Eskom, Transnet & SAA: Achievement on job creation and skills development targets

Meeting report

Eskom Briefing on Job Creation and Skills Development Initiatives
Mr Dan Mafokane, Chief Commercial Officer, Eskom, outlined the job creation and skills development initiatives of Eskom. This company aimed to provide 10 335 young people with skills development. 8 008 youth had been trained to date. Eskom was in the process of introducing a Welding Institute to promote development of welding skills. Overall, Eskom wanted to create 100 000 jobs, and aimed to invest significantly, in order to strengthen the energy sector. It would be putting funding into supporting the solar geyser programme, research and development, growth related to mining, supplier development and localisation of key focus areas, strengthening the existing asset base, and the New Build Programmes.

Eskom’s plans for youth included the setting up of the welding institute, a power plant engineering institute, an Eskom leadership institute, a youth programme for non-graduates, and an up-skilling programme for unemployed graduates. Eskom was on target currently, with 4 500 learners in the pipeline, and hoped to increase this number to 5 678. It also projected having 450 other learners who were not sponsored by Eskom, but by May 2011, there were actually 887. There were currently no solar water heater-installers in training. Eskom had extended its bursary programme in support of the New Growth Path (NGP) and projected that it would achieve the targets set by year end.

Eskom had targeted to enrol 650 new apprentices, and had managed to enrol 810 by May 2011. 600 newly qualified artisans must be produced, but 12 had been produced so far, because the Eskom Apprenticeship Programme took three years, so this year’s intake would qualify only in 2014. 611 of the target if 800 engineers had been employed, but the shortfall of 189 would be employed in the last quarter of the financial year. The baseline plans for 2011 showed that 200 graduates were supposed to receive experiential training, but at May 2011, only 139 received training. The progress of this project was dependent on engagements and agreements with the supplier network to take on additional learners. Eskom wanted to give 2 500 matriculants trade skills training, and had managed to give this to 1 306 matriculants by May 2011.

Some of the challenges experienced in meeting targets included problems with funding for youth programmes, and the inability of supplier networks to absorb 5 000 unemployed youth.

Mr Mafokane expanded on the internal welding institute, saying that this would meet Eskom’s own needs for about 1 300 to 1 500 highly skilled welders over the next three to five years. It hoped, with the institute, to create a sustainable welding skills base to achieve world-class welding performance. Eskom aimed to train 100 welders this year and each of the following six years. 100 welders were currently in training. The current generation outage programme required up to 30% of foreign specialist welders to execute the required scope of work. The new build construction at Kusile and Medupi power stations required approximately 75% of foreign welders to meet the construction schedule.

Mr Mafokane said that Eskom had a proven tack record for skills building and job creation. However, it had realised that the educational environment had to support growth, measured by the number of graduates and artisans, quality of education, and integration of State Owned Enterprises (SOEs). The funding of the youth programmes still had to be resolved, in collaboration with Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs). The environment had to be favourable for localisation and industrial development, which meant that considerations of space, infrastructure, financing and policy had to be taken into account.  Incentives were needed to maintain employment in SOEs as retention of staff would become an issue as job markets became more and more globalised. Here, government would play an important facilitation role in job creation and localisation, through policy making and fostering collaboration between SOEs.

Discussion
The Chairperson noted that one of the government’s key focus areas was rural development. He asked what special initiatives Eskom had that focused on rural improvement.

Mr Mafokane answered that Eskom wanted to open access to skills development opportunities for young people from rural areas. This was a broad initiative that looked at “up-skilling” people in rural areas so that they could contribute to the overall development of the rural community. The second initiative had to do with the acceleration of the “universal access”. This was done by “localising” and creating job opportunities that would allow people to become skilled, and to live off their own wage. In addition, rural development was seen as part of Eskom’s corporate responsibility. Most of Eskom’s build programmes were close to many rural areas.

Mr Babhalazi Bulunga, Divisional Executive: Human Resources, Eskom, added that Eskom’s Youth Development Project would be spread out into all the provinces.

Mr Kobus Steyn, Senior General Manager: New Build Project, Eskom, confirmed that most of Eskom’s projects were in rural areas. Approximately 40% of the employees working for the contractors were new entrants into the labour market. This meant that people from rural areas were already being given employment opportunities, which would them later to enter the market as semi-skilled labour. 

