Green Jobs for South Africa

Scenario

South Africa has embarked on a major policy drive to invest in a greener economy and green skills development specifically has been identified as a key focus area. Skills development in South Africa has always been a national priority, but as the National Skills Development Strategy III (NSDS III) points out, “..the absence of coherent strategies within economic and industrial sectors, compounded by the lack of systematic skills development to support and sustain growth and development..”, is a key challenge. This is even more so with regard to green skills for a greener economy. The underlying reasons for this lack of coherent strategies are (i) a lack of coordination between the various government departments and institutions tasked with skills development, (ii) the capacity constraints of these same institutions, and last but not (iii) least scant knowledge on how to go about developing green skills.

Project

But Skills matter. For workers, skills mean employability and social mobility. They are the best insurance against unemployment and are an important factor for personal development and active citizenship. At the same time, the skills and competences of South African workers are a major component of the nation’s productivity, competitiveness and innovation. Investment in green skills is a crucial prerequisite for the long-term performance of a greener economy and may be even the future of the South African social model. Yet, tomorrow’s jobs will be different from those that we know today. What skills will be needed in 10 or 15 years time, and how many workers will have to be equipped with them? Thus, the objective of the Skills Development for Green Jobs project is to capacitate relevant sections of South Africa’s work force to meet the labour market demands of a greener economy. The project therefore directly geared up to contribute to the overall objective of the bilateral focal area Energy and Climate for support to the South African Government to reach its aims in the areas of renewable energy, energy efficiency, climate protection and adaptation to the consequences of climate change.

Project start is expected early in 2012 und the project consists of two components. Component 1 (Skills Development in Green Occupations) has the objective to provide through the skills development system scarce or critical skills required by a greener economy. Component 2 (Technology Transfer, Innovation and Diffusion) has the objective to improve sectoral innovation systems and training for green industry sectors focusing on the network of technology centres and universities.

The programme has four major thrusts, (i) mainstreaming of green skills into all occupations, (ii) assisting in the delivery of training and higher education for certain scarce or critical skills that are in immediate or foreseeable demand by a greener economy, (iii) assisting technology centres in the transfer, diffusion and innovation of green technologies to industry, and (iv) providing capacity development and policy advisory services to the major implementation partners. In addition, political partners at national and provincial level will receive assistance in policy implementation on demand. At provincial level this could, in a first step, take the form of placing a technical advisor at the office of the premier of the Eastern Cape to assist the Provincial Skills Development Forum with the implementation of the Provincial Skills Development Strategy, with a particular focus on green skills.

The political executing agency for component 1 will be the Department for Higher Education and Training (DHET) and is going to be implemented in collaboration with the branches for Skills Development, including the National Artisan Moderation Body (NAMB). This will be done in partnership with the Quality Council for Trades and Qualifications (QCTO) and in cooperation with selected Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) and professional bodies. Other government departments and institutions at national and provincial level as well as a number of training providers also play important roles as implementing partners. The political executing agency for component 2 will be the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and implementation will be realized via the Universities of Technology and the meanwhile established 35 Technology Centres which are contracted to 11 of the Universities.

The concept of the project aims to practize a coordinated approach ensuring that skills development for green jobs is promoted from the labour supply and the demand side. It combines measures for green skills development from the skilled worker level up to university studies.

Impact

Due to the anticipated start early in 2012 no impact can yet be reported. However, it is proposed that the project has an overall life span of 9 years from January 2012 to December 2020, divided into three phases of three years each. The German contribution for the project’s first phase is up to 4.5 Million Euro in the form of long and short term experts, counterpart training, conferences, workshops, funds for office equipment, cars and maintenance, communication and administration, and financing agreements for PPPs and demonstration projects.

Contact

Guenter Schroeter
ESDS Programme Director
Employment and Skills Development Services Programme (ESDS)
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
Email: Hans-Guenter.Schroeter@giz.de