Released by Chief Directorate of Communication on 07 January
2004
The full implementation of the Employment Skills Development Agency
(ESDA) scheme, aimed at accelerating the placement of unemployed young
people in learnerships in the small business sector, will be
kick-started within the first quarter of the year.
Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana announced today that the
amendments to the Skills Development Act would first have to be
promulgated before the implementation of the ESDA's can commence.
"The current legislation does not give me the necessary authority to
establish ESDAs, so I must await its promulgation. We envisaged that
the promulgation will take place in February this year and that the
implementation of these agencies will be fast-tracked immediately
thereafter", said Minister Mdladlana.
Minister Mdladlana emphasised the importance of commitment and
active participation by labour, business and other stakeholders to
honour the Growth and Development Summit agreement to place 72 000
young learners by May 2004.
The Employment Skills Development Agencies will help ease the
administrative burden on the SMME's through organising and managing on
and off the job training. The ESDAs will ensure that learners are
recruited and provided with support in learnerships, assessments are
conducted and allowances are distributed.
"Whilst ESDAs will play an important part in assisting small firms
to participate painlessly in the learnership revolution, I must also
warn that they are by no means a pre-condition for the roll-out of
learnerships more generally.
"For each and every learnership agreement signed with a young
unemployed person, there must be at least one employer willing to take
that person into their employ for the duration of the learnership
agreement".
"The real success of the learnership campaign depends on the active
support of employers in our country. And the good news is, employers,
large and small can start immediately, and certainly do not need to
wait for the ESDAs", the Minister said.
There are already some 261 different learnership programmes from
which employers can select - ranging from low level entry to higher
level skills acquisition programmes. A full list can be accessed on the
Department of Labour website at:
<http://www.labour.gov.za/docs/legislation/skills/index.html>
Minister Mdladlana said that government has already put in place two
major financial incentives to encourage employers to take the
plunge:
- A cash grant to the employer for every learner taken on board
(averaging R15 000) subject to SETA's approval.
- Tax breaks of the annual allowance paid to the learner (up to R25
000 at the beginning of the agreement, and again at the end of the
year).
Minister Mdladlana called on interested employers unsure about the
recruitment and selection process to contact the nearest Department of
Labour office for a tailor-made short-list of optimal candidates.
"Of course this means that young unemployed people interested in
taking up a learnership opportunity should ensure that they are
registered at their local Labour Centres, so that their name is on the
list when the short-listing is done", said the Minister.
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