Mr A Mokoena (ANC) praised Eskom for achieving an annual profit of R8.4 billion. He commented favourably on Eskom’s accountability and accessibility. He appreciated Eskom’s figures on recruitment, but said that he had always thought that there should be a consolidated skills database for those with Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), to show the numbers and where such people were. He asked how Eskom interfaced with different universities.

Mr Mafokane replied that Eskom would pay more attention to tracking skills for the consolidated skills database. In the meantime, it was also looking into the effect of its procurement spend on job creation. Measures were put in place to allow for the collection of data. This information would be reported on a quarterly basis. He said that he had noted, and would look into concerns around the consolidated database. He also noted that Eskom would, in the future, be giving a presentation on the Eskom Factor Project, to be officially launched within two months, and which looked beyond the estimation of the impact of their spending on communities.

Mr Mafokane also noted that Eskom was involved in the sustainable development of technology skills with various universities. Apart from Eskom’s scholarship programmes, it had now approved the formation of a Power Institute, which was a collaborative effort between Eskom and a number of universities, offering postgraduate programmes on a continuous basis, that would focus on power engineering. This comprehensive programme came about Eskom had studied the skills requirements necessary to sustain the New Build Programme.

Mr Bulunga said that Eskom would forward information on RPL to the Committee, but such people with prior experience were generally ageing and retiring, and RPL was not such a large priority for Eskom, who mainly employed young graduates.

Mr C Gololo (ANC) said that Eskom’s initiatives were very ambitious, and he hoped they would succeed. He understood that funding was quite a hindrance to skills development. His major concern was the way in which Eskom recruited its learners, and he asked if Eskom would reach and recruit learners across the whole country, and, if so, whether Members could assist in any way in the recruitment of learners from their own constituencies.

Mr Bulunga replied that when political members or houses were brought into the recruitment process, it tended to complicate Eskom’s work, since these people would turn to the same offices if there were difficulties with the employment. For this reason, Eskom preferred to follow the traditional recruitment methodology. Eskom would be holding major campaigns throughout the company on saving electricity, and the Minister would also be campaigning in all constituencies and in major commercial malls.

Mr M Sonto (ANC) noted that Eskom’s training programmes were very bold. He asked what reaction Eskom was getting from the communities where it recruited, and commented that Eskom’s good work did not seem to be publicised, and it needed to do better marketing.

Mr Sonto asked if any disabled learners were included in the programmes. He also asked what happened to learners that it could not absorb, and if any other placement strategies were in place.

Mr Mafokane answered that Eskom had a structure in Mpumalanga that met regularly and interfaced with the community and the provincial government, assessing its impact on skills development in those areas.

Mr Bulunga added that the processes for recruitment of learners were ongoing. Eskom had a huge database of matriculants and graduates, mainly those with skills in science, who approached Eskom directly, and therefore hoped that it was already seen as a preferred employer, who did not need to advertise too widely. The main challenge was to use this database so that every province would benefit. 

Mr Bulunga agreed that Eskom had to try to include disabilities as one of the criteria when recruiting learners.

Mr Bulunga then said that the absorption of learners was a difficult question. Eskom was certainly recruiting and training more people than it needed, and he argued that other SOEs should also be absorbing these learners.

Dr G Koornhof (ANC) thanked Eskom for a good, solid presentation, and also congratulated it on the previous day’s announcement of its sold financial results and funding plan.

Dr Koornhof addressed Eskom’s numbers of 2 500 in the Graduate Experimental Training Programme and 2 500 in the Matriculants Skills Training Programme, saying that this fell short of targets for 2012. He had understood that Eskom was engaging with government, and asked if this engagement had to do with funding, additional information or additional assistance.

He also commented that Eskom would be training 100 welders a year for the next six years, but pointed out that this figure did not tally with its demand. He understood that foreign welders had to be used at Medupi and Kusile power stations because of the lack of local skilled welders, and asked how Eskom could overcome the threat of local workers’ strikes over this. It seemed that Eskom also had funding challenges and cost challenges, and he urged that Eskom must indicate to the Committee what it needed from Members.

Mr Mafokane replied that between 1 300 and 1 500 welders were needed over the next few years. If Eskom continued to train about 100 welders each year for six years, there would be between 600 and 700 more welders in the country. Eskom was looking at ways to accelerate this process, to address the shortfall. Many resources were needed to train welders, as this was a highly specialised field. This was a broad issue that went beyond Eskom. A general strategy was needed to address the problem for the country.

