Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka in the National Assembly (NA)
14 June 2006
1. Ms MM Ntuli (ANC):
What were the outcomes of the visits she recently undertook to?
* Japan
* Indonesia
What benefits will South Africa derive from these visits?
Reply:
The Deputy President met, amongst others, the following parties in
Japan:
1. Prime Minister Kaizumi
2. Vice Chancellors of Universities (about 20)
3. Japan Business Federation, including Japanese businesses operating in South
Africa such as Toyota and Mitsubishi
4. Several training institutions
The most important outcomes are:
* Training collaboration with Japanese institutions is being deliberated
upon, which will address our scarce skills.
* Through possible placement and/or student exchange opportunities with
Companies and/or universities in Japan. Small, medium and micro enterprise
(SMME)
* Strengthening relationships and increasing confidence among Japanese
institutions which do business in South Africa, i.e. Toyota wants to expand
manufacturing capacity in Durban where they already employ 10 000 people,
Toyota will be up-skilling of their workforce.
The major focus of the trip to Indonesia was the small, medium and micro
enterprise (SMME)) sector and tourism. Indonesia has considerable experience in
the development of souvenirs and in the promotion of tourism sector. The
objective was to derive lessons from the Indonesia experience, focusing on
roles played by Government, SMMEs, and Financial Institutions in developing the
robust SMME and souvenir industry presently enjoyed by the Indonesian SMME. A
delegation of SMMEs; MECs from KwaZulu-Natal and North West; the Deputy
Ministers of Finance, Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT),
and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI); Small Enterprise Development Agency
(SEDA), National Productivity Institute; accompanied me. The delegation focused
mainly on areas of possible cooperation between the SMMEs in both
countries.
An area that emerged as interesting for both parties was cooperation in the
development of 2010 souvenirs. Indonesian SMMEs are advanced in creating a
range of products and souvenirs that depict the 2010 Football International
Federation Association (FIFA) World Cup. The Deputy Minister for Finance was
requested by the Deputy President to investigate the possibility of cooperation
for production of FIFA 2010 souvenirs and report on the implications of such,
given the FIFA rules, as well as their ownership of all brands and logos
relating to the world cup.
The other industry that is highly developed in Indonesia is the Batik
industry. This industry is dominated by SMMEs, who create unique styles that
are in high demand internationally, especially by Africans. An area of
cooperation therefore was possible joint ventures between our SMMEs and the
Indonesian ones to create unique African partners for our market, and to focus
on distinct South African designs. Most of the cotton they use for Batik is
imported from South Africa and Zimbabwe. The partnership would, therefore, make
sense.
SEDA and National Productivity institute (NPI) are finalising a souvenir
proposal based on the Indonesian experience. Some of the SMMEs they took to
Indonesia are participating in the creation of souvenirs with the guidance of
SEDA. They are also investigating the possibility of having a one stop emporium
that would showcase all of South Africaâs SMME products. This is an idea that
we saw in Indonesia, where they organise a trade show for all their regions,
and the entire buyers and sellers comer together for trade.
The other issue that we also raised is placement of unemployed graduates in
the Batik industry, given our need to save jobs in clothing industry and to
enhance our arts and crafts, as well as tourism. A follow up visit to Eastern
Cape has also taken place in May and an agreement for cooperation has been
signed.
Questions to the Deputy President for oral reply
14 June 2006
2. Mr I O Davidson (DA) to ask the Deputy President
Whether she will make a statement regarding the perception among
commentators that the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa
(AsgiSA) is little more than a repackaging of existing economic growth
initiatives for public relations purposes?
Reply:
I do not intend to make a statement about a few isolated misperceptions
about our Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa, AsgiSA.
AsgiSA is indeed a repacking of existing initiatives so that we can implement
better, accelerate and share the benefits of growth and if that benefits Public
Relations that it also good.
AsgiSA is a set of priority initiatives, most of which are led by relevant
government departments or partnerships. AsgiSA does not have a budget, it is
not a fund and it is not an alternative planning system to the normal
Government Programme of Action and budgeting system of Government. AsgiSA is a
strategic intervention. What it does is that it identifies key actions for
government that should be prioritised in planning and budgeting. It is not a
short cut to the budget; departments and agencies must still follow the usual
planning processes. But if the project is agreed to be an AsgiSA priority, its
implementation must be a high priority. We would expect that other partners,
such as businesses or non-governmental organisation (NGOs) or trade unions
would similarly prioritise agreed AsgiSA priorities.
AsgiSA also acts as a mechanism for monitoring the implementation of
decisions and for responding where initiatives are falling behind or are
running into other problems. One of the most important contributions of the
Presidency is the use of its authority to convene those involved in AsgiSA
activities, to review progress, and to propose remedies to identified
problems.
Perhaps a few commentators may not yet fully understand what AsgiSA is. The
majority of commentators, and partners in AsgiSA activities and discussions,
seem to understand how we intend to add value through AsgiSA, and
overwhelmingly support our approach.
