For weeks, the countdown clock was set. Legacy qualifications, the pre-2009 programmes that have anchored South Africa's skills development system for decades, were due to phase out on 30 June 2026. Learners were anxious. Skills Development Providers were recalculating enrolment plans. HR managers and SDFs were quietly asking the same question in every planning meeting: what happens now? Then, just before the deadline, Minister of Higher Education and Training Buti Manamela s