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SASSETA meaning
A Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) is a statutory body set up under the Skills Development Act 97 of 1998 to plan and fund skills development for one sector of the economy. South Africa has 21 SETAs, and SASSETA is the one for safety and security.
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SASSETA stands for the Safety and Security Sector Education and Training Authority, the SETA for policing, justice, corrections, defence, private security and related employers. This article explains what SASSETA means in practice, the services it offers, how its grants and learnerships work, and which qualifications fall under it. If you are a job-seeker comparing qualifications or an employer planning a Workplace Skills Plan, BOTI’s accredited training courses list the QCTO and SETA programmes BOTI is accredited to offer.
SASSETA’s history and sector
SASSETA was set up in July 2005 by merging two of the original SETAs: the Diplomacy, Intelligence, Defence and Trade Education and Training Authority (DIDTETA) and the Police, Legal, Correctional Services, Private Security and Justice Sector Education and Training Authority (POSLEC SETA). Both had been established in March 2000 under the Skills Development Act. Metro policing and traffic law enforcement, which the Local Government SETA originally covered, were also transferred to SASSETA.
Its sector therefore runs from the diplomatic arena, defence and intelligence through policing, justice and corrections to private security, metro policing and traffic law enforcement. SASSETA falls under the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET).
Careers in the sector are varied. Some roles need a college or university qualification, others start with a short programme or a learnership, and people moving into management may want an accredited management qualification. Learners who want workplace experience before committing to the sector can ask SASSETA whether internships, bursaries, learnerships or discretionary grant programmes are available in the sub-sector that interests them.
All 21 SETAs, SASSETA included, are licensed until 31 March 2030. The President announced in February 2026 that the SETAs will be rationalised, and in April 2026 DHET said it expected to take options to Cabinet during the 2026/27 financial year. Until a decision is announced, SASSETA continues its work.
Services offered by SASSETA
SASSETA’s functions come from the Skills Development Act and the Skills Development Levies Act. In practice, the services SASSETA offers are:
- Sector skills planning: researching the sector and drawing up a sector skills plan that shows which skills employers need, so that more young people can train for and find work in safety and security.
- Levy grants: receiving its share of the skills development levy paid by employers in the sector and paying it out as mandatory and discretionary grants.
- Learnerships: helping employers, providers and learners set up learnership agreements, and registering those agreements.
- Workplace experience: identifying workplaces where learners can get suitable practical experience.
- Bursaries: awarding bursaries from its discretionary funds.
- Learning materials: promoting the development of learning materials for the sector.
- Quality: monitoring education and training in the sector, and working with the QCTO as one of its Quality Partners so that learning meets national standards.
- Partnerships: working with the National Skills Authority on national skills policy, and with the Department of Employment and Labour’s employment services and education bodies to improve learners’ chances of employment.
- Reporting: reporting to DHET on its income and spending and on how it is implementing the sector skills plan.
As statutory bodies that manage public money, SETAs are also governed by the Public Finance Management Act. Under the June 2026 Directive on pre-2009 qualifications, they report quarterly to the Minister through SAQA on qualification development, provider accreditation and enrolments.
SASSETA accreditation
Under the older system, SASSETA ran an Education and Training Quality Assurance body (ETQA). It accredited training providers for unit standards and qualifications in its field, approved programmes and accredited assessment sites.
Today, a provider that wants to offer an occupational qualification, part-qualification or skills programme applies directly to the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO). The QCTO runs accreditation together with its Quality Partners, including the SETAs, under signed service level agreements. QCTO accreditation lasts five years and can be withdrawn. Providers that SASSETA accredited for legacy (pre-2009) qualifications keep that accreditation only until each qualification’s teach-out period ends.
SASSETA itself does not run courses. SASSETA courses, skills programmes and learnerships are delivered by accredited training providers and employers, with SASSETA funding and quality support. For learners and employers, the practical check is simple: ask the provider for its accreditation letter and confirm that the exact qualification or skills programme is on its scope, with dates that cover your enrolment.
