Question NW1011 to the Minister of Employment and Labour

Reply:

The Department has undertaken a number of measures to devise more jobs for work seekers including discouraged ones. We also put in measures to prevent losses of the current jobs and we have raised those matters in parliament, in the media and in various forums with different social partners and stakeholders. The following includes some of the measures we have implemented to end of February 2021:

1. The Unemployment Insurance Fund has disbursed more than R58-billion in COVID-19 Temporary Employee Relief Scheme to ease the difficulty of workers during the lockdown because of the pandemic. This injection was very important for the economy and contributed in improving the lives of workers in the country and sustaining their jobs.
2. We are currently developing the National Employment Policy (NEP). To date the situational analysis has been developed and extensive consultation is underway.
3. Draft 0 on the NEP Sub-theme on Labour Migration Policy has been developed and is currently being finalised. The Draft Policy will be aligned to the Employment Services Amendment Bill that will also processed through Parliament.
4. We have provided the following assistance to work seekers

             Number of work seekers registered = 702,001.

            Number of Work seekers provided with employment counselling to overcome employment barriers and prepare for job interviews= 200,065.

             Number work opportunities registered after canvassing with potential employers = 71,262.

            Number of work seekers successfully placed into employment opportunities =28,174.

6. 956 Workers with Disabilities employed by 10 National Organisation Factories were provided with subsidies

7. 18 Additional new workers were appointed permanently in our 13 Supported Employment Enterprises employing people with disabilities.

8. Our entities such as Productivity SA has done a lot in saving companies from complete closure through their Turn Around Solution and have provided detailed intervention during the Workshop that was arranged by the Portfolio Committee on Labour during February this year.

9. The CCMA continues to deal with a range of unfair dismissal cases that continue to happen during COVID-19 period, and their 3rd Quarterly report provides detailed statistics in this regard.

10. Our inspection and Enforcement Services has continued to ensure that those who were working during the lockdown, remain safe and that their employers are implementing the Covid-19 regulations that I have published.

11. NEDLAC continues to work with us in responding to the President’s call to rebuild our economy and create more jobs through the development of an Economic Recovery Plan following on the Job Summit.

12. As part of the Economic Stimulus we worked with the Presidency to recruit and place 800 000 young people in Temporary Employment by end March 2021.

13. We have installed self-service stations in 62 out of our 126 labour centres that work seekers can assess for job search, counselling services and placement assistance. We are doing our best with the UIF and Compensation Fund assistance to expand the introduction of these units to the remaining Employment and Labour Centres and Satellite offices that we operate from. These systems can be accessed online by anyone with internet access as well as from anywhere in the country and they provide UIF, CF, Inspections, PES services and people don’t have to go and stand in long ques outside our offices.

13 We also piloted a concept of a youth centre in Cape Town and we will be expanding this concept to other Provinces such as Kwa-Zulu Natal and Northern Cape. And later in the new Financial year to Gauteng and Eastern Cape

14. We will be rolling out mobile units to reach out to those discouraged work seekers in the rural and urban areas and informal settlements to assist them with a range of labour market services.