South Africa will create a R2,4-billion job fund to assist in the training of workers affected by the recession, President Jacob Zuma announced on Wednesday.

The training lay-off scheme, which would be launched next month, would entail the temporary suspension of work of employees to be used for training purposes.

The scheme would be applicable to workers in “defined circumstances” earning up to R180 000 a year, he said.

The R2,4-billion would be drawn from resources in the National Skills Fund and the Unemployment Insurance Fund and would be used to pay a training allowance, pegged at 50% of the basic wage or salary, to a maximum of R6 239 a month.

Zuma said that Sector Education and Training Authorities have been requested to set aside additional funds for the training course, which would cover skills that could be useful to the company concerned, as well as generic skills, including basic education and training and information and communication technology skills.

The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration would assist trade unions and employers in structuring agreements for the variation of existing contracts to enable the training lay-offs of workers.

Zuma met with the leadership of the group spearheading the implementation of South Africa’s framework response to the global economic crisis. The group consists of representatives from labour, business and government.

The group also looked into support for distressed sectors, including support for companies in the automotive sector and a rescue package for the clothing and textiles industry.

The recession had a severe impact on South Africa's automotive industry, with thousands of jobs lost as car sales plummeted. New vehicle sales could fall to 370 000 units this year, from last year's 533 327 units. In 2006, a record 714 000 vehicles were sold.

Zuma said that the Industrial Development Corporation had set aside R6-billion over the next two years to respond directly to the economic crisis.

The development finance institution had previously said that it expected resources and manufacturing companies to be the main recipients of the bail-out money.

Increased incentives for the manufacture of capital equipment, transport equipment and fabricated metal products, linked to the country’s infrastructure programme, were also included in the framework.

Further, an agreement had been reached on a number of steps necessary to strengthen the ability and capacity of the South African Revenue Service to address customs fraud, that was said to have led to many job losses.

“While significant technical work has been done and important progress made, implementation needs to be speeded up, so that the effect of this work will begin to be felt by the population,” Zuma said.