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)
Experienced people in the sector do not always have to start from scratch. Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) assesses what a person already knows and can do, however and wherever they learned it, against the requirements of a qualification. You identify the qualification closest to your experience and are assessed by an accredited provider. Any gaps the assessment shows can then be closed with further training, such as a skills programme.
SASSETA funding and grants
SASSETA is funded from the Skills Development Levy paid by employers in the safety and security sector. Employers pay 1% of payroll every month through the South African Revenue Service (SARS). Of each levy payment, 20% goes to the National Skills Fund and 80% to the SETA, which uses it for mandatory grants (20% of the levy), discretionary grants (49.5%) and administration (10%), with 0.5% going to the QCTO.
Mandatory grants support the training employers plan in their Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) and report in their Annual Training Report (ATR), and the information in these reports helps SASSETA track scarce skills and trends in the labour market. Both reports are due by 30 April each year. To receive the grant, an employer must be registered with SARS for the levy, pay it to the correct SETA, be up to date with payments and, where it applies, provide signed evidence of consultation with organised labour. Money that is not claimed moves to discretionary funding by 15 August.
Discretionary grants follow SASSETA’s discretionary grant policy, approved each year under the SETA Grant Regulations. The main target is PIVOTAL (Professional, Vocational, Technical and Academic Learning) programmes, such as learnerships, which lead to qualifications or part-qualifications on the NQF. Discretionary funding can also go to scarce skills identified in the sector skills plan, bursaries for employed and unemployed people, national skills priorities, and projects with registered trade unions and NGOs.
To apply, employers must have submitted their WSP and ATR, fall within SASSETA’s sector, be up to date with levies (unless formally exempt) and use accredited providers. Applicants use the form for their category (private employer, public employer, training provider or unemployed learner) and attach company registration documents, proof of levy payment or exemption, and details of the assessors and moderators for the qualification. Grants are paid only when an application is approved and funds are available.
SASSETA learnerships: how to get a SETA learnership
A learnership combines study with an accredited training provider and practical work with an employer, and leads to a qualification registered on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). That makes it a PIVOTAL programme. SASSETA helps recruit learners and implement learnerships, subsidises the training and may subsidise learners’ allowances, but it does not create learnerships or run them itself.
If you are looking for a SASSETA learnership:
- Look for adverts from employers in the sector and from accredited training providers, who advertise learnerships in the media.
- Check that you meet the entry requirements of the qualification and the employer’s selection criteria. Some programmes ask for a Grade 12 certificate. Existing employees and new entrants can both apply.
- Apply and go through the company’s selection process.
- If you are selected, sign a tripartite learnership agreement with the employer and the training provider. If you were unemployed, you also sign a fixed-term employment contract for the length of the learnership.
- Attend training with the provider and work under a mentor at the employer, with formative and summative assessments along the way.
- On completion, receive the qualification. If you do not finish, you receive a statement of results for what you achieved.
For employers, a learnership needs an approved workplace, qualified assessors (in-house or contracted), a provider accredited for the qualification (by the QCTO for occupational qualifications) and an agreed learning programme. The employer and provider manage the training together, and the provider moderates its assessments internally before external quality assurance.
At the end, the employer may employ the learner or sign them on for another learnership, and a learner who was unemployed may look for work elsewhere. The work experience and contacts help, but a learnership is not a promise of a job.
SASSETA qualifications
SASSETA’s qualifications sit on the NQF, the 10-level national system for classifying registered qualifications, overseen by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA). Occupational qualifications fall under the QCTO’s sub-framework, while school and higher education qualifications fall under Umalusi and the Council on Higher Education (CHE).
Older (pre-2009) qualifications are being replaced by occupational qualifications. SETAs remain accountable for developing and replacing occupational qualifications 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. Pre-2009 qualifications with no learner enrolments, or that have been replaced, have been deregistered. SAQA manages this final transition, and every qualification already awarded remains valid.
