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Employment and Labour Minister Nomakhosazana Meth told a gathering of women on Monday evening that the Labour Activation Programme (LAP) is being reimagined: from an instrument that counts how many people are trained to one that counts how many people enter and remain in work.

She further said this reimagining will include creating jobs built on demand-led skills development, workplace placement that breaks the “no job without experience" cycle, and enterprise-led job creation.

Minister Meth said: “For women and young people, this must become a genuine pipeline from skills to experience, to work, to ownership and leadership, and it will only work if employers bring vacancies, training institutions bring relevant skills, finance unlocks capital, and industry opens markets. The measure of success will not be certificates issued, but lives changed and sustainable jobs created".

Meth was addressing a dialogue under the theme: The Women's Leadership Reception: Connecting People. Inspiring Leaders. Transforming Generations. The key areas of the dialogue focused on - Where Are the Jobs for Women? Are Women Safe, Equal and Protected at Work? From Job Seekers to Job Creators, The Future of Work: Are Young Women Ready? Women in Leadership: What Must We Do with the Power We Have?

Speaking in Boksburg Meth said the dialogue should not only deal with asking or describing that women must be economically empowered, but should answer which doors, opened by whom, by when.

She said the Department of Employment and Labour carries the legislative architecture: employment equity, equal remuneration, protection from harassment and discrimination, occupational health and safety, maternity protection.

According to Meth the architecture is sound, “The discomfort lies in the gap between what is written and what is enforced, and between what is enforced in a boardroom in Sandton and what is enforced on a farm, in a factory, or in someone's home where a domestic worker reports to nobody's HR department".

Meth asked, why do we still speak about women overwhelmingly as job seekers, and so rarely as job creators? She said the answer lies in plain talk about what stands between a woman with a viable idea and a woman with a functioning business that employs people.

She challenged women in position of power to play their part in mentoring up-and-coming young women leaders. She said mentorship cannot remain a word used at events and then quietly set aside on Monday morning.

“Every established leader in this room is asked to leave here having said, out loud, at your table, one concrete thing you will do to open a pathway for a young woman in the next twelve months. Not a sentiment. A commitment your table can hold you to," she said.

Minister Meth called for urgency as the date for Youth Jobs Summit government is preparing to convene before the year is out. In celebration of Jubilee, she challenged employer groups, organised business and organised labour to come to the Youth Summit not as observers, but as partners prepared to act.

“What is wanted is not another declaration that simply records intentions, but Jobs Pacts with employers and companies, with clear commitments to create and open opportunities for young people. These pacts must translate into actual vacancies, placements, apprenticeships, learnerships, internships and pathways into sustainable employment," Meth said.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Teboho Thejane

Departmental Spokesperson

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

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Issued by: Department of Employment and Labour​