Amended Skills Development Act

(1)           The purposes of this Act are –

(a)          to develop the skills of the South African workforce –

(i)             to improve the quality of life of workers, their prospects of work and labour mobility;

(ii)           to improve productivity in the workplace and the competitiveness of employers;

(iii)          to promote self-employment; and

(iv)         to improve the delivery of social services;
 

(b)          to increase the levels of investment in education and training in the labour market and to improve the return on that investment;

(c)           to encourage employers –

(i)             to use the workplace as an active learning environment;

(ii)           to provide employees with the opportunities to acquire new skills;

(iii)          to provide opportunities for new entrants to the labour market to gain work experience; and

(iv)         to employ persons who find it difficult to be employed;

(d)          to encourage workers to participate in learnership and other training programmes;

(e)          to improve the employment prospects of persons previously disadvantaged by unfair discrimination and to redress those disadvantages through training and education;

(f)            to ensure the quality of education and training in and for the workplace;

(g)          to assist –

(i)             work-seekers to find work;

(ii)           retrenched workers to re-enter the labour market;

(iii)          employers to find qualified employees; and

(h)          to provide and regulate employment services.

(2)           Those purposes are to be achieved by –

(a)          establishing an institutional and financial framework comprising –

(i)             the National Skills Authority;

(ii)           the National Skills Fund;

(iii)          a skills development levy-financing scheme as contemplated in the Skills Development Levies Act;

(iv)         SETAs;

(v)           labour centres; and

(vi)         the Skills Development Planning Unit;

(b)          encouraging partnerships between the public and private sectors of the economy to provide education and training in and for the workplace; and

(c)           co-operating with the South African Qualifications Authority.