Question NW1407 to the Minister of Public Enterprises
30 July 2021 - NW1407
Clarke, Ms M to ask the Minister of Public Enterprises
(1) What strategies will his department put in place in order to retain the scarce skills set within Denel; (2) Whether the training college at Denel has the capacity in terms of (a) funding and (b) resources to conduct the necessary training that is currently needed?
Reply:
According to the information received from Denel:
1. As things stand Denel has lost a significant amount of scarce skills, primarily due to non-payment or partial payment of salaries. To the extent that Denel continues to face liquidity challenges, it is difficult if not impossible to retain skills. Denel’s current focus is to stabilise and rebuild the organisation to make it attractive again. Once this is achieved, Denel will be able to attract the lost skills back as most employees have had demonstrable loyalty to Denel.
2. (a) The Denel Technical Academy (DTA) is currently not funded. Its reliance over the past few years has been on applications for government funding. However, the DTA Strategy and Delivery Framework is already under review in line with the Re-purposed Denel Strategy and Operating Model.
(b) The current scope of the DTA is aircraft trades and general engineering trades artisan training together with specific aircraft type training for Denel product types. Denel is of the view that the DTA has not been optimised to its Full Potential in the past. The Strategy review process presents numerous opportunities for Denel to Maximize Value out of this facility and this includes its Infrastructure usage and Integrated Learning Solution Delivery.