19 February 2003

Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana says the R214.7-million allocated from the National Skills Fund to social projects has helped provide valuable skills to thousands of South Africans.

The funds have supported the training of 93 894 people since they were made available last year, Mdladlana said during a parliamentary media briefing in Cape Town on Tuesday.

The department of labour last year set aside R1.2-billion from the National Skills Fund for various skills development projects in the country over a three-year period.

The National Skills Fund, administered by the department, is funded from levies collected from companies in accordance with the Skills Development Levies Act of 1998.

"These funds and this training have been linked to income-generating projects", Mdladlana said, citing examples in Lichtenburg and Itsoseng in North West province, where 342 people have been trained as part of a project to electrify government-built houses.

"People were trained in skills in rural line construction, electrical supply operations, as well as downstream skills such as electrical appliance repair, domestic refrigeration and entrepreneurial skills," Mdladlana said.

He added that in Kimberley in the Northern Cape, 30 people had been trained in a business start-up initiative in which members collected waste paper and garden refuse and used this to make manure and compost to sell. He said the former trainees have since become project co-ordinators and managers of a viable venture.

Another R1.1-billion was allocated to projects managed by the country's 25 Sector Education Training Authorities (Setas) that are charged with implementing skills development in various sectors of the economy, including tourism, education, and science and technology, among others.

In 2002 year the Setas reported that a total of 2.3 million workers participated in structured learning. Of those learning at work, 333 534 were engaged in adult basic education and training.

Mdladlana cited as an example the Primary Agriculture Seta, which has already trained 50 small cotton growers, 43 of whom have successfully completed their programmes. These trainees have increased their acreage of planted cotton from 100 to 542 hectares, while 64% of their crop has increased at least one grade in quality, said Mdladlana.

Of those who planted crops last year, there has been a 19% increase in their yield per hectare. There has also been a 14% increase in permanent jobs and a 200% increase in temporary or seasonal jobs associated with the programme.

At least 100 more trainees are due to start training in July, supported by Cotton South Africa.

Mdladlana also said the Secondary Agriculture Seta had also made progress. "In this sector, 800 learners have been trained since April 2002 in areas such as poultry and business skills. About 49 learners are enrolled for a three-year programme at the Sugar Industrial Training Centre in Durban."

Source: BuaNews