11

E-SETA CONFERENCEINDABA HOTEL

27/11/07 Presented by: Silas M. Zimu

(MD City Power)

FACING THE REALITIES OF SKILLS SHORTAGES IN THE ELECTRICITY INDUSTRY

2

INDEX

Critical conversations relating to skills

Employment vs Available jobs

Skills Dialogue

How do we move from dialogue to actions

The bigger picture

The South African Electricity Sector Profile

The skills Agenda

3

CRITICAL CONVESATIONS

BRAIN BRAIN DRAIN DRAIN

UNEMPLOYMENT UNEMPLOYMENT

FORMS OFFORMS OF ENERGYENERGY

ELECTRICITY ELECTRICITY INFRASTRUCTURE INFRASTRUCTURE

REQUIRED REQUIRED SKILLS SKILLS

POVERTYPOVERTY

THE PACE THE PACE OF OF

ECONOMIC ECONOMIC GROWTHGROWTH

CAPACITY TO CAPACITY TO GENERATE, GENERATE, TRANSMIT &TRANSMIT &DISTRUBUTE DISTRUBUTE ELECTRICITYELECTRICITY

4

UNEMPLOYMENT vs. AVAILABLE JOBS

Financial Mail: October 26, 2007

5

THE HARSH REALITY

Financial Mail: October 26, 2007

6

ESCALATING TECHNICAL SKILLS GAPS IN THE SECTOR

ECONOMIC GROWTH OUTLOOK

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007* 2008# 2009#

Y/Y

%

* 2nd Quarter 2007# Reuters Economic Forecast

Source: Stats SA, Reuters

% o

f te

ch

nic

al skills

to c

op

e w

ith

econ

om

ic g

row

th

Financial Mail: October 26, 2007

7

“The economic dialogue backed by the treasury and

the presidency, big businesses, the SETA’s and labour is

bringing fresh

insight into how to resolve SA’s most intractable

Dilemma: the need for growth path that will mop up

SA’s mass of unskilled labour “

THE SKILLS DIALOGUE

Financial Mail: October 26, 2007

8

HOW DO WE MOVE FROM DIALOGUE TO ACTIONS

Reinforce on the skills debate giving input on strategies in particular, elevating the energy sector needs

Proactively engage Education and Labour ministries including all role players and businesses to recommit to joint learning and skilling initiatives as critical to the future of the country

Invest on research to magnify the potential impact of weak or good strategies for the future

9

Urban Development Framework COJUrban Development Framework COJ

Energy Efficiency and Alternative EnergyEnergy Efficiency and Alternative Energy

Legal and regulatory FrameworkLegal and regulatory Framework

Global warmingGlobal warming

Generation Capacity Generation Capacity

SKILLS, SKILLS, SKILLS SKILLS, SKILLS, SKILLS

THE BIGGER PICTURE D

RIV

ER

SD

RIV

ER

S

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORSCRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS

2010 World Cup and Beyond2010 World Cup and Beyond

Economic Growth and

Poverty alleviation

Researc

hers

Pla

nn

ers

Pro

ject M

an

ag

ers

Tech

nic

al s

kills

Fin

an

cia

l Man

ag

em

en

t

Experts

Vendors

Experts

VendorsInfrastructure Vendors

10

SECTOR EMPLOYEE PROFILE

78%

22%

•The total number of employees in the electricity sector is 121 000

(ref: Labour Force Survey March 2006 – Stats - SA )

•In Gauteng there are 26 000 (21.5%) employees in this sector

PS, This is a total number of people working in the sector and not a reflection of the skill required in the sector

11

SKILLS AGENDA

(ASGISA)Accelerated And Shared

Growth Initiative for South Africa

(ASGISA)Accelerated And Shared

Growth Initiative for South Africa

Prioritization of upskilling

and assessments

of prior learning within the workplace

Prioritization of upskilling

and assessments

of prior learning within the workplace

Effectiveness leverage

successful strategies

(Benchmark)

Effectiveness leverage

successful strategies

(Benchmark)

Industry commitment to

skills development(Learnerships)

Industry commitment to

skills development(Learnerships)

CAPACITY CREATIION CAPACITY

CREATIION

(EPWP)Expanded

PublicWorks

Programme

(EPWP)Expanded

PublicWorks

Programme

EMPLOYMENT, ECOMOMIC GROWTH,

SUSTAINABILITY

EMPLOYMENT, ECOMOMIC GROWTH,

SUSTAINABILITY

12

Skills Challenge (…1)

One of the major challenges that faces South Africa currently is that of a skill

shortage.

