Skills Development and Labour Market

During apartheid, access to education and training was highly fragmented in South Africa. The consequences in terms of high unemployment and a lack of skilled manpower impede the country’s socio-economic development even today. Despite extensive structural reforms in the past 15 years, the South African education and training system is still unable to compensate fully the training deficits of the past. Particularly the people from formerly disadvantaged population groups had less training opportunities. They hardly stand any chance of finding employment in the modern, first labour market and have to survive in the informal, second economy. Moreover, the introduction of new technologies creates even greater demands on skills development.

The objective of German contribution to skills development and labour market as outlined in a joint strategy paper focuses on jobless people, employed wage earners as well as self-employed people starting their own small and micro-enterprises in order to have better long-term employment prospects in the formal or informal labour market. The overall intention of the joint strategy is to continue contributing to strengthening and implementing systems and institutions for skills provision in the first economy, but with at least the same effort to support skills development and provision in the second economy. Both are geared towards increasing income and reducing poverty in places where needy target groups actually avoid contributing to more movement – for instance rural to urban – that engenders further demands on society.

Ever since the first skills development project started in 1992, German Development Cooperation has concentrated on three priority intervention areas:

• Development of a workplace-orientated skills development system for the modern, first labour market.
• Development of a basic entrepreneurial skills development system for the informal, second labour market.
• Development of a technology transfer network system for technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises.

German development cooperation works on various levels. It supports the Department of Labour in its cooperation with other partner ministries such as the Department of Science and Technology and Department of Education. Furthermore, it provides technical advice and capacity building to 23 Sector Education and Training Authorities, Universities of Technologies, Public Further Education and Training Colleges, Provincial Governments as well as Local Labour Centres and Municipalities.
Skills development is the field of cooperation in which South Africa has been supported most consistently so far – from concept and policy development through strategizing, and setting the legal framework to full scale implementation. The National Skills Fund, the development of the two National Skills Development Strategies, the establishment of initially 25 Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) as well as quite recently the establishment of a Quality Council for Trades and Occupations were brought to life with support from German Development Cooperation.