LOCAL GOVERNMENT EDUCATION AND TRAINING BOARD NEWSLETTER (JANUARY 2000)
Extract

The new Skills Development Strategy of South Africa?
Three pieces of legislation paves the way for a totally new approach to Skills Development in South Africa.
· The SAQA Act 58 of 1995 empowers the South African Qualifications Authority consisting of national stakeholders to oversee the development and implementation of a National Qualifications Framework through the registration of national standards and qualifications. This will be achieved through the creation of National Standards Bodies (NSB’s) in the 12 organising fields and Standard Generating Bodies (SGB') whose responsibility it would be to ensure the integration of education and training and realise the objectives of the NQF. To ensure the quality of training provision, the SAQA Act also allows for the accreditation of Education and Training Quality Assurance Bodies (ETQA’s) whose functions amongst others would be to accredit providers.

· The Skills Development Act 97 of 1998 empowers the Minister of Labour to establish Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETA’s) which must develop and implement sector skills plans and approve workplace skills plans. This will be achieved through the establishment and promotion of learnerships and the registration of learnerships agreements. These learnerships could consist of structured learning, practical work experience of a specified nature and duration and would lead to a qualification registered with SAQA and related to an occupation.

· The Skills Development Levies Act 9 of 1999 creates the basis for a mechanism of funding to increase the level of investment in education and training and to improve the return of that investment. This will be achieved through the imposition of all employers to pay a compulsory levy of 0.5% of payroll as from 1 April 2000 to 31 March 2001 and 1% as from 1 April 2001.

THE IMPACT OF THE SKILLS DEVELOPMENT STRATERGY ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT

· The SAQA Act prescribes national standards and qualifications and the establishment of SGB’s, NSB’s and ETQA’s. It is thus imperative that within the Local Government Sector that we align our stratergies and thinking to give effect to the realisation of the principles of the NQF. This can only be achieved through the effective participation of all stakeholders and role players especially the practitioners and institutes within the Local Government Sphere to assist in the identification, development, initiating and participation in the standard generating process.

The Minister of Labour announced on 7 September 1999 that the sector for Local Government has been demarcated as the "Local Government, Water and Related Services SETA (LGWSETA), with the implication that the Water Sector will form part of the Local Government SETA (all municipal employees shall be covered by the LGWSETA).

Application for the registration as a SETA was submitted on 12 November 1999 to the Department of Labour with the understanding that the SETA will be registered by 31 December 1999, be operational on 1 April 2000 and apply for accreditation to SAQA as an ETQA. Municipalities would have to develop skills plans based on real needs, which should emanate from skills audits and training needs analysis through the involvement of all relevant role players.

The implication of the Skills Development Levy Act is that each municipality will have to budget annually for the levy deduction bearing in mind that the levy will kick in on 1 April 2000, notwithstanding that the municipal financial year starts 1 July. The municipality must therefore budget for the current levy (0,04% on payroll and 0,02% on income) up to 31 March 2000. As from April 2000 to 31 March 2001 municipalities must budget for 0,5% of payroll, and from 1April 2001 onwards for 1% of payroll.

PROCESSES FOLLOWED IN ALIGNING FOR SETA ESTABLISHMENT
A SETA Steering Committee has been established to drive the process of establishing a Sector Education and Training authority for Local Government, namely:

-SAMWU
-IMATU
-SALGA
-The Department of Constitutional Development
-Representatives from the Department of Labour and SAQA in observer capacity
Recently Organised Employers Water Sector

The Steering committee has been meeting on a monthly basis to prepare for registration as a SETA.The final date for the submission to the Department of Labour was 12 November 1999.

The Steering Committee has developed a Constitution and a business plan for the prospective SETA. The business plan outlines detailed action plans for the first year of SETA operation and addresses issues like financial viability, capital and operational budgets.It is envisaged that SETA’s will be registered during March 2000 and become operational on 1 April 2000, when the Skills Development levy is introduced.

ACTIVITIES OF THE SETA : FIRST YEAR
To give effect to the spirit of the Skills Development Strategy, the SETA will have to commence with an intensive process of capacity building to eventually enable the sector plan and deliver training that contributes to skills development in line with the needs of developmental Local Government.

The following are envisaged as key activities of the SETA during the first year of operation.

-"Awareness raising" in municipalities throughout the country
-Development of a guideline document with regard to the development of workplace skills plans.
-Development of a guideline document on the nature and format of data and statistics that should be maintained by each municipality
-Evaluation of training material and training providers
-Capacity building amongst providers
-Initiating active participation on SGB level
-Identification of resources for fulfilling the quality assurance function
-The identification, piloting and promotion of learnerships
-Development of guidelines in terms of the structuring of "structured workplace exposure".