The proposed amendments to the Skills Development Act is to ensure that Sector Education and Training Authorities (Setas) deliver on skills, Labour Director-General Advocate Rams Ramashia said on Tuesday.
He was briefing the Portfolio Committee on Labour on the proposed amendments to the Skills Development Act in Parliament.
Ramashia told the committee the purpose of the Skills Development Act was to develop and improve the skills of the South African work force, increase the levels of investment in education and training in the labour market and to encourage employers to use the workplace as an active learning environment.
He said the Act had institutions such as the National Skills Authority (NSA) that played a monitoring role to oversee the implementation of the overall strategy, the Sector Education and Training Authorities (Setas) who identify skills needs, the Skills Development Planning Unit which planned and the Employment Services at Labour Centres.
“However, the department has been facing challenges with regard to some Setas as some did not achieve their 2002/3 targets as per their business plans, isolated instances of fraud and corruption and not all Seta Boards playing an optimal strategic and oversight role”, said Ramashia.
The proposed amendments to the Act would therefore allow the Minister of Labour to intervene in cases of mismanagement and to hold the Setas accountable.
Ramashia added that Setas were presently operating autonomously. Therefore it was necessary to change the law to make it obligatory for all Setas to address the question of equity both on its board and its staff composition.
Other amendments to the Act include powers that will enable the Minister to set norms and performance standards for Setas, establish scope of coverage, enter into Service Level Agreements, regulate Seta administration with regard to salaries and allowances of board members and making Setas accountable to Public Finance Management Act.
A new Seta function has been introduced where Seta’s have to be actively involved in the Investors in People Standards that is a national standard for good practice in skills development. The proposed amendment will empower the Minister to recognise a standard, as a nationally recognised standard for people development.
Other proposed amendments includes the powers given to the Director-General to de-register and close Private Employment Agencies who act unscrupulously, an introduction of Intermediate Agency for learnership and the amendment to the Mine Health and Safety Act.
Members of the committee were still to deliberate on the amendments before taking them to Parliament. – I-Net Bridge