The Supported Employment Enterprises (SEE) have a potential to employ 3 000 people with disability (PwD) in their factories as they transit into the labour market.

SEE Chief Executive Sibusiso Phakathi said the entity was a key pillar in helping transition PwD into the labour market. Phakathi said SEE was constantly looking and cementing partnerships and growing its sales.

Phakathi was speaking during a workshop titled: Transitioning from Education to Work for Persons with Disabilities. The workshop was held at Birchwood hotel and conference centre in Boksburg. The workshop is part of Education for Employability (E4E) programme supported by the European Union (EU).

He said the cost of employing PwD could in the next two years amount to R275 million. He said in the current financial year SEE was looking at a target of employing 150 people with disability.

E4E is a programme that was designed to find ways to ensure that youth have the skills to find or create meaningful and decent employment when they transition to the labour market. E4E is implemented by three Departments – the Department of Basic Education, Department of Higher Education and Training, and the Department of Employment and Labour.

Its intention is to have the Departments collaborate to ensure youth receive the education and skills needed to today's labour market.

E4E Team Leader: Technical Assistance, Andreas H Schott said the estimated 34,5 percent unemployment in South Africa was extremely high and with youth unemployment estimated at 63,9 percent this was worrying. He said youth unemployment was a time bomb waiting to explode.

Schott said E4E was an initiative to support South African government efforts improve the quality of education, vocational training and employability. He said the programme was another initiative to promote collaboration among different Departments.

“The E4E efforts are geared towards supporting a coherent and integrated approach towards improving the youth-education-employment value chain," Schott said.

The budget support funding for E4E pilots is R401 million. The programme support six areas of co-operation across departments and some of these include: policy, dialogues, research, careers, pathways, public employment services, Presidential Youth Employment Initiative; visibility and advocacy among others.

Schott said the challenge ahead was daunting, however, there was a need to offer hope and assist prepare and train the unemployed with skills for employability.

Department of Employment and Labour Deputy Director-General of the Public Employment Services (PES) branch, Sam Morotoba said the E4E programme support would help accelerate and strengthen policy areas and reinforce job creation initiatives.

Morotoba said the Department wanted people with disability to come at SEE as a transition to the labour market.

SEE is an entity of the Department of Employment and Labour, established to provide job opportunities for persons with disabilities. The role of Supported Employment Enterprises is to create employment for person with disability in the country through generation of sales from the products manufactured, and make profit to sustain the thirteen factories.

Supported Employment Enterprises was established in 1943, and was formerly known as Sheltered Employment Factories (SEF). The entity is currently trading under service products. It has 13 factories across South Africa operating in eight of the nine provinces, with only Mpumalanga without a facility. 

The SEE factories are located in Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, East London, Johannesburg, Kimberly, Pietermaritzburg, Port Elizabeth, Potchefstroom, Pretoria and Seshego.

Currently, the factories employ 1 100 people with disability who are supported by administration, management and technical staff. The entity manufacture office furniture, school furniture, hospital clothes, office safes and gates.

For more information, contact:

Petunia Lessing

Director: Media Liaison

Cell: 066 301 4645/

email: petunia.lessing@labour.gov.za

or

Teboho Thejane

Departmental Spokesperson

Cell: 082 697 0694

email: Teboho.Thejane@labour.gov.za

-ENDS-

Issued by: Department of Employment and Labour

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