Address by the Deputy Minister of Employment and Labour, Hon Boitumelo Moloi (MP) on the occasion of the Jobs Breakfast Session
Programme Director, Mr David Essau
Executive Mayor of the Garden Route District Municipality: Counsellor Booysen and Mayors and Counsellors from the different Municipalities staff
DDGs: PES, Mr Sam Morotoba; Bahumi Matebesi; Aggy Moiloa; Thembinkosi Mkalipi; Adv. Yawa; Ntamo Mawelo and other Senior Officials from the Department of Employment and Labour Head Office, the Provincial Office and the various Labour Centres
Mr Philiswa Mnguni Productivity SA,
Dr Willie Cilliers, from George Chamber of Commerce
Mr Zukile Mgabile; COSATU Regional Chairperson
Representatives of Organised Business, Organised
Labour and Community Constituencies in the George Municipality and the Garden Route District Municipality.
Ladies and Gentleman
Gooie More', Good Morning, Molweni, ,
Thank you very much for heeding our call to attend this Jobs Breakfast Session as we enter the second month of 2024 and a week that the State President will be delivering his State of the Nation Address.
We convened this session as part of our ongoing attempt to put systemic solutions in place that can produce results that are aligned to the needs of the employers and the broader Western Cape labour market as part of our South African economy. Let me take this opportunity to also profusely apologize on behalf of the Department of Employment and Labour for the mishap that occurred with the change of the date of the Jobs Breakfast Session from Monday to Tuesday. This came about as a result of circumstances beyond our control.
Today, Tuesday the 06th February 2024, marks the culmination of our week long careers fair, service delivery and inspections programme that are, by the way, part of the normal day to day activities in our offices.
As from Monday, the 29th January to the 01st February, we provided DEL integrated services at Mossel Bay; Uniondale, Sedgefield, Knysna; Riversdale and Oudsthoorn. A total of 822 came for PES Services, 133 for Unemployment Services and 7 for Compensation Fund Services. Yesterday we hosted a Career Fair and other Service delivery interventions at Thembalethu Sports Ground that attended to 1 523 clients. We are making arrangements to come back for Blitz Inspections in all this areas and you better get your house in order. The Career Fair is continuing today and I will visit the site to inspect the process and to give all our staff, those from other government departments and other exhibitors, my moral support.
Through Career Fairs and integrated service delivery initiatives, we provide careers information, conduct counselling sessions, registration and placement into registered opportunities to the huge number of work seekers that turn up at these events.
We have called you to mobilise your support, to register employment opportunities with us through our Public Employment Services section and to conduct recruitment of these work seekers that are screened, assessed and prepared for work readiness, free of charge. Use us to eliminate your recruitment cost, to do it within a short and limited timeframe and to get the best and suitable candidates in areas of your choice using our Employment Services System of South Africa (ESSA) You can register opportunities from the comfort of your offices through our website at www.labour.gov.za. You can also contact us on our Toll Free 0800 030 007 for further assistance.
The Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) and the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) are currently working on legislation that is going to respond decisively to the challenge with respect to employment of foreign national in our country. I can only sound an early warning to employers continuing to employ undocumented migrants to desist – you are storing up problems for the future.
Minister Angie Motshekga published last year's matric results on the 19th of January 2024, with the Western Cape achieving the fifth place in the country and congratulations on that achievement. The schooling system, the TVET and Universities including those that drop out, enter the labour market in large numbers. This exclude thousands loosing employment due to various factors.
I don't have to lecture you as employers on the high rate of crime that we are currently experiencing. The youth remain vulnerable and it is a ticking time bomb that represents the greatest risk to social stability in South Africa.
Mind-sets need to change, innovations need to be sought and collaborations strengthened to bring about a halt to the staggering unemployment amongst our youth. From our side, we have started this initiative - engaging in a number of Jobs and Career Fairs across the country - and we have been running them for the last two years. We have introduced state of the art mobile units that are assisting a great deal in servicing work seekers. We have partnered with the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), as well as with the Department of Basic Education (DBE) in a joint project funded by the European Union to smooth the transition from school to work. We are supporting the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative and coordinating various interventions in this regard. We continue to make funding available under the UIF Labour Activation Program towards various partnership projects designed to create employment. We have also concluded internal government consultations on the National Employment Policy and will be approaching Cabinet before the end of February to release it for public comment.
You can continue to play a major role in the skills development of our work seekers. It is a well-known fact that those that possess appropriate and relevant skills, are able to access available job opportunities to sustain themselves and their families. The possession of appropriate skills becomes the single most critical asset for individuals, businesses and societies. Many experts agree that building basic skills from early childhood, and developing and improving the quality of skills is essential. The importance of skills is even more important today with the advent of the fourth industrial revolution, which brings with it increasing automation and digitization.
Our analysis of the South African labour market suggests that unemployment is a structural phenomenon rather than a phase of the business cycle. As such, policy needs to consider a combination of market and non-market approaches to employment and work-seeker support and initiate activation mechanisms that follow areas of growing labour demand.
The key to combating high unemployment among young people is forging stronger connections among employers, education providers, and youth themselves to build skills that lead to entry-level jobs in growth sectors. We know today, that there is an urgent need for all potential workers to upgrade their skills and reskill, in the face of the rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the changing nature of work, spurred by the growth of the platform economy.
Ladies and Gentlemen, what we're facing, is both an individual tragedy and a community and social tragedy, as well as an economic one. We have a range of government interventions that are very good in cushioning the effect of poverty and unemployment. Equally we do not shy away from the fact that the best social welfare program in the world is a job. The ability to have income and to have the freedom that comes with that is core to being able to build livelihoods and our communities.
The problem of unemployment cannot be solved by the Department and government alone. It is everyone's responsibility and we need to continue forging collaborative partnerships.
I have made arrangements with my officials make presentations on recent DEL policy and legislative interventions, most of which were tabled at NEDLAC and are in line with the various International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions that represent international best practice.
You will also receive presentations on the various growth and employment projects coming from the District Municipality as we work across all spheres of government at national, provincial, district and local level. We are also here to hear your concerns and questions. Where DEL does not have the answers, we will refer your concerns to the relevant authority or department (e.g. Home Affairs, the DTIC, Small Business Development, etc.)
In conclusion, I want to reiterate that as, the Department, we have decided to establish partnerships, to make employment our mission, and to fund interventions that provide training to our youth and to access formal entry level jobs that will give them an opportunity to grow.
Please get involved in these initiatives so that you are not left behind: they benefit companies, they benefit work seekers, particularly the youth, and they contribute to economic development and help build social cohesion. I wish you well in your further deliberations.
I thank you.
