Ladies and Gentlemen
Invited guests
The staff of the Sheltered Employment Factory (SEF) in Silverton and in other 12 factories
Senior Representatives from Departments and the Private Sector
Good morning and welcome to the Sheltered Employment Factories (SEFs)
Let me start off by paying tribute to the SEF Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mr Silumko Nondwangu, who is currently in hospital and has since made tremendous recovery after a stroke, for the vision that he developed to have a series of these open days throughout these SEFs.
Welcome to the 2010 Sheltered Employment Factories open day. This organisation serves one of the most important labour markets in our country. With a total of 12 factories located in seven of our nine provinces, the SEF employs 1 050 people with disabilities who would otherwise be unemployed due to the nature of their afflictions.
Many of these employees were once sole bread winners in their families employed in our mines, the defence force and private companies. Some come from our special schools and even our townships where they were left to rely solely on social grants.
Just to give you some perspectives on people with disabilities. According to Statistics South Africa, disability is defined as “A physical or mental handicap which has lasted for six months or more, or is expected to last at least six months, which prevents the person from carrying out daily activities independently or from participating fully in educational, economic or social activities”. The Stats SA 2007 census indicated that 4.0% of the total population of South African people had various forms of disability. The census further explains a physical impairment as a condition affecting the body, through sight or hearing loss, a mobility difficulty or a health condition.
The census describes a mental impairment as a condition affecting ‘mental functioning’, for example a learning disability or mental health condition such as depression. The percentage distribution of the disabled population by population group reflects black Africans accounting to 4.0%, coloured 4.2%, Indian or Asians 4.6% and whites accounting for 3.2 percent respectively.
Over the past decade disabled people’s organisations all over the world have worked to reposition disability as a human rights issue. The result is a social model for disability based on the premise that if society cannot cater for people with disabilities, it is society that must change.
Despite all these efforts, people with disabilities continue to be excluded from the mainstream of society and experience difficulty in accessing fundamental rights. The 10th Commission for Employment Equity released on Thursday, 29 July 2010 reiterated that in South Africa, despite the target of 2% set during year 2000 for people with disabilities to be represented in the labour market, we are still hovering below 1%.
The Sheltered Employment Factories under the auspices of the Department of Labour were established in 1943 by the then government, to provide job opportunities for people who cannot obtain and retain work in the open labour market. There are 12 Sheltered Employment Factories situated in seven of the nine South African Provinces. The Factories employ about 1050 people but have a potential to employ up to 3 000 people.
The SEF entities are totally unique in their operations and accommodating people with various disabilities. The SEF manufactures and supply hospital linen and nurse’s uniforms to approximately 300 hospitals, they produce quality solid wooden furniture which is sold to the Department of Labour, the South African Police Services, the Department of Justice and the Presidency amongst others.
The majority of the people with disabilities in the SEFs have intellectual and mental impairments whilst the rest are physically impaired. The SEF operates within the manufacturing industry and its unique business model necessitates that the socio-economic aspect of the business approach be carefully interpreted and defined. The above suggests that the SEF address in a broader prospect the economic empowerment and the re-integration of people with disabilities into the mainstream economy.
Over the years, the Department of Labour continued to provide subsidies to these Factories as their sales has not been sufficient to carry their running costs. We acknowledge that they cannot compete with other factories that employ people who are not disabled and run on serious business principles. The fact of the matter is that the demand on the levels of subsidies is increasing and sales and income of the entities is going down. In the long run, if the SEF management situation does not change and the Department is not able to rise additional funding from the National Treasury, the future of these factories will become bleak or uncertain.
We have embarked on a number of interventions and we want to extend a hand to you to assist us in addressing the plight of people with disabilities. I have instructed the management to recruit at least a minimum of 50 young people with disabilities in learnerships per annum from mainly black communities, given the current racial composition of employees in these factories.
We are working very closely with the National Treasury in finalising a Business Case aimed at restructuring the organisation, to reposition the SEF as a repository of skilled people with disabilities into the open labour market thereby restoring their pride and right to be protected by the constitution. The SEF envisions a national network of factories and factory outlets that contribute to the economic empowerment of people with disabilities that support metropolitan, rural and local community organisations and enterprises, where disabled people are able to contribute to, and be integrated into the nation’s economy.
Amongst other things the business case is aligned to the Integrated National Disability’s White Paper and has come up with the following objectives:
- To manage the factories to be viable and sustainable enterprises.
- To facilitate on the job-training for people with disabilities (PWDs), leading to qualifications and competencies that enable access to jobs and income generation capability in the wider labour market.
- To place PWDs with private and public sector employers, with appropriate training and support.
- To provide managerial, business and technical advice and support regarding the employment of PWDs, to the emerging and existing enterprises in SA.
- To remain flexible and adaptable to meet the changing needs of PWDs in a changing economy.
- To deal with the legacy of racial and demographic exclusions – engender a culture of transformational management and modern organisational processes-product re-engineering and change.
- To contribute to, and interact with the Integrated National Disability Strategy and other departments dealing with PWDs.
- To pursue new markets in Southern Africa and collaborate with similar institutions elsewhere in the Continent dealing with PWDs.
I also know that the management team has also committed itself to increase their sales by to at-least 30% by government departments and other providers so as to increase current employment levels by 500 people. This target will not be achievable unless all the guests invited in this open day extend a hand in this regard. I want you to tour the facility and have a look at the products produced here and in other factories and make up your mind. This is a start and depending on how you respond, we will be organising similar events in other 11 factories.
I also know that staff in all our factories have a major issue with regard to their salaries and conditions of employment. Again, without an increase in sales, appropriate pricing of goods produced in these factories and an increase in productivity, we will not be able to respond to their request.
We have also brought in productivity South Africa, to assist them in revamping their production processes and to achieve the most out of the material they have. What they now need, is you in buying the products and saving their jobs.
We cannot continue leaving in a society that excludes people with disabilities from the mainstream economy and deny them access to fundamental rights.
It is my belief that more efforts should be made on the economic empowerment of people with disabilities and their re-integration into the open labour market.
There are still companies that would not employ a person with a disability because they believe that their productivity levels and quality would be compromised. These SEF factories have proved more than once that a disability does not mean inability.
Testimony to this is our very own Department of Labour Offices and many other government departments and hospitals who continue to buy products from these factories. The Sheltered Employment Factories have been manufacturing products such as school furniture for the Department of Education for over five decades.
In conclusion, I also want to applaud the men and women who are employed in these factories for overcoming their ailments and other environmental difficulties and for deciding to continue contributing to the economy of our country.
Our challenge as a society, business, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and government is to, from here forth, aim to be part of and support this initiative to make it a success.
I thank you
Source: Department of Labour
