host them, usually with an accredited training provider, and CHIETA funds them through its grants. If you are a job-seeker, apply to the employer or provider that advertises the learnership. You must meet the entry requirements of the qualification and the employer’s selection criteria; existing employees and new entrants can both take part.
A learnership usually works like this:
- The employer’s workplace is approved for the learnership, and qualified assessors are available, in-house or contracted.
- The employer or provider advertises the learnership, and applicants go through the company’s selection process.
- The learner, the employer and the training provider sign a learnership agreement. If the learner was unemployed, the employer and learner also sign a fixed-term employment contract for the length of the learnership.
- The learner studies with the provider and works under a mentor at the employer, with regular feedback.
- Assessors carry out formative and summative assessments, and the provider moderates them internally. For the newer occupational qualifications, the final step is an External Integrated Summative Assessment (EISA), and the QCTO issues the certificate.
- A learner who does not finish receives a statement of results for the parts achieved.
When the learnership ends, the employer may offer the learner a job or another learnership, or the learner can look for work elsewhere with the qualification and experience gained. A learnership is not a promise of a permanent job.
CHIETA qualifications
Like other SETAs, CHIETA has a set of historically registered (pre-2009) qualifications. These are being replaced by occupational qualifications on the QCTO’s Occupational Qualifications Sub-Framework, a process known as realignment. Under the June 2026 Directive[1], SETAs remain accountable for developing, replacing and implementing occupational qualifications and skills programmes for their sectors. A SETA can act as the Development Quality Partner, which develops a qualification, or as the Assessment Quality Partner, which manages its final assessment, while the QCTO quality-assures the occupational system as a whole.
Legacy qualifications reached their registration end date on 30 June 2023. Since then, extensions have been granted qualification by qualification, and the final Directive, gazetted on 17 June 2026[1], allows extensions of 6 to 24 months for selected pre-2009 qualifications, as listed by SAQA[5]. Pre-2009 qualifications with no learner enrolments, or that have been replaced by occupational qualifications, have been deregistered. Every qualification already awarded remains valid and recorded on the National Learners’ Records Database (NLRD).
Historically registered CHIETA qualifications include:
| Qualification | NQF level |
| General Education and Training Certificate: Chemical Operations | Level 1 |
| National Certificate: Chemical Operations | Level 2 |
| National Certificate: Chemical Manufacturing | Level 2 |
| National Certificate: Glass Forming | Level 2 |
| National Certificate: Gas Installations | Level 2 |
| National Certificate: Welding Application and Practice | Level 2 |
| National Certificate: Measurement, Control and Instrumentation | Level 2 |
| National Certificate: Molten Glass Production | Level 3 |
| National Certificate: Automated Packaging | Level 3 |
| National Certificate: Mechanical Engineering | Level 3 |
| National Certificate: Mechanical Handling | Level 3 |
| National Certificate: Engineering Fabrication | Level 3 |
| National Certificate: Manufacturing of Surface Coatings | Level 3 |
| National Certificate: Operations of Mobile Explosives Manufacturing Units | Level 3 |
| Further Education and Training Certificate: Chemical Operations | Level 4 |
| Further Education and Training Certificate: Laboratory Analysis | Level 4 |
| Further Education and Training Certificate: Mechanical Engineering | Level 4 |
| Further Education and Training Certificate: Mechanical Handling | Level 4 |
| Further Education and Training Certificate: Engineering Fabrication | Level 4 |
| Further Education and Training Certificate: Measurement, Control and Instrumentation | Level 4 |
| National Certificate: Pharmaceutical Sales and Representation | Level 5 |
Some of these have closed to new enrolments and others have extended dates. Before you enrol, or before an employer budgets for a learnership on one of them, check the qualification’s record on SAQA’s register for its last date for enrolment and last date for achievement, and ask whether an occupational qualification has replaced it.
