Date: 20/10/2003
Source: Department of Labour
Title: Ramashia: Food and beverages manufacturing SETA annual conference


KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY ADV RAMS RAMASHIA, DIRECTOR-GENERAL: DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR, AT THE FOOD AND BEVERAGES MANUFACTURING SECTOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING AUTHORITY ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2003, 20 October 2003

Chairperson of the SETA, Mr van der Waldt
Members of the Governing Body,
CEO: Mr Ravin Deonarain and your executive team and staff,
Distinguished guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Colleagues and Comrades

I am very delighted to have been invited to the Foodbev Annual Congress. The year 2004-05 will be a significant one for SETAs. It will be an important year, for a number of reasons - each of which I shall touch upon briefly.

First, the Minister will have to consider the re-establishment of the SETAs, since by March 2005 their current mandate and licence to operate will come to an end. The Minister has already tasked the NSA to consider the re-establishment process and to submit recommendations for his consideration.

I am aware that some people believe that the Department has a blueprint for the SETA landscape of the future. We do not have such a blue print. However, one thing that is certain is that we remain convinced that the idea of establishing SETAs was a plausible one and we have no intention to effect a policy change in that regard. We have decided that we should no longer take seriously those who continue to vociferously make a preposterous call for the scrapping of SETAs. We have taken this stance because we remain convinced that our policies are sound. Besides, these armchair critics have failed to offer an alternative policy instrument when challenged to do so. They base their rejection of the critical role SETAs play on spurious grounds, arguing that the failure of a few SETAs to live up to expectations, was proof of their assertion that our policy model was defective. Only the feeble-minded will accept a conclusion which is devoid of any logic and motivated by interests not compatible to our commitment to decisively address the challenge of our skills deficit, underdevelopment and unemployment. We would like to state categorically that it is not our intention to embark on a wholesale scrapping of the 25 SETAs we established in the last four years. What we will do is to carryout a comprehensive review aimed at ensuring that we consider lessons learnt from previous experiences and lubricate the delivery machinery and sharpen our delivery instruments to ensure that we improve on our results of the first five-year cycle of our NSDS. While I cannot pre-empt what the NSA will recommend as regards the future operation of the FOODBEV SETA, I believe that based on your performance in the year that ended in March 2003, it would be prudent that you be allowed to continue your work and consolidate on the gains that you have made.

There are however a number of concerns that we would want to see addressed in the review discussion and these include: the performance of SETAs and the way in which SETAs might respond to the challenges of the Growth and Development Summit held in June of this year, as well as the question of helping us to meet the National Skills Development Strategy targets.

Programme Director, I don't think the Foodbev SETA should loose focus and start thinking about its future work, the relationships that it has developed with other SETAs and how these might manifest themselves in organizations and structures beyond 2005. Let me say again, for SETAs that have a good performance record, no major changes are envisaged.

The year 2004 -05 will be important for SETAs for another reason: the promulgation of an amendment to the Skills Development Act which will soon be considered by the NCOP following its adoption by the National Assembly. I know that some people have been critical of the legislation because they see it as a transfer of power and authority from SETAs to the Minister of Labour. Certainly the legislation does authorise the Minister to carry-out certain functions critical to the success of the SETAs which the founding legislation did not envisage. But in the main these are directed at increasing his ability to intervene when a SETA consistently fails to perform. SETAs that maintain performance, are accountable and continue to represent their sectors should have nothing to fear from the new legislation.

The Skills Development Amendment Bill also aims to improve reporting in order to assess the progress and work of SETAs. I am hopeful that the SETA Governing Boards will embrace these provisions and also use them to monitor the performance of their executive staff and to check progress in the implementation of strategic and operational goals. In short we should all be working from the same basic data but with reports tailored to our specific needs. The information that the Department requires to advise and inform me, and that I use to advise the Minister, should not be an extra burden or set of demands. Our requirements should flow naturally and logically out of a SETA's management information systems.

The year 2004-05 will also see the Government taking decisions about the National Qualifications Framework. We are consulting on various proposals and options. Although as a country we have made significant strides towards establishing a single qualifications framework, based on the principles of quality, articulation and increased opportunity and participation, we still have much to do. Those major policy decisions that will be taken will affect the work of SETAs. The intention is to ensure that we create appropriate institutional frameworks to advance our country's Human Resource Development Strategy. Since SETAs occupy an important space in this continuum, I invite you to engage with this process and assist us in arriving at an appropriate model.

