Well-known former trade unionist and skills development specialist Adrienne Bird has been suspended as Deputy Director General in the Department of Labour, in a development that has been linked to the poor performance of the sector education and training authorities (Setas).
Bird confirmed her suspension to the Mail & Guardian this week, but refused to comment further. Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana’s spokesperson Page Boikanyo initially said he was unaware of Bird’s suspension. He then said he would check the facts with Mdladlana, but had not contacted the M&G at the time of going to press.
It is understood that Bird’s suspension is linked, in addition to the Setas’ poor performance, to the delay in launching the National Qualification Framework (NQF), which aims to integrate education and labour in the job market.
Since they were established in March 2000 to provide skills to workers, the unemployed and those in the small businesses, the Setas have not made a meaningful impact. Last year they failed to spend more than R2-billion earmarked for skills development. Although they exceeded their target of 80 000 registered learners by March 2005, it later emerged that only 10% of learnerships were completed.
The NQF delay was allegedly caused by a power struggle between the departments of education and labour. The framework touches on all forms of training and accreditation.
Mdladlana and Minister of Education Naledi Pandor this week denied that they had found it difficult to work with each other in the past. Mdladlana reportedly blamed inter-departmental friction on the ”attitude of some officials”.
A recent Business Report quoted him as saying: ”The officials in question had been advised to get out if they could not cooperate.”
Senior departmental officials this week told the M&G the tension between Mdladlana and Bird had long been brewing. ”They had differences on the content of the NQF,” said an official, who asked to remain anonymous.