Mr Bulunga agreed that welding was a complex skill. Even if Eskom trained people to qualify this year, Eskom would probably not allow them to weld on its boilers, a very delicate operation, without first having other experience. Eskom was in negotiations with its suppliers to provide the local welders with training. No country, worldwide, had thousands of welders, as they tended to move around the world to gain experience in different areas. Eskom would, however, continue to train its own welders.

Mr Mafokane explained that the discussions with the shareholder had been around funding of Eskom’s initiatives to address the skills development requirements of the country. Eskom felt constrained by its current budget and felt it could do more, with more resources. Eskom was also looking at a strategy for the absorption of the skills from Eskom’s initiatives. The collaboration between Eskom and its sister SOEs would be very important.

Mr L Greyling (ID) said that he welcomed the Welding Institute that Eskom set up, but wondered why it was only doing so now. He commented that across the country, there was a lack of several critical skills, and government should have prepared for this years ago, so that more local labour could have been utilised for the New Build Programmes. Even though Eskom was going to be training approximately 600 welders, this was not enough, so broader debate would be needed on how the country would acquire critical skills at the level required. He was eager to hear if Eskom had engaged on this issue with Sector Education Training Authorities (SETAs), universities, and Further Education and Training (FET) colleges, although this could not be the responsibility of Eskom alone. There was also a shortage of installers of solar water heaters. The rollout of one million solar water heater rollouts would require about 10 000 people trained as installers, and he wondered what Eskom and government would do to ensure that sufficient people were trained.

Mr Mafokane said that Eskom had identified the solar heater rollout plan, and was aware that it must be accelerated, but Eskom had yet to see how the market would respond to the heaters.

Ms Caroline Richardson, Acting Deputy Director-General: Joint Project Facilitator, Department of Public Enterprises, added that her Department had regular engagements with the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET). A joint artisan task team was also established with SOEs. Funding was a key issue. DHET had indicated that it would be prioritising this initiative through the National Skills Fund (NSF). Several private sector institutions had established a technical skills business partnership that focused on scarce and critical skills. The DPE was also directly involved in updating the curriculum for welders and electricians. Learnership guidelines were also being established for mentors in the work place to help train artisans. The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) was also doing much work on skills development. She agreed that there was a need for solar heater panel installers, and said that DPE had already submitted an application for increased funding to NSF, but had not obtained the funds, and would be taking up this issue with DHET.

Dr Koornhof noted that Eskom said it would create 100 000 jobs, but wanted it to inform the Committee, on a quarterly basis, of progress on this. He also wanted more information about the challenges and successes of Eskom’s welding institute, its engineering institute and its leadership institute.

The Chairperson thanked Eskom for its presentation, noted that the Committee understood its challenges, was happy with its achievements so far, and had faith in its abilities, hard work and commitment. The Committee wanted to work with Eskom and required it to be completely open.

Transnet Briefing on Job Creation and Skills Development Initiatives
Mr Brian Molefe, Group Chief Executive, Transnet, explained that the purpose of the presentation was to report on Transnet's progress in job creation, skills delivery, skills development and employment equity. Transnet aimed to create a competent workforce through capacity building, talent management, and leadership development. In order to do so, Transnet had to build and maintain feeder pipelines to grow the internal and national skills base, had to implement high quality and business-aligned training for critical skills, had to fill vacancies, align its skills planning to attract and retain key skills, strengthen supervisory and leadership capability, develop and maintain succession and talent pools, and build strong and competent Human Resources (HR) business partners.

Mr Molefe noted that Transnet’s direct job creation initiatives were focused on the creation of new positions, the establishment of operator pools to assist in the terminal operations, the filling of vacancies through a robust recruitment plan, the establishment of skills pools to address coordination and supervisory skills, the appointment of critical skills, and appointments through trainee programmes. Transnet projected that a total of 5 395 permanent employees would be added over the next five years, to support the increase in activities as reflected in its plans. This increase in the number of employees contributed to the job creation objectives contained in the NGP.

Transnet had employed 797 workers during April 2011 and May 2011. 23 people were employed in management positions, 31 in the engineering category, 91 in artisan positions, 19 as train drivers, 301 as trainees and 332 in other areas. Although 797 people were appointed, the real growth in permanent employees was also adversely affected by employee turnover. In order to support Transnet and NGP growth for 2011/12, Transnet planned to increase permanent jobs from 47 763 in March 2011, to 51 894 in the 2011/12 financial year.

