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Employment and Labour Deputy Minister, Honourable Judith Nemadzinga-Tshabalala, Today 04 August 2025, delivered a keynote address at Glenburn Lodge in Muldersdrift, hosted by University of South Africa (UNISA), under the theme: “A Government Perspective on Industry 4.0, Industry 5.0, and the Future of Sustainable Operations."

In her address, Deputy Minister started by acknowledging the Women's Month and emphasised the important role played by women in the fight for a just and inclusive society.  She stressed that digital transformation is not merely about adopting new technologies, but about rethinking governance, service delivery, and economic participation in a human-centred and ethical way.

The Deputy Minister highlighted the transformative power and complex implications of the Industries 4.0 and 5.0. She framed digital transformation not just as a technological evolution, but as a moral and developmental imperative that must be guided by ethics, inclusion, and sustainability.

She emphasised that 4IR technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, and Blockchain are reshaping industry and public services, offering new levels of productivity, efficiency, and innovation. However, she cautioned that these benefits come with risks, job displacement, data privacy issues, and widening inequality.

“The South African government is responding through progressive Medium-Term Development Plan (2024-2029) priorities, aimed at fostering a capable, ethical, and developmental state," she said.

Looking ahead, the Deputy Minister underlined Industry 5.0's potential to rehumanise industrial progress. Unlike its predecessor, Industry 5.0 prioritises collaboration between humans and machines, environmental stewardship, circular economy practices, and sustainable development. She pointed out that South Africa sees Industry 5.0 concept aimed at achieving “people-planet-prosperity" goals, placing inclusivity and resilience at the heart of industrial strategy.

Key examples illustrated this approach, such as using AI in healthcare, smart grids in energy, personalised learning in education, and drone-enabled smart farming in agriculture. She also cited government initiatives like the Electronic Quarterly Performance Reporting System (eQPRS) for performance management and Supported Employment Enterprises (SEE) factories employing persons with disabilities as vital cases for inclusive digitalisation and automation.

The Deputy Minister called for a multi-stakeholder approach to digital governance, including ethical AI policies, skills development, workforce reskilling, and digital access for all. Referencing models like the EU's AI Act and Singapore's SkillsFuture initiative, she reinforced the need for South Africa to develop frameworks that protect rights while enabling innovation.

She concluded by urging academia, business, and civil society to act collectively, ensuring that no one is left behind in the digital revolution. In her words: “Artificial intelligence will not wait for us to catch up. The pace is accelerating. But the impact it will have, whether it deepens divides or expands opportunity should remain within government control."

In addition, the acting CEO of Productivity SA, The Entity of the Department, Amelia Naidoo, delivered a compelling keynote exploring the critical role of productivity in shaping operational excellence within the rapidly evolving landscape of Industry 4.0. and offered both theoretical insights and practical strategies for advancing operations in South Africa and across the continent.

Naidoo said, as a strategic public entity under the Employment Services Act, Productivity SA's mission is to boost employment, strengthen enterprises, and raise national productivity. Through structured interventions, the agency provides operational support to businesses of all sizes. Highlights include:

• Business Turnaround and Recovery Programme: Targeted at distressed firms to prevent job losses and restore operational viability through process diagnostics and industrial engineering tools.
• Enterprise Development Programme: Focused on empowering SMMEs with lean thinking, standardised operations, and inventory management systems to drive growth and efficiency.
• Workplace Challenge Programme: Drives continuous improvement using Kaizen and productivity metrics within firm clusters, resulting in measurable gains in productivity and mindset shifts.

Ms Naidoo further said, looking ahead the vision is clear, Africa must not settle for catching up, it must leapfrog. This requires creating learning factories, SME-focused 4IR toolkits, operations academies, and stronger public private collaboration to democratise access to operational excellence.

She concluded by noting that Productivity SA is committed to supporting women owned enterprises, promoting inclusive leadership, and building gender-diverse talent pipelines.

The CEO urged the audience to reframe productivity as a national strategy not a statistic. She called on stakeholders across academia, government, and industry to empower Africa's operational workforce and make the continent a global leader in excellence, innovation, and transformation.

For media enquiries, please contact:

Teboho Thejane

Departmental Spokesperson

082 697 0694/ teboho.thejane@labour.gov.za

-ENDS-

Issued by: Department of Employment and Labour

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