Business Unity South Africa (Busa) said on Friday that it did not support the new Sector Education and Training Authority (Seta) grant regulations, which proposed further reduction of mandatory grants.

“This goes against the spirit of the Skills Development Act, which advocates work place training . . . and is a blow to occupationally relevant skills training and put the whole skills environment at risk,” it said in a statement, adding that the regulations would lead to less training, which would negatively affect information on skills requirements for workplace skills plans.

“This will have dire consequences for the South African economy as skills development is central to the country’s long-term development, an area also identified in the National Development Plan.”

Busa said that it did not believe allocating more funds to Setas would solve the skills shortage problems in the country, as, over the past 10 years, Setas had failed to deliver on their mandate and had not fully spent their budgets.

“As levy-paying employers providing funding through the skills development levy for both the Setas and the National Skills Fund, we believe that it is imperative that the funding be spent effectively in promoting and supporting the skills development objectives of the National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS) III and not to fund State institutions such as the Quality Council for Trade and Occupations as proposed in these regulations,” it added.

Busa noted that the role of the private sector in delivering on the national skills development agenda, including implementation of the NSDS III, was critical.

“Evidence reflects that South African business has spent on average an additional 3% to 5% on training over and above the 1% skills development levy and this intervention has played a significant role in rebuilding the national skills base of the country.

“Further, it is a fact that approximately 60% of training in the country is funded by the private sector and this underscores the unwavering commitment and the strategic priority that the private sector gives to skills development. Busa is committed to continued public-private partnership as a key delivery platform for achieving sustainable skills development programs and initiatives,” it concluded.