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APRIL 2013
(A study by the SANSA project at UCT estimates that
over 233 000 South Africans emigrated permanently to
five countries: the United Kingdom, the USA, Canada,
Australia and New Zealand between 1989 and 1997.)
“Unfortunately, our labour is unskilled and
expensive for what it offers big business, and the
gap between Blacks and Whites, in my view, is
widening, especially at a basic education level. For
South Africa to become competitive, business and
government need to fix this burning issue.”
Peter Thompson, Regional Director – Terex Construction,
Sub Saharan Africa.
Contrary to belief, the apprenticeship system was not done
away with. It still operates under the terms of the Manpower
Training Act of 1981. Over the past two decades, however,
increasingly fewer apprenticeships have been undertaken.
The standard set in 1985 was 13 500 apprentices passing
trade tests to be certified as artisans. By 1990 that number
was down to about 7000, while the low point was reached
in 1996 with only 3000 people passing trade tests.
“The loss of skills and the lack of skills training
between both the Contractors and the mining
companies, which started back in the late 80s, early
90s, is impacting on us today. Presently, some mining
companies are doing the work that contractors used
to do, but not with the same level of skill, having a
negative effect on quality of delivery.”
Ockert Douglas, MD – Redpath Mining South Africa (Pty) Ltd.
These days, while government tries to introduce various
methods of education – from Recognition of Prior
Learning (RPL) to the multipurpose, publicly funded
Further Education and Training (FET) colleges, which
have potential artisans jumping through hoops to apply
– we are left with an unskilled workforce, clamouring
for available jobs and while South Africa is not the only
country experiencing the brain drain, it is seen as less
of a prospect for attracting labour from overseas.
To counteract the skills shortages, over the last number
of years, various OEMs have been instrumental in
developing skills within their sectors, opening up training
schools and offering hands-on, personalised training
courses to staff and customers alike, in everything from
operator and driver training, to fleet management and re-
manning of equipment as well as bricklaying, plastering
and other construction-based skills.
“In order to provide customers with a level of
service that adheres to stringent world standards,
staff in our dealer network are constantly trained
and empowered to stay abreast of the latest
developments within the industry.”
Jacques Carelse, Managing Director – UD Trucks,
Southern Africa.
However, unemployment and labour unrest go hand-
in-hand and over the past decade the latter has slowly
battered any headway that companies may have made
in bringing operational costs down, particularly in the
mining sector as the unions have fractured, jeopardising
investor involvement.
Looking back... to move forward
In the 1990s, South Africa was the pariah of the globe;
we couldn’t go any further down in the popularity stakes.
Entire continents wanted nothing to do with us, so it
was futile even calculating what business confidence
was on the scale and, as for investment, well, even our
begging bowl was being ignored.
The economic uncertainty of the country had investors
slamming their wallets closed with finality and the brain
drain continued, with skills being sought from overseas,
and more often, at more than double the cost.
Then 1994 saw Nelson Mandela lead the first ever
national election. We were ‘liberated’ and suddenly
the sweetheart on the block, the flavour of the century
and we were all seen as Rainbow Children. Investors
jostled to pour their money into this ‘wunderkind’ and
the future looked brilliant.
Economies went through a boom worldwide, sport
flourished back home and at last it looked as though
we were finally finding our place on the world stage.
Tourism was at its height and SA was seen as the place
to be.
However, slowly and insidiously over the next few years,
the plaster started to crack and the discontent of the past
again showed its scarred face. The Rainbow started to
buckle as crime escalated, corruption emerged as a
governmental pastime and business confidence started
slipping. Then the global meltdown hit and the entire
world wobbled.
opinion piece
The South African Qualification Authority Act of 1995,
the Skills Development Act of 1998 and the Sector
Education and Training Authorities (Setas) of 2000 got
under way and the apprenticeship system was revised,
with each Seta having its own (confusing and often
contradictory) methods and funding mechanisms.
“When the learnerships came out, apprenticeships
were for a time disregarded. It was a strategic
error by government built on good intentions.”
Janet Lopes, skills development executive – Steel and Engineering
Industries Federation of South Africa (Seifsa).