Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition: Progress Report by the Presidency

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Meeting report

Portfolio committee on foreign affairs

PUBLIC WORKS PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
13 September 2006
JOINT INITIATIVE FOR PRIORITY SKILLS ACQUISITION: PROGRESS REPORT BY THE PRESIDENCY


Chairperson: Mr F Bhengu (ANC)

Documents handed out:
Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition

SUMMARY`
The Presidency submitted a progress report on the development and advancements of the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA). The presentation dealt with JIPSA’s mandate and focus on urgently acquiring engineering and artisan skills. The presentation also outlined JIPSA’s linkage to the Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa.

Due to time constraints few questions could be asked, but Members questioned JIPSA’s role in further education and training, education curricula, relationships with foreign companies and the recruitment of foreign, retired engineers.
   
MINUTES

The Chairperson introduced Ms Raisibe Morathi (Economic Adviser to the Deputy President) from the Presidency.

Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA) Progress Report Presentation

Ms Morathi’s presentation established the overall objective of JIPSA and the management team by highlighting that JIPSA is led and managed by a joint task team chaired by the Deputy President and a joint technical working group chaired by Mr Gwede.

She said the areas of priority skills acquisition aligned with the Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative of SA (ASGISA) were engineering, intermediate artisanship, technological skills and management skills. In the past five months, progress comprised a skills shortage analysis, infrastructural requirements analyses, and forging relationships with industries, government departments and higher and further training institutions. Skills shortages remained a “grave concern” particularly in finding artisans with relevant skills training.

Co-presenter, Associate Professor Haroon Bhorat, a member of the JIPSA technical team, presented a data analysis which suggested that South Africa suffered a mismatch in skills demand and supply.

Ms Morathi announced that JIPSA had placed a total of 850 people overseas, with 35 placed in India and Germany with Tata and Sasol. She also highlighted the linked short and long-term interventions necessary for skills acquisition.
 
Discussion
The Chair ruled that only one round of questions would be allowed as the Committee had a visit to Plettenberg Bay planned for later in the day.

Mr SE Opperman (DA) questioned JIPSA’s commitment to education and Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs).

Mr LD Maduma (ANC) questioned the role of Further Education and Training (FET) Colleges particularly because they were geographically dispersed and often under-capacitated. He wanted to know if JIPSA would utilise these colleges to offer skills-related programmes.

Ms TLP Nwamitwa-Shilubane (ANC) said that graduate unemployment was primarily the result of the legacy of Bantustan education during apartheid. She suggested that the JIPSA task teams should investigate the outcomes-based education (OBE) curriculum to ensure that the schools curricula are aligned to the objectives of ASGISA and JIPSA.     

Mr S Huang (ANC) asked about the link between JIPSA and reconstruction and development programmes facilitated by government particularly at local and regional municipal levels.

Mr JPI Blanche (DA) mentioned that the Apartheid government had forged strategic relationships with foreign countries where it trained most of its engineers. He suggested that JIPSA should follow this example and negotiate with international manufacturing giants to train South Africans in return for better trade conditions.

Ms BA Radede (ANC) questioned the move by JIPSA to recruit foreign, retired engineers. Her concern was that this would lead to capital flight as local earnings would be repatriated to their home countries.

Ms Morathi responded that JIPSA viewed education as a “cradle to grave” concern. JIPSA wanted to provide the Education Department with the best advice, even concerning pre-school education. One of ASGISA’s objectives was to invest between R2 billion and R3 billion to capacitate FET colleges. She stressed that it was necessary for JIPSA to intervene in the education sector.

Ms Morathi agreed that lobbying international companies was imperative in increasing the skills base of South Africa. JIPSA had been presented with the opportunity to send South Africans to a Tokyo-based company; however due to the high cost of living in Tokyo, JIPSA could not immediately accept the offer.

The Chairperson felt the presentation was very informative and “eye opening”, but asked for an additional briefing in future as time constraints had meant justice could not be done to the subject.

The meeting was adjourned.

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