CHIETA learnerships and bursaries 2026

CHIETA's mandate is to facilitate skills development in the chemical and manufacturing industries. The 2026/27 bursary advert names nine sub-sectors:

• Petroleum
• Base Chemicals
• Glass
• Explosives
• Fertilisers
• Pharmaceuticals
• Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG)
• Speciality Chemicals
• Surface Coatings

For governance, these are grouped into five chambers: Glass; Pharmaceutical & FMCG; Explosives & Fertilizers; Petroleum & Base Chemicals; and Speciality Chemicals and Surface Coatings.

This is CHIETA's flagship learner-facing programme and the only one with a published, direct application route.

• Coverage: tuition per the official statement of account, up to a maximum of R76,000 per annum for undergraduate studies.
• Age: 16 to 35.
• Academic bar: a minimum 75% overall average in Matric, with Mathematics and Physical Science. This is a high bar and it is strictly applied.
• Institution: you must be accepted into an undergraduate qualification at an accredited public tertiary institution or TVET college.
• Income: preference to households under R350,000 a year, with explicit provision for the "missing middle" between R350,000 and R600,000.
• Priority fields: Chemical Engineering and other occupations flagged as high-demand in the sector skills plan.

This is the single most misunderstood point about every SETA, and it is where most scams operate.

SETAs receive skills-development levies and distribute them as discretionary grants to employers and accredited training providers. Those organisations then recruit learners. CHIETA publishes the learnership enrolment process, the learnership/apprenticeship agreement and the skills programme application form - but these are documents for the employer and provider to complete with you once you have been recruited.

So the practical path into a CHIETA learnership is:

1. Identify companies in the nine sub-sectors near you.
2. Watch their careers pages and apply to them directly.
3. Check CHIETA's accredited providers listing and approach those providers.
4. Keep an SA Youth profile current, since many sector employers advertise there.

CHIETA publishes a Scam Alert because job seekers have been receiving fraudulent interview invitations from people posing as CHIETA Recruitment. In CHIETA's own words, it "would unequivocally never request any job applicants to send money for any job interviews or for reference checks".

The tells CHIETA itself lists:

• Gmail addresses. CHIETA states it will never communicate from a Gmail account. Legitimate mail comes from name@chieta.org.za.
• Money up front for interviews or reference checks - never legitimate.
• No prior phone call. Genuine applicants are phoned first, then emailed officially with a verification number.

Head office (Gauteng): Allandale Building, 3rd Floor, Office B, 23 Magwa Crescent, Waterfall City, 2090
Tel: 087 357 6608 or 011 628 7000

Western Cape: Unit B2, Cnr Race Course & Omuramba Roads, Montague Gardens, 7441 - 087 357 6695

KwaZulu-Natal: 21 The Boulevard, Office 4A First Floor, Westway Office Park, Westway, 3629 - 087 353 5573

Gqeberha / Port Elizabeth: Struanway Block E, New Brighton, 6001 - 047 509 6478

Email: info@chieta.org.za · Bursaries: Bursary@chieta.org.za

Anti-fraud line: 0800 333 120, or report to chieta@whistleblowing.co.za