A cursory overview of the appropriations in Vote 17 and the spending of the first quarter of the 2012/13 financial year reflected the following: The Department had a total budget of R41.1 billion of which R9.6 billion, or 23.4%, fell under direct charge payments to SETAs and the National Skills Fund (NSF). Exclusive of direct charges, the Department had a total budget of R31.5 billion. Over 98% of the total budget was under Transfers and Subsidies. The majority of these transfers fell under Programme 3 to Universities. Exclusive of Direct Charges, the Department spent R14.4 billion or 45% of the total budget available by the end of the quarter. Planned expenditure at this point in the year was R14.6 billion. The Department was therefore behind on total spending by R261 million.