Address by the Minister of Labour Honourable MMS Mdladlana during the good practice in Skills Development Awards Ceremony

16 October 2008

“Reflections on a decade of skills development and preparing for the future”

Programme Director

Honorable members of Parliament

Leaders of the Organised Trade Union Movement, Organised Business, Organised Community Organisations, Organised Providers

Government Officials

Members of the National Skills Authority, SETAs, Productivity SA, Umsobomvu Youth Fund Boards and your staff

Representatives of the various donor community

Members of the media,

And most importantly the representatives of the, organisations, providers, and institutions whose achievement we are here to recognise,

Ladies and Gentleman: Good evening

Good Evening

I am delighted to celebrate with you a decade in skills development. This occasion is particularly exciting, as we will tonight recognise the many companies, organisations, providers, structures who have gone beyond complying with the skills development Act to apply best practices in skills development in their organisations. 

A decade ago we heralded in a new landscape for skills development through the Skills Development Act, the Skills Development Levies Act, the SAQA Act, and the very first National Skills Development Strategy. This framework provides for both compliance with the law, but it is also recognised as a flexible and visionary framework allowing for businesses, practitioners, social partners on all levels to innovate and find flexible solutions to their particular challenges. It allows these players to dream of a better world, where - through skills development - the challenges of our economy, unemployment and poverty can be transformed into opportunity, and where possibilities abound. The organisations we are here to recognise did not ask what is required to comply with the law, they asked what is possible!

SETA’ are ‘skills-focused organs of people’s power’ established to understand the short, medium and longer-term challenges and opportunities being faced by firms and workers in their sector and to facilitate an appropriate skills development response.  This is done through the allocation of the allocation of grants to companies that submit their Workplace Skills Plans and their Annual Training Reports. The second is to promote a sustainable culture for skills development in which companies can take the development of their people as part of the way in which they conduct business. All these mechanisms are intended to encourage firms to develop their people rather than to just poach workers from their competitors.  These interventions are even more important considering the demand for intermediate and high end skills and the challenges facing companies maintain or continuously engaged their workforce to learn and to grow as their companies and markets evolve.

The market place, on its own, is growing too slowly to absorb the many young people pouring out of the schooling system each year, people who then trudge from firm to firm looking for work.  The HSRC’s HRD publication put the number of people in this category at 826 000 thousand; the majority are Africans of whom only 29% of them find jobs after leaving school. This unfortunately becomes the problem of the labour market, and skills development.

These challenges suggest that SETAs must continue to do more in promoting a culture of training in their sector beyond compliance. The same applies to companies to consider continuing to develop people beyond their immediate needs. We have also registered Employment and Skills development Agencies, that must also come into the party, in assisting small employers without the necessary infrastructure in developing the skills of their workforces..

I also want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the following SETAs: Namely: MQA , FASSET; W&RSETA; INSETA; ETDPSETA; FOODBEV; CTFL; AgriSETA; TETA; HWSETA; FIETA; MAPPP- SETA; THETA; CHIETA

The promotional drives by these SETAs, calling on organisations in their economic sectors to participate, and their work overseen by adjudicating panels is really commendable. What we are about to witness today, are organisations, that have already in some instances received sectoral awards and are in line for a national award. Your diligent participation and support has contributed to making this evening a reality.

The Department of Labour provincial offices represent the heart, soul and centre for employment service provision, where learners, workseekers, provincial government departments, NGO’s, CBO’s, co operatives and small providers converge to seek advise on skills development and employment opportunities. I also want to take this opportunity to specially acknowledge the contribution made by these offices Department of Labour Gauteng South and the Free State Provincial Offices in setting up proper provincial adjudicating panels that considered the nominees to participate in this National Skills Authority pilot award process.

To the National Skills Authority, I know how difficult it was to select today’s recipient of awards amongst the many nominations you received for this pilot. Earlier this year, I was told you wanted me to consider waiving the indicator on good practice in skills development something that I could not agree to as I was not sure about its implications. I hope that after tonight’s awards, you will now move towards ensuring the coordination of these awards at provincial and sectoral levels, and that in their near future, Awards of this nature become the culmination of all those initiatives. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your hard, leadership and commitment in this process. Well done.

Tonight we are here to recognise those companies, organisations and institutions that embodied good practices in skills development. They have used skills development, not as a means on its own, but as a means to positively impact on the lives of learners. They have gone beyond:

·          Demonstrating the return on investment from training by using skills development to achieve the internal promotion of their employees.

·          Engaging in learnerships/ apprenticeships programmes for the unemployed in scarce and critical skills areas.

·          Not relying on poaching skills, but opting to train their own employees to address scarce and critical skills in their organisations and sectors

·          Spending way in access of 1% of payroll on skills development.

·          Setting out in a concerted manner to promote equity in their sector through skills development; and in cases targeting learners with disabilities for skills development.

·          Supporting New Venture Creation interventions.

To the recipients of this awards; You have seen the light, you are aware that our Strategy presents a win- win situation for all the parties; that learners can acquire hands on experience in the workplace; that employers can gain from an employable pool of skilled people to serve industry, that communities can be transformed and motivated through skills development.. You are further demonstrated what we have been saying: “that training is an integral part of the way business should be done. We trust that this experience has encouraged you to strive for even greater levels in the future. We hope that other employers throughout the country will take a leaf out of your good books. You are the heros of this evening. You have demonstrated that our country is indeed alive with possibilities, Well Done!

As we savour this moment together let us not forget that when we eat our dinner tonight; that it is prepared by qualified chefs, and practitioners. We assume that it will be what we call ‘delicious’ – a cultural standard set by us all in this time and place.  In other words we assume that they have been well trained.

I Thank You

As we approach a second decade in skills development and as we intensify this national skills development award; I call on more companies to aspire to best practices in skills development. Don’t just comply! Go beyond!.