Mr Molefe then addressed the question of skills, noting that technical and functional skills training accounted for 76% of all training undertaken by Transnet. The rest consisted of health and safety training, leadership and management training, supervisory training, administrative training, customer service and communication training, and Information Technology and Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET). Transnet had six training schools delivering technical and operational training. They were the School of Ports, the School of Port Terminals, the School of Rail, the School of Pipelines, the School of Engineering, and the School of Leadership Development. They were, on average, utilised to about 66%. These training facilities had to be upgraded to improve the quality of training delivery and increase the intake of learners.

Mr Molefe noted that the total requirement for this amounted to R424 million, divided into R50 million for port terminals, R38 million for ports, R197million for rail, and R139 million for rail engineering. This funding would be used to create a pool of operators who would be continuously available to terminals to increase productivity. It would also allow for an increase of 1 000 apprentices in 2012 and maintaining an average capacity of 2600 learners in the system, and accelerate the delivery of training of staff in train movement, and in operational and professional support.

Transnet aimed, in this financial year, to have 1412 apprentices within the system, and 500 new apprentices, 180 new technician learners, and 60 new engineer bursars. It had participated in the DPE’s Skills Development Forum, which had discussed skills development in all SOEs, including coordination and participation of SOEs in the Technical Skills Business Partnership, coordination in sourcing funding from the NSF, and sharing of relevant information.

Transnet was also concerned with employment equity, and hoped to achieve a 75% black workforce. By May 2011, 76.4% of all workers were black. The 2013 targets for employment equity aimed for 25% women, and in May 2011, 20.5% were women. These 2013 targets also said that 1.3% of the workforce must comprise people with disabilities, but in May 2011, only 0.8% comprised disabled persons.

Discussion
Mr Mokoena was impressed with Transnet's informative presentation. He noted that the completion of the pipeline project would mean that a number of jobs would come to an end, and hoped that Transnet would simultaneously create jobs in peripheral areas, such as security, and suggested also that Transnet may wish to consider deploying people from the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to guard the pipeline.

Mr Molefe replied that there was not so much a question of jobs being “shed” after completion of the pipeline, but intakes would be reduced. Other pipeline projects would begin when the Durban to Johannesburg pipeline was completed. Although these projects may not necessarily be in South Africa, South Africa currently could offer skills and expertise. There was also probably a need for more he did not think that jobs would be “shed off” once the pipeline was completed; the number of intakes would just be reduced. When the pipeline from Johannesburg to Durban is completed, the next one would be built. This did not necessarily have to happen in South Africa, but Transnet was confident that the country had the skills. If any country wanted to build a pipeline, then South Africa had the skills and expertise to fulfil the job. South Africa probably needed more pipelines from South African cities to neighbouring countries. He agreed that there was the possibility of security jobs being created, to guard the pipeline, which he suggested had to be a national security key point.

Mr Mokoena appreciated the number of Transnet schools, but wanted more information on Transnet's School of Excellence.

Mr Molefe answered that the School of Excellence was working well, although not all students were taking their studies seriously enough over their soccer, but the school had been told that their results had to improve. Transnet was also aware that this school needed better facilities in order to perform better. The matric results over the last two to three years had not been good, although the soccer side was doing well.

Dr Koornhof said that the Committee could be proud of the annual financial results of Transnet, announced on the previous day, which showed a solid balance sheet.

Dr Koornhof noted that Transnet Rail Engineering had recruited 56 trainees from the SANDF, although its objective was to employ 200. He assumed Transnet was referring to the Military Skills Development System (MSDS) trainees, and would be very worried if Transnet had recruited scarce skills directly from the SANDF.

Mr Molefe explained that the idea was not to recruit trainees from the permanent force of the SANDF, but from those who were exiting the MSDS. More importantly, Transnet still wanted to keep them as members of the reserve force. The SANDF's strategy was to have a small, focused permanent force and a very large reserve force, made up of civilian members who came in for a week or two every year to ensure that they were still active members. Those coming across to Transnet would be encouraged to remain in the reserve force.

Dr Koornhof asked if Transnet had a Code of Conduct or a Code of Ethics that would demonstrate the entity's values and principles.

Ms Zola Stephen, Group Executive: Corporate Services (Transnet), said that Transnet had a Code of Ethics, which all management employees had to sign.

Dr Koornhof noted that Transnet needed to upgrade its schools and that R424 million was received from DHET for the upgrade. He asked how Transnet would be phasing in this upgrade, and if this would be done over the MTEF period.

