Labour Minister, Mildred Oliphant opens a Supported Employment Enterprise factory to hire 150 persons with disability
The Limpopo Province today welcomed the opening of the new Supported Employment Enterprises (SEE) factory at Seshego Industrial Park with 39 workers currently on site.
The opening of the SEE factory by the Department of Labour in Seshego, Polokwane, was given a thumbs-up by the community of Seshego and labour minister as a step in the right direction. At its peak the SEE factory is expected to employ 150 workers or more.
Speaker after speaker said it would make a noticeable dent in unemployment.
Chief Kgabo Moloto, of Moletji, urged the community to support the initiative. He pledged the support of the 147 headmen in the Moletji District.
Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant, said the opening of the factory followed the ratification of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention on People with Disabilities by South Africa in 2006.
“We have since taken the decision to establish these factories in all provinces. I urge you to offer support by buying the products. I am very much happy, that we have come to witness the opening of the Limpopo SEE factory that I promised in Parliament during 2017,” she said.
Also present at the opening were Deputy Minister of Labour, Phathekile Holomisa and Department of Labour Director-General, Thobile Lamati as well as representatives from the Limpopo provincial government.
The newly rebranded Supported Employment Enterprises was established through the Employment Services (ES) Act 4 of 2014. The Department of Labour’s Public Employment Services (PES) has oversight over the entity (SEE).
The Supported Employment Enterprises, formerly known as Sheltered Employment Factories (SEF) was established in 1943 to provide employment opportunities to disabled persons who were unable to hold down employment in the open labour market due to the nature of their disabilities.
The latest factory opened in Seshego will bring to 13 factories managed by the SEE. The latest development leaves Mpumalanga Province as the only province without a facility.
SEE has manufacturing factories in Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, East London, Johannesburg, Kimberley, Pietermaritzburg, Port Elizabeth, Potchefstroom and Pretoria. The factories currently employ over a 1000 disabled people who are supported by 140 administration, management and technical staff.
Some of the products manufactured by SEE factories include: office furniture; school furniture; hospitals clothes; office safes and gates. The entity’s head office is located in Pretoria.
“Depending on the extent of support, the Department may increase the number of factories in Limpopo to areas such as the Vhembe Districts and Collins Chabane Municipality. In Gauteng we have three, in Eastern Cape two, in KZN two and in the Western Cape two,” emphasised the Minister.
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