Date: 26/09/2006 Source: Gauteng Provincial Government
Title: Shilowa: Launch of Human Resource Development Strategy for Gauteng


Address by Premier Mbhazima Shilowa at the launch of the Human Resource Development Strategy for Gauteng

Programme director
MEC for Education Angie Motshekga
Other MECs
Representatives of labour
Business representative
Representatives for higher learning institutions
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

Following the adoption of the provincial growth and development strategy last year, together with stakeholders we committed ourselves to:
* identify sectors and areas of economic potential that will make it possible for the Gauteng economy to grow at a rate of 8% per annum
* contribute to the national goal of halving poverty and unemployment by 2014
* increase the participation of women and youth in the productive sector of the economy
* pay particular attention to the growing of small, medium and micro enterprises and cooperatives
* provide financial and non financial support to small medium micro enterprises (SMMEs) especially those that focus on job creation and wealth creation amongst women and youth
* increase the percentage of broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) business that we procure our goods
* invest in the provision of social and economic infrastructure including those required for a successful Federation International Football Association (FIFA) world cup
* reduce the cost of doing business in the province by cutting unnecessary red tape, while strengthening worker rights
* strengthen the different roles of the public and private sectors in economic activity.

Since then we have launched the process to consolidate and strengthen the Gauteng province as a globally competitive city region. This process has seen the leadership of local and provincial government consulting widely on what all of us need to do to ensure that our objective to make Gauteng a globally competitive region bears fruit.

During the launch of the GCR at the Gauteng legislature we said that, "One of the most pressing challenges facing the Gauteng city region is the development of the necessary skills to drive economic growth and social transformation. This requires effective early childhood development and general education as well as at the level of our institutions of higher learning and our Further Education and Training (FET) institutions. These are critical components in skilling our people, in giving them access to quality jobs and in generating further economic development.

I am pleased to announce that we have completed the development of a comprehensive Human Resource Development Strategy for the province as a whole and will be launching it in September. The private sector will be a crucial partner in the successful implementation of the HRD strategy to address skills shortages in the economy. The strategy will also pay attention to skills needs in the public sector, including in the areas of engineering and project management and in accelerating social delivery.

We have created an Early Childhood Development Institute which will ensure an integrated approach in this critical area where the basis for the future development of our children is laid.

Another flagship project will be the creation of a city region observatory with institutions of higher learning. We have already started working closely with Wits University and will in the near future draw on the knowledge and expertise of other institutions of higher learning in strengthening the Gauteng city region."

In all meetings discussing various strategies growth and development, Global City Region (GCR), social development strategies, the one issue that has stood out as a necessity if we are to succeed as a country and province is to move with speed to address the need for a skilled and productive workforce.

Recently the Mail and Guardian published a report which indicated that "50 percent of South Africa’s undergraduate students fail to complete their degrees with money and poor schooling seen as the main causes. And only 30 percent obtain their qualifications within five years of enrolling as first year students."

At the same time we know that despite the best endeavours by labour, business and government, the sector education and training authorities (SETA) have failed to respond adequately to the challenge of skills development.

As part of the implementation of Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA), Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA) has been set up to look at means and ways to accelerate the development of the requisite skills to ensure accelerated and shared economic growth.

All of these points to the dearth of certain skills in our country and Gauteng despite its many institutions of higher learning and further education training institutions are no exception. To transform Gauteng into a globally competitive city region, we have to deal with this challenge. If we deal with it successfully we will be able to provide a quality supply of skills for key economic and social sectors, to move the economy up the productive value chain, to promote shared growth through building social capital and expanding the oportunities available to the poor.

That is the reason the Human Resource Development strategy we are launching today is so significant. While the Gauteng HRD strategy is a government strategy, it is not aimed at addressing the needs of the public sector alone, but of all stakeholders in the public and private sectors, the social sector as well as those of small micro and medium enterprises.

In developing this strategy we have taken into account a number of socio-economic factors which we will need to address to grow the economy, to build Gauteng as a competitive city region and to effectively contribute towards the objectives of halving poverty and unemployment by 2014.

These factors include the reality that key sectors of our economy are experiencing critical skills shortages and gaps; unemployment in the province is disproportionately concentrated amongst the youth, women and those with Grades 8 - 12 education, the number of people living below the poverty line has been steadily increasing. We continue to hear of the unemployed graduates even as many jobs are available.

Yet according to the Gauteng Business Barometer, ‘the number of jobs ads per month in Gauteng newspapers increased from 47 thousand centimetres per month in 2002 to 67 thousand centimetres per month for the last twelve months. This is an increase of 42,5% over the last few years.’

Gauteng is estimated to have around 40% of all job ads in the country well above to its contribution to GDP of 33%. Yet we have graduates who can not find employment!