Mr Sonto also praised Transnet for its impressive presentation. He asked, however, for clarity on the “other areas” where 332 employees were appointed. He also asked if there was a strategy in place to absorb those working on the pipeline into other disciplines.

Mr Molefe explained that “other” areas included people being appointed as drivers, security, messengers, support services and the like.

Mr Mkwanazi, Transnet,  said that he wanted to add something about Transnet's developments in rural areas. Transnet had rail lines in rural areas, which were defined as branch lines, and some people were employed on these branch lines, based on the road to rail strategy that had been approved by Cabinet. There was the possibility of creating more jobs on such lines, and over the next few months, Transnet would be enhancing the branch lines, to become financially viable, thereby creating additional jobs. He reminded the Committee also of the Transnet Foundation, which focused some of its attention on rural areas, and, whilst not concentrating only on job creation, did manage to enhance rural communities’ quality of life.

Mr Mkwanazi added that some of the DHET funding was linked to NGP goals, and it was agreed that Transnet could increase the intake of apprentices, perhaps from 500 to 1 500 if it could improve its operations.

The Chairperson accepted the response on rural strategies, but also suggested that a certain percentage of Transnet’s funding should be set aside for rural development.

Mr Molefe said that Transnet wanted to invite the Committee to visit some of their schools and other projects, to see how these fitted into the picture.

The Chairperson said that the Committee accepted Transnet's invitation, and they would see where they could fit the entity in.

Dr Koornhof asked if Transnet could elaborate on the figures for capacity building at its next meeting with the Committee.

The Chairperson said that the Committee also needed a more in-depth discussion on the employment of workers after completion of the pipeline project.

Transnet Second Defined Benefit Fund
The Chairperson said that although this was not on the agenda, and a formal presentation was still required, Members had asked for a progress report on the Transnet Second Defined Benefit Fund (TSDBF).

Mr Anoj Singh, Chief Financial Officer, Transnet, replied that Transnet had received a letter from the Minister of Public Enterprises on 16 April 2011 requesting Transnet to look into the enhanced benefits of the TSDBF and the Transnet Pension Fund. The Board of Transnet had discussed the matter on 10 June 2011. The Board instructed management to look at how appropriate funding solutions could be implemented, to give effect to the letter from the Minister. Currently, the employer trustees of the TSDBF had to take up the matters with their respective Funds, as any amendments to the rules to give effect to enhanced benefits would have to come from these Funds. Transnet was also engaging with the trustees to find a permanent and sustainable solution to the funding requirements, which would also have minimal impact on the Transnet balance sheet, so that it did not negatively impact upon the capital expenditure programme. Transnet would report back to the Committee on progress in due course.

South African Airways Briefing on Job Creation and Skills Development Initiatives
Mr George Mothema, Executive Manager: Legal Services, South African Airways, said that the Corporate Plan 2011 -2014 of South African Airways (SAA) focused on growth, which would compound the effect of demand in the economy. Both SAA and Mango had substantial growth plans over the next three years. SAA Technical and Air Chefs also aimed to substantially increase the third party revenue in their target markets, and consider African expansion. The demand for passenger travel broadly tracked the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate. Passenger and cargo air transport was the key driver of economic activity and job creation.

Mr Mothema set out some of the challenges to SAA Group's growth plans and job creation capability. These included obtaining the bilateral rights to operate services to new markets, allocating excessive bilateral rights to non-South African airlines, particularly from the Middle East and Europe. Currently, South Africa's entry and transit visa regime were adversely affecting demand for travel on SAA, as well as Johannesburg transit traffic.

All SAA's job creation targets had been realigned to its financial year, as instructed by the DPE. This had not affected the overall job creation commitments. SAA had made good progress on all job categories, which focused on internships, apprentices and cadet pilots. NGP job creation monitoring tools and processes were now centralised for the Group.

Ms Thuli Mpshe, General Manager: Human Resources, SAA, presented the targets and achievements. SAA had 10 057 employees, as at end of May 2011. Although SAA had made a commitment to create 86 internships for the financial year, the actual number so far created was 5, but she assured the Committee of SAA’s intention to reach its targets over the next nine months. SAA was also committed to creating 105 new apprentice positions, with 41 created so far. SAA aimed to create 47 cadet pilots, and this programme would start in July 2011, having been launched in May. Over the next three years, it targeted having 136 cadet pilots, in both the no-experience and second level limited experience categories. This scheme would be reviewed to determine its performance and capability, before further intakes in 2014-15. Overall, SAA aimed to create 529 direct jobs, and had so far in this year created 122.

