By Ndaba Dlamini

18 August 2008

DURING the Presidential Imbizo in April 2007, Joburg's business sector highlighted the shortage of skills that was negatively affecting the City's economic growth plans.

One year later, the City is establishing a centre aimed at boosting skills in the workforce. Called the Andisa Skills Hub, it is part of Joburg's new Skills Strategy, which is defined as a programme of action that seeks, among other things, to ensure that city-wide skills initiatives are clearly translated into strategic objectives, key result areas and key skills development programmes.

It is anticipated that the centre will be operational by the end of June 2009, according to Thuli Khumalo, the head of small medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) in the City.

Launching the Skills Strategy on Tuesday, 12 August at Braamfontein's Metro Centre, the member of the mayoral committee for economic development, Parks Tau, said addressing the skills shortage was critical to growing the City into an economic powerhouse. However, developing these skills needed to be grounded in the economic reality in which we lived.

This was reiterated by the executive director in the department of economic development, Jason Ngobeni, who said an important element of the strategy was getting a clear understanding of the existing skills in different sections of the labour market, in particular among the youth.

"[The strategy] is also primarily aimed at creating a better match between the supply of and the demand for skills in order to significantly reduce unemployment and increase job creation," he said. Specifically, the Skills Strategy seeks to:

• Establish a policy framework for the City's skills development programmes and initiatives;
• Define an integrated and holistic approach to economically driven skills development for the department of economic development and the municipal owned entities;
• Clarify the City's position on skills development;
• Provide a framework for the development and resourcing of skills development; and
• Establish a framework for the monitoring and evaluation of skills development.

The aim is to eliminate the constraint that the skills shortage has on economic growth and social development, as well as increase the potential for employment of graduates, school leavers and the unemployed.

Ngobeni said the Skills Strategy came out of extensive consultation between the City's economic development department, its municipal owned entities and the private sector. It was approved by the executive council earlier this year.

It was drawn up in three phases: first, a situational analysis was undertaken that included a review of the current skills demand and supply and the factors that drove this.

The second phase involved consultations with municipal owned entities and the private sector that included one-on-one interviews as well as presentations and meetings with City forums.

The third phase involves the approved final draft strategy; a workshop will be held as part of wider consultation to ensure that key external stakeholders and partners can give their input. The launch of the Skills Strategy forms part of this third phase. Josie Rowe-Setz, the group chief executive of Blueprint, said the skills hub would ensure effective and efficient delivery and implementation of the skills strategy.

Blueprint, a consultancy, together with Growth Laboratory, was responsible for drawing up the Skills Strategy. "The skills hub will offer Prior Learning Centre (RPL) services to assist candidates to showcase their workplace experience and learning so that it can be evaluated and assessed; SMME development and support; career guidance; and information services."

In addition, it would run job creation and poverty alleviation programmes, including education and training in information and communication technology, freight and logistics, mining, construction, and wholesale and retail industries.

"Provision of training will be done in partnership with skills and education training authorities (Setas), professional industrial associations and the Department of Education. The centre will specifically benefit job-seekers," said Rowe-Setz.

An RPL unit would be set up in the hub to assess and accredit learners, said Peter Adams, the chief executive of Growth Laboratory.

"The RPL unit will offer services to assist in the identification of people with the requisite general education foundation in subjects such as mathematics, science and technology and put them through top-up programmes towards qualifications or employable skills. Learners and job seekers will also be screened to determine existing skills and competencies as well as determining gaps for top-up learning."

In addition to the skills hub, the strategy will set up the Joburg Black Suppliers Database. The database is aimed at supporting emerging black enterprises by providing better access to economic empowerment opportunities; information on and access to procurement opportunities; and information on private and public sector economic opportunities.

A Labour Market Information Database and Support project will serve the most-difficult-to-place job seekers. These job seekers - especially economically deprived people such as out-of-school youth and unemployed women - will be helped to find work or become self-employed.

Source: Joburg.org.za