SASSETA registered learnerships and qualifications
Learnerships and qualifications historically registered in SASSETA’s field include:
- Law Enforcement
- National Diploma: Joint and Multi-operations
- Close Protection Specialist
- Specialist Security Practices
- Aviation Security Specialist
- General Security Officer learnership
- Electronic Security Technician
- Further Education and Training Certificate: Road Traffic Law Enforcement
- National Certificate: Road Safety Development
- Further Education and Training Certificate: Use of Firearms
- Further Education and Training Certificate: Firearms Maintenance
- National Certificate: Forensic Science
- National Certificate: Criminology
- National Certificate: Resolving of Crime
- Corrections Science
- National Certificate: Multi-national Safety and Security Operations Management
- National Certificate: Paralegal Practice
- National Certificate: Family Law
- National Diploma: Legal Interpreting
- Diploma in Court Services Management
- Post-graduate Certificate: Trade Mark Practice
NQF levels, credits and the last dates for enrolment and achievement differ per qualification. The final Directive, gazetted on 17 June 2026, granted qualification-by-qualification extensions of 6 to 24 months for selected pre-2009 qualifications, so check each one’s SAQA record before you enrol or sign a learnership agreement.
SASSETA bursary
SASSETA awards bursaries from its discretionary grants to students who want to work in the safety and security sector, and it considers students at different levels of study. A bursary can help with tuition, accommodation, meals, textbooks and related costs. What it covers, and how much, is set in the bursary call and agreement for that year.
Criteria in past SASSETA bursary calls have included:
- South African citizenship
- being unemployed
- being aged between 18 and 35
- studying at a public university, university of technology or other public tertiary institution in South Africa
- being registered for the academic year, with the previous year’s results (some calls were aimed at final-year students)
Fields of study in past calls reflect the wide reach of the sector:
- Public Administration
- Internal Auditing
- Law
- Social Work
- Psychology
- Nursing
- Civil Engineering
- Pharmacy
- Electrical Engineering
Documents asked for have included the completed application form, proof of registration, a student account from the institution, the previous year’s academic record and a certified copy of your ID. Criteria, fields and closing dates change each year, so read SASSETA’s current bursary call on its website and apply only through the channel it gives.
Frequently asked questions
What does SASSETA stand for?
SASSETA stands for the Safety and Security Sector Education and Training Authority. It was formed by merging two earlier SETAs: DIDTETA (Diplomacy, Intelligence, Defence and Trade) and POSLEC SETA (Police, Legal, Correctional Services, Private Security and Justice). It is one of South Africa’s 21 SETAs and falls under the Department of Higher Education and Training.
What is SASSETA?
SASSETA is the SETA responsible for skills development across safety and security, from policing, justice and corrections to defence, the diplomatic arena and private security. It also took over metro policing and traffic law enforcement from the local government SETA. Its job is to plan the sector’s skills needs and fund the training that meets them.
What services does SASSETA offer?
SASSETA draws up the sector skills plan, pays mandatory grants to employers who submit a Workplace Skills Plan and Annual Training Report, awards discretionary grants and bursaries, registers learnership agreements, helps identify workplaces for learners’ work experience and promotes the development of learning materials. It also works with the QCTO on developing and quality-assuring qualifications for its sector.
Does SASSETA offer learnerships?
SASSETA funds and supports learnerships, but it does not create or run them directly. Employers and accredited training providers advertise and recruit learners, so apply through them. You sign a tripartite agreement with the employer and the provider, combine study with workplace experience and, on completion, receive a nationally recognised qualification registered on the NQF.
Which qualifications fall under SASSETA?
SASSETA’s list includes qualifications in law enforcement, road traffic law enforcement, close protection, specialist security practices, aviation security, firearms, forensic science, criminology, corrections science, paralegal practice and court services management. Many older qualifications have closed or have qualification-specific extensions after the June 2026 Directive, so check each one’s SAQA record for its last date for enrolment.
Employers in the safety and security sector submit their Workplace Skills Plan and Annual Training Report to SASSETA by 30 April each year, 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].
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