Mr Mothema added that another 68 employees were starting work at SAA in a few days.

Ms Mpshe said that SAA's intern programme was re-focused and was already providing good opportunities for tertiary students across the Group. A target of 254 internships would be offered over the next three years. A total of 535 apprenticeships would be enrolled at SAA Technical in the next five years. The number of apprenticeships could be increased to 150 per annum, with changes to the funding model. SAA's direct job creation targets were reported to DPE on 3 June 2011, as part of SAA's employment reporting requirements. SAA was targeting the creation of 1615 new direct jobs as the business grew over the next three years.

Discussion
Mr Mokoena said that the presentation was very brief, but very impressive. He asked why entities were struggling to get funds from the NSF.

Ms Mpshe replied that there were no clear criteria within the NSF for funding to be allocated to the different sectors. The Sector Education and Training Authorities were set up in defined and specific areas, but NSF’s funding was not allocated by industry. SAA was engaging with DPE on how best to access the funds.

Ms Richardson added that it was very difficult to access funding in the past, but the DHET was actively trying to resolve some of these blockages. DPE was hopeful that SAA, Transnet and Eskom would get access to some funding from the NSF.

Mr Mokoena asked how long it took to train pilots, and how much it cost, and he also asked if SAA was using retired pilots to train cadets.

Ms Mpshe answered that it took four to five years to train a pilot at a training school, then another two to three years of working for a “feeder” airline, to gain the required number of flying hours. It cost between R3 million and R4 million to train one cadet. SAA wanted to open a flying academy to take in matriculants, but this would require financial support from some of SAA’s suppliers. SAA was already in the process of locating retired pilots that could train cadets in the flying schools.

Mr Mokoena noted SAA’s references to the struggle to “open the skies”, but had understood that the Free Trade Area (FTA) agreement creating links with 26 countries from Cape to Cairo would enable SAA to overcome the strictures of the past.

Mr Mothema said that SAA, as part of the aviation community, was invited by the South African ambassador to discuss what SAA’s requirements were as part of the compact that had to be signed between the countries.

Dr Koornhof said that in February 2011, it was stated, during the Strategic Planning Workshop, that there were 13 500 employees in SAA, yet the Committee was now given a figure of R10 057. He asked if SAA had a reduction in staff over the past few months. In February, SAA also said it wanted to create 1 065 new jobs, and he enquired about these figures.

Ms Mpshe explained that SAA converted 692 fixed term contractors into permanent employees in the last year. Currently, SAA’s commitment on direct job creation was 529 for 2011/12. She clarified that during the workshop, SAA had said that the Group Employee Component (not the actual headcount) was 13 458, but had also noted that there were currently 1 290 vacancies.

Dr Koornhof commented that in the past, the South African Air Force (SAAF) had complained that SAA was “poaching” its pilots, and he wondered if the two had any agreement not to recruit from each other. He also asked whether the challenge previously cited, of having non-permanent ground staff, had been resolved.

Ms Mpshe replied that SAA and SAAF had problems in the past, when SAA was seen as poaching staff by offering better benefits and remuneration, but this had now been resolved by a partnership between the entities. SAAF had trained more pilots than it needed, and SAA offered to use these pilots for 75% of their time, while SAAF would use them as Reservists for their remaining 25% of working time.

Mr Sonto asked if SAA was experiencing difficulty accessing SETA funding.

Ms Mpshe explained that SAA had difficulty accessing funding from SETAs, who would prioritise so-called “critical skills” each year, without necessarily consulting with entities. If SAA wanted to train pilots, and SETAs did not prioritise the funding of training, the SAA was unlikely to receive additional grants for pilot training. SAA was currently engaging with the SETAs to inform them of specific needs for pilots.

Mr Sonto asked why no cadets were place.

Ms Mpshe replied that the Cadet Pilot Programme was launched in May. SAA made a commitment to train 47 cadets. There was a limitation because feeder airlines were also limited in the number of cadet pilots that they could take, and it took approximately two years for a cadet to acquire the number of hours required to transition to a commercial airline like SAA. SAA’s Flight Operations Department was working on a bridging course that would accelerate cadets’ development. SAA would also use Mango as a feeder airline, to give exposure to cadets who were not employed, and more cadets could be placed as Mango opened up more routes.

The Chairperson urged SAA to visit rural areas to recruit more young people.

The meeting was adjourned.