Many of Gauteng’s poor have turned to the second economy which constitutes 47 percent of economically active persons in the province. And despite education levels of the Gauteng population being generally higher than the national average, the quality and efficiency of the education system needs to be addressed.

The human resource development strategy is based on five key success factors which we must focus on to develop employable, entrepreneurial and smart people.

Firstly, we have to accelerate improvements in the education foundation: To do this we will need to focus on early childhood development, the school system as well as adult basic education and training. Together with parents and teacher unions, we should work very hard to ensure that 155 000 children aged between five and six years should be enrolled in grade R by 2010 accompanied by the training and education of quality early childhood practitioners. The early childhood institute, which we will be opening later this week, will assist us to achieve this target.

To improve the quality of our school system we will focus on increasing the number of school leavers with matric exemption in maths, science and technology while ensuring that generic skills in language and literacy are substantially improved.

To achieve this we have to meet the following targets:
* Ensure that all schools have access to computers by 2009.
* Increase the utilisation of community libraries by school pupils.
* Increase the ratio of university endorsements from 23% in 2004 to 28% by 2010.
* Improve the quality of educators, particularly in maths and science. Educators are the central pillar to human resource development and we have to pay very close attention to the kind of training that they receive and the knowledge that they impart to children because as Henry Brooks Adams once said "A teacher affects eternity, he can never tell where his influence stops".

We will also have to address the continuing rise in teacher-pupil ratio and over crowding brought mainly by growing in migration and rapid urbanisation.

For adult basic education and training to contribute to attaining the goals of the HRD strategy we have to train 233 000 adults in basic literacy every year until 2010. The Gauteng Department of Education will need to build partnerships with industry to improve the effectiveness and utilisation of its Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) educators and Adult Learning Centres. Together with the Gauteng Youth Commission we need to explore how we can mobilise young unemployed graduates to assist as part of the expanded public works programme.

Secondly, we have to create a skilled, adaptable and employable workforce. This will require that we focus on skills for the Gauteng Economy and Skills for Key Social Sectors. We will have to raise the employability of new labour market entrants, improve the quality and relevance of skills provided by Further Education and Training colleges and Universities of Technology, improve employer participation in skills development and increase the number and quality of enrolments and graduations in universities.

Thirdly, we have to support the eradication of poverty and unemployment. This will be achieved by developing the capacity to deliver high quality training for the unemployed, promoting training for employment in labour intensive industries, supporting training for those employed in Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), focussing on re-skilling of retrenched workers through social plan initiatives and providing training support for unemployed youth through training for small, micro and survivalist enterprises.

Fourthly, we have to expand the "national system of innovation" within the province. In this regard our strategy will focus on aligning human development initiatives to support an innovation hub in Gauteng and benchmark innovation progress against key "knowledge economy" measures and scorecards.

Finally, we have to develop the capacity of Gauteng provincial government to drive HRD and skills development. In this context we will focus on improving government’s ability to facilitate and co-ordinate the development and implementation of HRD initiatives within the province, building a strong, dedicated stakeholder management capability, improve our HRD planning and information management capabilities and improving the government’s ability to effectively address its own overall skills needs as well as contribute to poverty reduction and job creation.

Whilst each of these five success factors contains elements that we can implement quickly and achieve short-term success, their full impact will mostly be felt in the medium to long-term.

To achieve high impact we will zoom in on three key strategic interventions. We will have to fast track training in areas of scarce skills. A joint accord with Organised Business and Higher Education Institutions will be established under the auspices of the Gauteng Skills Partnership to secure their buy-in and finalise priority sectors. Potential sectors include engineering, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), public management, financial services and manufacturing. This should in turn make it possible for us to have a better link and working relations with JIPSA.

Secondly, we will build a bridge between the first and second economy by partnering business with FET colleges, the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller and Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) to provide training and business development support to SMMEs as well as to establish incubation programmes and supplier development parks. The irony though is that the majority of students in Gauteng FET colleges are from outside of the province.

Thirdly, we will leverage the competitive advantage of the high number of multi-national companies in Gauteng such as SAB, Old Mutual, Anglo American, Barclays and Coca-Cola, etc, to maximise technology transfers through knowledge sharing, exchanges and shoulder-to-shoulder support.

The execution of the HRD strategy will be guided by strong partnerships and collaboration, the involvement of key decision makers from business, labour; Seta’s and key education and training providers in the province.

I call upon all of you to join hands with us in turning around the skills deficit. No government, municipalities or enterprise will succeed without us sorting out the skills deficit. While it is easy to focus on institutions of higher learning and FETs, more attention should be paid to on the job training by companies and parastatals. After all it is far easier to train someone who is already working for you than a newly employed worker.

I thank you.

Issued by: Gauteng Provincial Government
26 September 2006