Job Creation Trust Project Awards and Annual Report Function speech given by Honourable Minister of Labour, Membathisi Mdladlana at Sunnyside Park Hotel, Park Town

During the State of the Nation address in February this year the President of our country rightfully declared that "At the centre of our economic programmes is, and should always be, the consideration whether their success is helping to improve the quality of life of all South Africans, acting as an important weapon in our War on Poverty and accelerating our advance towards the attainment of such objectives as the reduction of unemployment and advancing the goal of health for all."

It is thus not a surprise that we all consistently bemoan the fact that our economy is not creating enough jobs, although we have been experiencing relative satisfying economic growth figures over the recent couple of years. I would not like to undermine your own understanding of some of the fundamentals contributing to the aforementioned situation; hence I have no intention of expanding on the point. However, I am sure that Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), National Council of Trade Unions (Nactu) and Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) must have reflected on some of these realities when you called on your members at the Presidential Job Summit in 1998 to contribute one day's wages in order to help create jobs.

I am sure there were many that received this announcement with a fair share of scepticism for various reasons. Some might have seen it as a reinforcement of the perceived over simplication of the complex matter of structural unemployment by trade unions given the potential size of a fund that could be established by contributions of workers I believe approximately R89 million was raised in 1998 following the call by the trade union federations. Sadly, in the process I believe many missed out on the key messages from this very noble initiative. Firstly, and more importantly, the establishment of the Trust demonstrated the willingness to do something about the unemployment problem, instead of just talking about the problem. Secondly, it was a reminder to all of us about the ever willingness of workers to sacrifice for the good of our nation. A tradition that the working class established during our fight to get rid of the unjust system of apartheid.

If more of us could just stop theorising and debating about the unemployment problem and instead come up with concrete job creation programmes maybe we could make more and faster strides in arresting the unacceptable unemployment levels. Master of ceremonies, I also cannot recall why this noble idea was a once off initiative during 1998. Can you imagine how much the Trust would have collected annually if this noble idea was kept alive? Have we solved the unemployment level or is it too late for us to re-introduce the idea?

The aforementioned spirit displayed by ordinary workers that in many cases are underpaid, is also fully aligned to the theme of the African National Congress's January 8th Statement: "Mass mobilisation to build a caring society". The work that is being done by the Trust under the able leadership of the Board of Trustees also relate directly to one of government's critical Apex Priorities regarding the elaboration of an integrated and comprehensive anti-poverty strategy that addresses especially sections of the population most affected by this scourge. These include children, women, the youth, people living in rural areas and urban informal settlements, people with disabilities or chronic illnesses and the elderly.

Among the key proposed interventions are: expanding the public works programme, employment subsidies for direct job-creation for targeted groups, enhancing employment search capability, improving education and training, improving services and assets among poor communities, specific interventions in poor households, and ensuring effectiveness of institutions supporting women and other sectors.

At the Department of Labour, over and above all the pressing labour market issues we have to deal, is the issue of skills development. By now there is consensus from all our partners that, apart from hostile international factors like rising oil prices, the United States (US) recession, the South African economy is beginning to experience growth strains because of "lack of skills" obviously taking into account all factors and debates associated with this problem. There are views regarding the noble economic growth prospects we could be enjoying from our infrastructure projects and how this is being hamstrung skills shortages.

There are some who like in Eskom's and the electricity debacle are of the view that the skills shortages problem is something that could have been foreseen and that perhaps we responded a bit too late to. Membathisi Shepered Mphumzi Mdladlana may not have the necessary cloud, but certainly as early as 1998, arguing for the passage of the Skilled Development Act, he had a vision and belief our ability to deal decisively with our skills development challenges is a critical precondition for solving our country's structural unemployment in a sustainable way. It is very said that it took almost 10 years for people to hear and understand a simple message.

Against this backdrop the Department of Labour has listened to all the debates and comments on how best to oil the skills development machinery (Sector Training and Education Authorities (SETAs), the National Skills Fund (NSF). We are pushing forward with firm proposals for legislative reforms that include amendment to the Skills Development Act. These broad reforms include doing away with the last sections of the Manpower Development Act, formalising quality assurance for trade occupations and streamlining the functions of the National Skills Authority and NSF. We have tabled all these proposals through National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) and trust that our social partners have engaged with them and enriched our final proposals to Cabinet. All these legislative reforms will have implications for the way we handle challenges for skilling our people and I trust social partners will continue to support us.

Coming back closer to the subject matter of the evening, I was told that the Trust has to date funded 106 projects nationally across various sectors, representing a total commitment of R53 million with the majority located in two of our poorest Provinces, namely Eastern Cape and Limpopo. Also very welcoming is the partnership that you managed to forge with the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) and various government departments.

Despite the apparent partnerships already in place, I believe that the Trust should continue to explore opportunities to leverage co-funding arrangements with government departments and agencies so as to optimise the impact of the Trust's own financial contributions. As an example, there is little justification for the Trust to use its resources to pay for skills development interventions, given inter alia the resources available for this very same purpose under the NSF and SETAs. At the same time I know that the NSF, in terms of its current scope, is not allowed to fund brick and mortar-hence this scenario leans itself perfectly to co-funding arrangements. Reports are indicating that such collaboration with the department has already occurred on a number of projects you have funded to date.

My intelligence sources informed me that the Trust is about to embark on some interesting initiatives like the pilot project with the Wits Language School to train 100 students in foreign languages like Portuguese, Spanish and French with an eye on opportunities that will be presented by the 2010 Soccer World Cup, Pan African Parliament activities, etc. The Department of Labour is keen to explore possible collaboration in such initiatives, through the National Skills Fund and I am sure mutually we can develop something that will have major impact and expand this programmes in all our provinces.

Lastly, I would like to applaud the efforts of those behind the various projects that will be receiving awards tonight. Your presence here tonight bears testimony of an excellent contribution towards the achievement of the objectives behind the establishment of the Job Creation Trust. Please continue to build on your achievements and in so doing help building a better future for fellow South Africans. As I stated in my response in Parliament to the State of the Nation Address earlier this year: "Yes Comrade President our people have political freedom however, that political freedom without economic control is hollow." May God Almighty help us that we don't reach a stage in our history where we will painfully regret ignoring this simple fact of life.

I thank you!

Enquiries:
Zolisa Sigabi
Cell: 082 906 3878
E-mail: zolisa.sigabi@labour.gov.za

Issued by: Department of Labour
12 April 2008