Questions to the Deputy President for oral reply
14 June 2006
3. Mr Bad Martins (ANC):
* What action is the Government taking to address the shortage of skills in
the country?
* What contribution are the business and organised labour sectors making in
this regard?
Reply:
There are several approaches to address skills shortage in the short medium
and long term. Identification and definition of key skills areas in the short
term as follows:
* High level engineering skills for network industries
* City, urban and Regional planning and Engineering skills
* Artisan, apprenticeship and technical skills for infrastructure needs and
construction
* Management of Healthcare and Education facilities in public sector, including
Information Communication Technology (ICT) skills
* Mathematics, Science, ICT and language competence
* Skills required for all AsgiSA priority areas such as Tourism and BPO
* Identifying of challenges that exist in skills pathways and proposing
solutions, e.g.
* Mismatch of demand and supply of skills
* Unlocking training capacity from private and public sector
In the short term, facilitating placements of:
* Retirees, mentors and volunteers to areas of need such as
municipalities
* Graduate placements to fast-track people who have qualification but lack
experience
Contribution by labour:
* They are part of Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA)
Task Team and it is supporting Technical Working Group, Congress of South
African Trade Unions (Cosatu) submitted firm proposals to increase training, so
they contributed ideas.
* Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), National Business Initiative (NBI) and
other business bodies are participants at both structures of JIPSA, having
appointed CEO and/Chairpersons of businesses. The representations include small
and big business. The involvement is taken very seriously.
* A lot of input in skills challenges as well as specific interactions with
CIDB, ICT Companies and other individual companies. Business recognises the
need to collaborate with government in skills development.
* The placement programmes that predate JIPSA, having started in December 2005,
resulting in several companies agreeing to train unemployed graduates many more
partnerships of this nature have been created and are very vibrant eg KPMG, Old
Mutual, etc
* Specific research commissioned by JIPSA was financed by Business
Leadership.
* NBI provides secretariat to JIPSA at no cost to Government. The costs are
entirely covered by Business Trust.
In the medium to long term:
* Curriculum alignment in Higher Education.
* Improving quality of education in schools.
Questions to the Deputy President for oral reply
14 June 2006
4. Mr B M Mkongi (ANC):
What programmes is the Government implementing with regard to youth
development in view of South Africaâs commemoration of the 30th anniversary of
the 1976 Soweto uprising?
Reply:
I am pleased to inform this House that as we celebrate the contribution of
the youth in our struggle for freedom, and beyond, government has youth
development concerns on top of the agenda.
We are implementing information programmes that seek to alert millions of
young people about the opportunities available in this age of hope! Expanding
access to information is critical since many of our young people do not enjoy
the benefits of freedom, not because there are limited opportunities but
because they lack information on where these opportunities are and how to
access them. It is within this context therefore that we are hosting the
National Youth Service Expo this week in Soweto and in the Drakenstein
Municipality. The aim of the Expo is to showcase community service and service
delivery activities that young people are engaged in.
Why are we focusing on National Youth Service? In this month of celebrating
the 30th Anniversary of June 16 and connected Uprisings, it is critical that we
emphasise issues of service delivery, social inclusion, nation building and
social cohesion. This correlates well with the objectives of the National Youth
Service Programme. That is:
* To accelerate service delivery.
* To expand opportunities for skills development and occupational experience
for unemployed and out-of-school youth.
* To promote social cohesion.
I urge all Members in this House to support the National Youth Service
Programme and all other youth development initiatives; in particular by sharing
information on opportunities available. As Members of Parliament, most of us do
have access to information that others do not.
But perhaps more importantly, I must share with this house that we are
engaged in various planning activities aimed expanding the capacity of existing
programmes to absorb thousands of young people. This is within both the context
of the work of JIPSA and particularly within the scope of our Second Economy
intervention. One such programme that we plan to expand is the National Youth
Service Programme I referred to earlier. We are currently working on a business
plan that elaborates greater absorption capacity, funding and capacity
required. We will in due course communicate with all South Africans as to how
we are planning to multiply the 10 000 target set in the State of the Nation
this year.
In regard to part two of your question, Honourable Mkongi, on whether South
Africa is meeting its international obligations, my answer is yes.
We have made considerable progress towards achieving the Millennium
Development Goals. Both the World Programme of Action on Youth and the
Millennium Declaration urge all member states to invest heavily in education
and training. Members will recall that I reported in this House last week that
young peopleâs participation in the schooling system has increased from 96% in
2002 to 98% in 2005. The Minister of Education also reported, in her Budget
Vote, that tremendous progress has been made in the areas of secondary
education, further education and training as well as higher education.
Time permitting I could have gone further to demonstrate how we are meeting
our obligations in other areas such as youth participation in decision making,
economic participation etc. I have focused on education for one reason: it is
education and training that plays a central role in liberating young people
from the bondage of poverty, illiteracy, exclusion and marginalisation.
Issued by: The Presidency
14 June 2006
