Higher education minister Blade Nzimande has found himself under pressure to suspend Luvuyo Ngubelanga.
Ngubelanga is the regional manager of TVET colleges for the department of higher education & training in the Eastern Cape.
He is also the former principal of the troubled Lovedale College, where allegations relating to the misuse of millions of rands in Lotto funding were levelled against other college employees during his tenure.
He was arrested on Wednesday last week, together with seven other people, on fraud allegations linked to the theft of millions of rands at the South Cape TVET College in the Western Cape.
Ngubelanga was in charge of the college between 2010 and 2014, when the alleged fraud took place.
One of his co-accused, Alisile Dyabaza, was his deputy at the time.
The other accused in the case are Prudence Dingiswayo, Pieter Sam, Nomathamsanqa Msizi, Patrick Mbebe, Shadrack Njozela and Andreas Ngubeni.
Ngubelanga was released on R10,000 bail by the George magistrate’s court on Thursday. The case returns to court on May 11. The charges he and his co-accused face relate to the alleged theft of R24m during his stint at the South Cape college.
He was later moved to Lovedale College, which is based in Qonce, where he signed a deal with the National Lotteries Board which has since come under scrutiny after a forensic report flagged several employees over misuse of funds and recommended that they be charged.
No action has yet been taken against the implicated employees.
Now Nehawu has entered the fray, asking higher education minister Blade Nzimande to suspend Ngubelanga in light of his arrest.
The union blames Ngubelanga for the chaotic state of the TVET sector in the province, citing Lovedale TVET College and the Buffalo City College as examples.