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SPEECH BY THE MINISTER OF LABOUR, MMS MDLADLANA, ON THE OCCASION OF THE TABLING OF AMENDMENTS TO THE SKILLS DEVELOPMENT ACT, National Assembly, 17 September 2003
Madam Speaker, honourable members, I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to place before this House; the Skills Development Amendment Bill for consideration and adoption. It is the first time that I am asking this august House to amend this piece of legislation that was first passed in 1998. In the five years that have passed since this law was passed literally millions of people have been trained under its banner. Many of these people have been the workers who keep our economy running in all the mines, offices, shops and factories of our nation. With the training they have received we believe that the productivity and competitiveness of their workplaces has been improved as well as their own employment security and prospects. In addition, hundreds of thousands of unemployed people have also been trained - young and old - trained to find work in the formal labour market, to create their own income generating opportunity or to participate in social development projects that aim to improve the lives of their communities and the Households that constitute it. The skills revolution that the legislation was intended to unleash is indeed well underway.
The Amendments set out to remedy the challenges that have had to be faced in the process of implementation.
Whilst many of the achievements that I have just alluded to are the product of the hard work on the part of many of the Sector Education and Training Authorities or SETAs as they are called, it is a matter of public record that some of the SETAs have not worked well. Allies and opponents alike have forcefully brought the problems to the public's attention because they are concerned to see every cent collected under the Skills Levy for training delivery being spent properly - and certainly not wastefully or fraudulently. I agree completely with this view. It has been patently painful for me to watch with paralysis; incidences of poor performance, inadequate accountability and in some instances - financial impropriety. In a country where the rule of law reigns supreme, I can only exercise powers, which have been conferred to me by law. The current law does not allow me to adequately intervene and address matters that many of you have correctly complained about in relation to the operation of SETAs.
My first response was to highlight this problem to our social partners whose representatives sit on the governing boards of these SETAs. I was thrilled when the social partners accepted the challenge and made the commitments they did at the Growth and Development Summit. You will remember that both business and labour said that they would ensure that their representatives to the SETA Boards are at a sufficiently senior level to take meaningful decisions and provide strategic direction, and that they would ensure that they are adequately prepared for this responsibility. Hopefully in future they will stand to account when problems arise - and I will not have to take the heat alone! After all I do not sit on the Board of any SETA!
However, I must accept that ensuring that the Skills Development Act's purposes are achieved is my responsibility. And in summary, the central reason for the amendments are to give me the right to fix the problems that have arisen, so that the skills revolution can accelerate a pace without being drawn back by the negative publicity that the bad apples inevitably attract.
When considering the changes to the law I had a choice, I could attempt to remedy each and every problem as it arose or I could clarify my expectations of good, efficient performance and transformatory practice for all SETAs and then put in place procedures to target those who deviated from this. I have chosen the latter course. I felt that the former course would lead to an ad hoc set of prescriptions, which would increasingly skew the playing field in ways that would eventually undermine the universal training agenda we are trying to put in place.
So you will see in these amendments a new obligation on all SETAs to enter Service Level Agreements with the Department of Labour that clearly set out performance outcomes, and very clear steps should any SETA fail to meet its obligations in terms of these agreements. For example, I shall have the power to instruct SETAs to remedy a problem, and if they fail to do so, then this will itself constitute grounds for the take over of their administration.
Some feel, I know, that giving me the power to set salaries for staff and allowances for Board members is 'going too far' - that this is Board responsibility. But again, let me say, that the need for this intervention arose in response to the public outcry about these matters, and where the social partner representatives on SETA boards, who had the authority to set reasonable standards in this regard from March 2000, failed to do so. However, to those who are concerned that I will exercise this power in an arbitrary way that interferes with the performance of SETAs need not worry. It is precisely in order to promote SETA performance that I am introducing these measures and so a fair balance will be found, following a fair and transparent process.
There are other changes to the Skills Development Act that have been occasioned by other implementation problems. In regard to private employment agencies for example, there are those of you in this House that will recall the case that was highlighted in the media last year - in which it was found that young women were being recruited by unscrupulous private employment agencies from the rural areas with the promise of domestic work in Cape Town. They were ferried to town in taxis that they were later expected to pay for, kept in barrack-like conditions and then hired out at extremely low rates of pay. Most of the agencies engaged in this practice were not registered with the Department of Labour but ambiguities in the legislation made it unnecessarily difficult to close them down. The proposed Amendments put the matter beyond doubt. All private employment agencies will be expected to be registered - and will only be registered if they comply to decent work practices - and their failure to do so will undoubtedly lead to their closure. I salute those in the private sector employment agency industry who have supported this measure - demonstrating their commitment to 'clean up' this industry.
Not all the amendments are solving negative problems however. I will highlight just two positive measures that are being introduced to accelerate the implementation of the skills strategy: the first enables me to establish a national standard for people development in organisations. We are all by now familiar with SAQA that rewards individuals who achieve qualification outcomes registered on the National Qualifications Framework. The new standard will enable me to recognise organisations that demonstrate good skills development practices. The National Skills Authority together with my Department has been piloting the Investors in People standard - and already sixteen workplaces have been recognised. These organisations will be individually recognised at the forthcoming Skills Development Conference next month. I hope that we will soon become a nation of organisations that commit themselves to achieve this standard.
The other positive measure that these Amendments are introducing is Employment and Skills Development Agencies. These Agencies are intended to accelerate the uptake of learners in learnerships by taking from smaller employers and even non-governmental agencies all the 'hassle' of the administration side of learnerships. There will be no reason for any firm not to take on learners after this amendment. Indeed I support the call of the National Youth Commission that every single employer should have at least one learner. Only on this scale will we be able to achieve both our Growth and Development target of 72 000 learners by May next year and the National Skills Development Strategy target of 80 000 by March 2005.
There are other amendments of a technical nature that bring this legislation in line with the Public Finance Management Act and provide for the funding for the administration of the National Skills Fund from its own resources. This provision will provide the department with much needed capacity to support the SETAs and monitor their performance in advancing the interest of the skills revolution. I trust that all honourable members who are committed to the objectives of the skills revolution will support these proposed amendments and also do their bit within their spheres of influence to ensure that our skills revolution become a resounding success.
I thank you
Issued by the Department of Labour, 17 September 2003