The National Skills Development Strategy will be reviewed in 2004. The process of review, and taking soundings about the possible ways in which the Strategy might evolve, has already started under the auspices of the National Skills Authority. Views of key stakeholder groups have been sought; on the value of the Strategy, on target setting, on the application of the levy grant system and other issues of strategic importance. The main conclusions of this initial consultation were debated at the National Skills Development Conference last week.

The second reason why it is important that you get involved is that the Strategy needs to be an action plan to address priorities. It needs to be ambitious and stretching, but also rooted in reality. Your experience 'on the ground', your interaction with employers, workers and education and training providers must be the touchstone to ensure that the Strategy is not a 'wish list' and catalogue of 'nice to haves', but a carefully crafted blueprint for action. A blueprint that we confront head on - a problem which continues to constrain our economy from performing to its full potential. A challenge that restricts our productive capacity and undermines our global competitiveness.

It is important that SETAs should jointly and severally play an active role in this consultation. And I say this for two reasons. First, because the SETAs are key implementation agencies. Concluding a National Skills Development Strategy without an active participation of SETAs will result in a patently defective outcome, not capable of further accelerating the velocity of our skills revolution. During 2003, the pivotal role that SETAs play in advancing this revolution has gained increasing recognition. Even the President himself acknowledged this in this year's State of the Nation Address. The role of SETAs also came on the spotlight during negotiations that preceded the historic Growth and Development Summit. At the GDS, it was acknowledged that SETAs are an important vehicle for raising the skills level, creating a productive citizenry and increasing our economic growth rate. It is for this reason that a significant number of GDS agreements place a number of obligations on SETAs to intensify their efforts in addressing our country's skills development challenges. I know that I can count on you not to shutter the hopes and expectations of millions of our people who have pinned their hopes on the successful implementation of the GDS agreements.

So the next year promises to be an interesting and an eventful one. But I want to make one thing clear. While acknowledging that policy discussions and institutional reviews will no doubt take up some of your time and energy, I can tell you upfront that the participation in this important process shall not be successfully advanced as a ground of justification for failure to reach the agreed performance targets. The 'name of the game' is results, results, and more results. We are concerned about implementation and making a real difference in the lives of our people. We want the skills revolution to be raised to unprecedented heights. We want the skills revolution to succeed.

And so we want our unemployed young people to be trained; NOW, not in some uncertain future date. We want those who have worked and gained experience to have the chance to get their experience and knowledge assessed and accredited so that they can get a qualification; NOW. We want to ensure that small firms enjoy the benefit of our skills development dispensation NOW.

I have read the Food and Bev SETA's Annual report with great interest. Indeed there is much to celebrate. Of the 12 National Skills Development Strategy targets, 10 are of significance for this sector. Already you have achieved 50 per cent of these - two years ahead of schedule. Other targets are also being successfully pursued. This is commendable and I congratulate you all on these achievements. In fact your success is a vindication for our unambiguous assertion that there is nothing wrong with the design and architecture of our skills development strategy and the institutions established to implement this strategy.

But there is one target that is failing and where greater efforts are required. This concerns the recruitment of young people, and especially unemployed young people, into learnerships and apprenticeships. This SETA made an excellent start in the design and development of learnership programmes. But success in recruiting young people and in getting employers on board to provide learnership opportunities has been less than plausible. I understand that this slow progress and a possible lack of enthusiasm amongst employers to offer learnerships was an issue that was addressed at your conference last year.

I hope that over the next couple of days you will seriously address any obstacles that still need to be tackled to ensure that you recruit at least 1,200 learners before the middle of next year. Your CEO has likened this challenge to that of conquering the Everest; with you now only at base camp. Earlier this year a South African conquered it. And as I understand it, this eminent South African also started at the base camp. In order not to be overwhelmed by this daunting task, you need a mindset that enables you to look at a seed and see an orchard covered with ripe apples. As one wise man once said, "a journey of thousand miles begins with one step. Step by step you should march towards your targets - and if you accelerate your current pace, you will reach your destination on time.

Those of you who attended the National Skills Development Conference will remember that in taking stock of our overall progress we concluded that the 12 performance indicators and the three equity targets are all within reach. But this depends upon maintaining the rate and pace of development that was achieved in 2002 -03. All of the targets are important but we want to see even more effort to ensure that people have access to NQF level 1 programmes, that the drive to engage small employers is given added weight and that unemployed young people are recruited to learnerships. We also need to be responsive to the equity targets, namely that 85 per cent of all participants should be black, that 54 per cent should be women and 4 per cent should people with disabilities. The first two of these look achievable but we are not offering opportunities for those people who continue to be labelled and judged according to what they can't do, rather than on the basis of their capabilities.

