ANNEXURE D - Learnership Agreement ANNEXURE E - Learnership Project Plan
2.8 SKILLS DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA
2.8.1 IMPACT OF SKILLS SCARCITY IN SOUTH AFRICA
Sixteen years into our democracy, education and skills remain a critical constraint on economic growth and development, and on our ability to improve the quality of life and opportunities for the people of South Africa.
Since March 2003, the rate of unemployment has fallen from 31.2% to 23% in September 2007. There are now about 1.8 million more people employed in South Africa than in September 2003 (Statistics SA online: 2007). Of South Africa’s youth population, 65% remain unemployed (CDE: 2008). A further 25.5% of the economically active population was unemployed in March 2007.
New data based on the latest Income and Expenditure Survey show a better than expected trend for people living on less than 1$ per day in South Africa.
In 2002, the numbers of people living below this poverty level peaked at just under 3 million people, but in 2007 just under 1 million South Africans fell into this category (Statistics SA online: 2007).
In 2006, the public sector employed about 1.65 million people made up of about 1.15 million people in national and provincial government, 181 000 in local government, and a further 304 000 in public entities and state-owned enterprises. The public sector employs about 3,5 percent of the population of the country (CDE: 2007). Government’s developmental aspirations will be negatively affected without sufficient skills and productivity. The acquisition of
skills is a critical requirement to deliver essential services like education and health, water and sanitation. Co-ordinating and managing high level policy- making around growth will be similarly endangered.
The view that skills act as a significant constraint on economic growth is widely held, and is reflected in the government’s official policy document on the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA). There is also a view that solving skills shortage is more important than attracting foreign direct investment into the country.
The impact of skills shortage in South Africa can result in the following:
• Decreased economic productivity;
• Increased costs of production and inflated wages;
• Lower quality of services and products;
• Lost economic opportunities to countries that have the required skills, and
• Decreased ability to develop a “knowledge society,” which means we make less technological progress.
The above discussion reflects that this renders South Africa less competitive in the global economy, where economic success is increasingly dependent on knowledge and research. We become more vulnerable to “cheaper”
competition from other countries, with lost income spent by the country on educating people who emigrate to other countries with their skills.
In 1997, the direct loss to South Africa measured as tax revenue which had been invested in emigrants’ education and training, was estimated at R67.8 billion (The National Skills Development Handbook, 2007: 61). South Africa continues to experience an exodus of skilled personnel. This point has significance for this research because it is hoped that learnerships will contribute to addressing the skills deficient in the country. Most skilled personnel are leaving the country due to the high crime rate. A growing number of people recorded as 16 165 emigrated in 2003 "in search of a better life and opportunities" (ref) compared with 8487 in 1999. The 2003 figure represents a 48.4% increase over the 2002 figure of 10 890 emigrants (Cape
Argus, November 2005). A new website, Homecoming Revolution, is managed by a group of independent funders. The site provides information and support for expatriate South Africans who intend returning (homecomingrevolution: online). In 2007, the Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula addressed expatriates in Britain and urged them to think about returning to South Africa. Despite renewed confidence in the economy, figures by Statistics SA indicate there was an increase of 90% in the number of emigrants who left the country over a six-year period (Pretoria News, October 2006).
Furthermore, people in the streets tend to think of the skills shortage as a shortage of, for example, welders, electricians, plumbers, etc. If one asks senior managers in the public service, the response is about the shortage of skilled managers, skilled administrators and even skilled typists. This starts to broaden one’s understanding of this challenge called a skills shortage because one understands that it covers the entire scope of the employment sector (Hindle, 2007: 136).
There is the avoidance of the fact that we face not only a skills shortage - numbers of qualified and experienced people - but also a skills quality deficit, resulting in the unemployment of “qualified” people at both school and tertiary levels. This mismatch is starting to edge into the skills debate (Business Day, March 2007).
Another form of mismatch caused through rapid restructuring and transformation is between organisational structures (organograms), incumbents of posts, job descriptions and qualifications required to fulfil certain functions (Tladi, 2006: 134). The factors impacting on scarcity of skills is an integral focus area of this research, and is highlighted in the following discussion.
2.8.1.1 FACTORS IMPACTING ON SCARCITY OF SKILLS
The high levels of crime together with the apparent lack of effective law enforcement have driven highly skilled personnel out of the country. High
crime levels may also be attributed to high poverty rates. With unemployment averaging around 24%, at least 20% of households have an income of less than R500 per month (Fourie & Schonteich in Odendaal, 2003: 124).
According to a community survey conducted in 2007, approximately 10.3% of our population are functionally illiterate. Education is central to skills empowerment and consequently leads to the achievement of sustainable communities. (Stats SA online: 2008). It is also viewed as a key determinant for improved service delivery and enhancing public administration overall.
HIV/AIDS has devastating consequences for the population composition and negatively affects economic growth in general, and skills development in particular. The gross domestic product growth can decrease between 1 & 2 % in countries where the HIV prevalence rate is more than 20%. In South Africa, the HIV infection rate is 19.94% advocates (Fourie & Schonteich in Odendaal, 2003: 126).