Tag: skills development

Property, and the ownership of land, is an emotive topic in South Africa. While progress towards redressing inequality in land ownership and the property sector could be far quicker, the good news is that we know where we stand, and property offers unique prospects for achieving real social change. 

Government needs to take bold and rapid action to extricate the country from the economic quagmire in which it finds itself. The local economy is struggling to generate the growth needed to address high unemployment and inequality, as well as arrest the declining productivity that has eroded the country's global competitiveness.

In celebrating the Youth Month, we are reminded that the uprising that began in Soweto more than 40 years ago was all about education, and how it profoundly changed the socio-political landscape of the country.

Both have a role in reducing unemployment and contributing to a sustainable society. Back in May, News24.com columnist Mpumelelo Mkhabela implored President Cyril Ramaphosa to 'make job creators the most important people in the country'. In his piece, Mkhabela called unemployment a 'national emergency', and begs that the entire country – especially those in government departments – cultivate a mindset that focuses on the importance of job creation.

Implementing the right training and development programme can bring far-reaching benefits to a company. Upskilling employees is an investment that can yield significant returns for a company.

The Department of Trade and Industry’s amendments to the B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice on Friday, 31 May, were published in the government gazette with very little fanfare considering the significant impact they may have on generic entities in the country. These changes to the codes and will affect businesses in terms of procurement, enterprise and supplier development as well as skills development.

The BEE scorecard encourages businesses to push for economic growth, specifically focusing on people of colour in South Africa. It is based on the concept of offering incentives through additional business. Economic growth begins with skills development involving training and hands on development through employment equity and the development of new business.

Navigating complex BEE requirements to ensure compliancy can be a tricky process for many businesses. Since the implementation of BEE in 2003, there have been many high-profile cases of companies found to have faked their BEE credentials and many who have failed their verification audits for other reasons.

This article may appear counter-intuitive, given the huge amount of rhetoric and conjecture which abounds outside of workplaces where Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) has been mindfully implemented. There is a huge amount of negativity which exists where BBBEE has failed to be successfully implemented, and even more fake news from owners in those companies which have failed to, or where they have simply refused to, implement any kind of BBBEE solution at all.

Skills development is a priority element of the B-BBEE scorecard and it is one of the easiest priority elements to comply with, if you know how...