Finally, I would like to make some remarks on what makes a SETA a good one. When we make assessments of performance what are the criteria on which a SETA should be judged? I have referred to the importance that the Department of Labour attaches to the achievement of targets. Clearly meeting targets and performance objectives must be a key measure of success and failure. But while achieving the targets defined by the National Skills Development Strategy, or addressing the priorities of a Sector Skills Plan are important they are not the only measures of success.

In addition to effective delivery, I believe that there are four additional principal areas against which each SETA must be assessed. These are the ability of a SETA to marshal support and commitment of the sector it serves; secondly, the SETA's knowledge of its sector's education and training needs; thirdly representation and communication, and fourthly its viability and long term sustainability and fifthly its efficient financial management.

Let me say a few words on each of these.

First, sector commitment. By this I mean that the strategic direction of the SETA is genuinely provided by a representative cross-section of employers and workers without a disproportionate dominance of the large players. Sector commitment involves accountability of employers, workers, government departments and professional bodies to their sector. The work of the SETA should command support and respect from employers and workers alike. In other words a SETA must add value and be seen by stakeholders as adding real value where it really matters. Steps should be taken to find out what stakeholders think about SETAs - and I am pleased to learn that the Food and Bev SETA is planning a survey to assess perceptions about its work and influence.

The second major area is about knowledge of education and training needs. Each SETA must have an accurate, comprehensive and up-to-date understanding of the learning and skills needs of its sector. Its strategy and plans must be based on reliable data and realistic assumptions and predictions of future trends. This requires intimate knowledge of economic trends in the sector so as to ensure that the training undertaken is demand driven.

The third area in which a 'good' SETA must be competent concerns representation and communication. How well is a SETA representing and communicating with its sector and the public at large? I would like to see each SETA recognized as the preferred reference point for trade bodies, employers, unions and others on all aspects of learning and skills in its sector. A SETA should be the centre of expertise on learning and skills and the catalyst to ensure that sector interests - in terms of education and training - are achieved with government and other partners.

Fourthly, each SETA must have a viable resource base and sound management and governance arrangements. This is not only about having systems and staff: it means a regular review of policies and procedures: it involves a systematic review of performance: it involves each SETA being a learning organization, which receives feedback and appropriately respond to the same without being defensive. Many potential beneficiaries of SETA services, be they aspirant service providers, potential learners and those in need of training inform me that the bureaucratic red-tape they have to go through to get access to SETA services is prohibitive and discouraging. I wholeheartedly appreciate SETAs' dependence on procedures and protocols in order to prevent abuse of the system especially by unscrupulous service providers. But we should guard against being so obsessed with bureaucracy that we allow it to prevent us from doing what we were set up to do in the first place. We need to find ingenious ways to achieve and maintain this illusive balance between flexibility and responsiveness on the one hand and accountability and good stewardship on the other.

Financial impropriety and lack of prudent and frugal financial management has been one of the reasons why SETAs have attracted a lot of criticism in the last few years. Not all SETAs suffer from this ailment but the few that do have succeeded in causing aspersions to be cast on the collective integrity of SETAs. I was deeply impressed in perusing your audited statements and found no qualifications. In fact, in the last financial year, only two SETAs' accounts were qualified. This is an impressive record but I will only be satisfied when all 25 SETAs meet this standard.

Many of us have been sympathetic to the fact that it has been difficult for most SETAs during their embryonic phase, to deliver in what they were set up to do. But after more than three years in existence this reason no longer resonates as a ground of justification for poor performance in each of the competencies I outlined above. As SETAs enter their fifth year, Parliament and others will rightly place emphasis on performance - and on performance that needs to reflect indicators in addition to the successful attainment of numerical targets.

At the Growth and Development Summit social partners made ambitious suggestions about the future work of SETAs. These included a greater involvement in the implementation of industrial sector strategies and support co-operatives. Employers and workers also undertook to support the work of SETAs and where necessary to strengthen their representation. This all points to the important contribution that our society wants the SETAs to play.

From my attempt to map the future and the issues that will affect your work; I trust that you appreciate the significant role SETAs play in the landscape of our economy.

The negative impact that the skills shortage has in our economy is very serious. The people's expectations that SETAs will help in causing the tide to turn in this regard couldn't be higher. You and I are in a privileged position to bring a positive change in the lives of millions of our people. We dare not fail, lest history will judge us in a manner too horrendous to contemplate.

I thank you

Source: Department of Labour (http://www.labour.gov.za)