CHIETA bursary
CHIETA bursaries are paid from its discretionary grants, which also receive any unclaimed mandatory grant money each year. They have supported full-time university students at undergraduate and postgraduate level (Master’s and PhD) in fields the chemical industries need. A CHIETA bursary has typically helped with tuition, books, meals and related study costs. CHIETA can withdraw or reduce a bursary, for example when funds are not available.
Bursary calls have covered students in fields such as:
- Chemical Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
- Electrical Engineering
- Industrial Engineering
- Environmental Science
- Bachelor of Science
- Biochemistry
- Analytical Chemistry
- Biomedical Technology
- Polymer Technology
- Operations Management
- Pharmacy
Eligibility and how to apply
Applicants have been asked to show a solid academic record, financial need and proof of registration for the current academic year. Applications have gone through the university’s bursary office, which checks that the form is complete and signed, reviews the supporting documents and submits the application to CHIETA. Supporting documents have included:
- proof of registration for the current academic year
- a certified copy of the student’s ID
- a motivational letter explaining why you are applying and why you should receive the bursary
- for postgraduate students, a research topic endorsed by the supervisor
- a signed undertaking to send progress reports to CHIETA
Criteria, fields, amounts and closing dates change from year to year. Read CHIETA’s current bursary call on its website before you apply, and apply only through the channel that call gives.
Frequently asked questions
What does CHIETA stand for?
CHIETA stands for the Chemical Industries Education and Training Authority. It is one of South Africa’s 21 SETAs, set up under the Skills Development Act of 1998, and it covers employers in sub-sectors such as pharmaceuticals, base and speciality chemicals, petroleum, fertilisers, explosives, glass, surface coatings and fast-moving consumer goods.
What does CHIETA do?
CHIETA identifies the skills the chemical industries need and funds training to supply them. It receives its share of the skills development levy paid by employers in its sector, pays mandatory grants to employers who submit a Workplace Skills Plan and Annual Training Report, awards discretionary grants for learnerships, bursaries and scarce skills, and registers learnership agreements.
How do training providers become accredited for CHIETA qualifications?
For occupational qualifications, part-qualifications and skills programmes, providers apply directly to the QCTO, which runs accreditation with the SETAs as its Quality Partners, and QCTO accreditation lasts five years. Providers that a SETA accredited under the old ETQA system for legacy qualifications keep that accreditation only until each qualification’s teach-out ends, so check a provider’s accreditation for the exact programme.
Who can apply for a CHIETA bursary?
CHIETA bursaries have supported full-time university students, at undergraduate and postgraduate level, in fields the chemical industries need, such as chemical, mechanical, electrical and industrial engineering, analytical chemistry, biochemistry and pharmacy. Applicants show financial need and proof of registration, and apply through their university’s bursary office. Criteria can change each year, so check CHIETA’s current bursary call before applying.
Which qualifications fall under CHIETA?
CHIETA’s historically registered qualifications include national certificates and FETCs in chemical operations, laboratory analysis, glass forming, engineering fabrication, mechanical engineering, measurement, control and instrumentation, and surface coatings. Many pre-2009 qualifications have closed or received final, qualification-by-qualification extensions in June 2026[1], so check each one’s SAQA record for its last date for enrolment before you sign up.
Employers in the chemical industries submit their Workplace Skills Plan and Annual Training Report to CHIETA by 30 April each year[3], usually through a Skills Development Facilitator. BOTI’s Skills Development Facilitator (SDF) Training Course is for staff taking on that role, in-house at your premises, at BOTI’s venue in Sunningdale, Johannesburg, or online. Call 011 882 8853 or email [email protected].
Sources
- Directive on the implementation of transitional arrangements for pre-2009 qualifications (Government Gazette 54858) – Minister of Higher Education and Training, 17 June 2026.
- Skills Development Levy – South African Revenue Service (SARS), 2026.
- Mandatory Grants – Health and Welfare SETA (HWSETA), 2026.
- Grants Policy 2025/26 – merSETA, 2024.
- Pre-2009 Extended Qualifications – South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), June 2026.
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