Deputy President David Mabuza
Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande,
Honourable Premiers and MECs in attendance,
HRDC Secretariat,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you all for joining us on this virtual platform for the first meeting of the Human Resources Development Council for the year. This meeting takes place after exactly a year since the country went on nationwide lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This has been a challenging time for everyone in terms of adjusting our way of life according to the dictates of the new conditions that are imposed by this coronavirus. Of greater challenge, is the altered way of conducting business and the resultant impact on the economy including the disruption of global value chains. These disruptions have come to define our ability to adapt, to be flexible and to be resilient in the face of the changing tide of world of work.
We have lost a lot of ground in terms of job creation and skills development due to this pandemic. Whilst we have had to focus on the healthcare response to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic, including initiatives towards mass vaccination, we equally have to focus our attention to the implementation of economic recovery and reconstruction programmes.
The economy is undergoing severe strain leading to closure of businesses leading to job losses. This is the moment to act decisively to rebuild our economy through targeted investments in critical and new skills that will promote innovation and entrepreneurship.