The South African Government was mandated in 2004 to halve poverty and

unemployment by 2014. In order to achieve this Government initiated the

Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA) which targets

an economic growth rate for the country of 6%. However one of the major

constraints identified was:

AsgiSA states as a binding constraint the “Shortage of suitably skilled labour amplified by the impact of apartheid spatial patterns on the cost of labour.

The most difficult aspects of the legacy of apartheid to unwind arise from its deliberately inferior system of education and irrational patterns of population settlement. In a period of growth it is evident that we lack sufficient skilled professionals, managers and artisans, and that the uneven quality of education remains a contributory factor. In addition, the price of labour of the poor is pushed up by the fact that many live a great distance from their place of work.”

14

Current Status

Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA) has set a target to facilitate the training of up to 50 000 artisans by 2010.

State owned enterprises (SOEs) would play a critical role in the implementation of AsgiSA.

Commercialisation of SOEs from 1987/88 onwards coupled with the rationalisation and consolidation, which took place within government post 1994 created unforeseen consequences.

Processes were flawed in that there was no central oversight or strategic co-ordination of training within government.

Government departments (and SOEs) took decisions about the future of their training facilities without exploring whether these could still be utilised within the system.

Rationalisation and integration process inadvertently contributed towards the ‘decapacitation’ of the state.

Outsourcing of training across government departments has further contributed towards this.

15

National skills development initiatives

In terms of local government and service delivery the focus is on addressing the skills problems through Project Consolidate. The skills interventions include: The deployment of experienced professionals and managers to improve project

development, implementation and maintenance of capabilities.

SALGA’s Integrated Capacity Building Strategy: Encompassing local government’s large-scale transformation and restructuring which

has created a large demand for new skills and skills upgrading. Identified the lack of “know-how” to support restructuring and the rising service

delivery demands and the weak capacity to respond to the challenge. The fact that historically much of the training in the sector has been of poor quality and

relevance and that this still remains the case today. The need to introduce a sector-wide workplace learning, facilitating, coordinating and

managing mechanism.

Eskom and AMEU Technical Training Committee: Working closely with the National Wires Workgroup Identifying the issue of duplication of Training facilities. Competing for the same resources. Optimise partnerships and the development of training material.

Eskom’s recent decision to centralise training into “one Varsity for all”

16

EDI skills challenge

One of the major challenges that will face RED management is that of effectively staffing the

organisation due to:

The current South African major skills shortage.

The high number of current vacancies in the legacy organisations.

Due to the nature of the Industry fragmented policies with regards to training and development.

The limited number of instructors/trainers/coaches within the Industry.

The confusion surrounding SETAS and skills programmes, Learnerships etc.

Many of the professional staff i.e. engineers are of an age 50+.

Staff loss to other industries and overseas

Experienced staff going pension.

18

Industry Priorities

Building Capacity in the Programme management environment:

COW, Project Co-ordinators, Project managers, Programme managers.

Development of COW Learnership.

Registration of skills programmes, Electrical NQF 1, NQF 2, NQF 3, COW, Pricing.

Develop entry level qualifications, e.g. Linesmen.

Creation of Centres of Excellence – Research on applied Technology.

Material Development – Governance.

ASGISA Project:

Workplace training:

Coaches

Mentors

Assessors

Retaining of qualified staff in Engineering.

Training of Contractors.

ORHVS e-learning

19

Transitional plan (…1)

EDI Holdings establish a EDI National Training and Development Forum.

This Forum’s membership may comprise of the following role players:

EDI Holdings

Eskom

SALGA

Trade Unions

Energy SETA

Other pertinent SETAs (e.g. FASSETA)

Members of AsgiSA and/or JIPSA

Department of Labour

National Productivity Institute

NEDLAC

Representatives/experts in Higher Education

Human Capital Workgroup representation

Technical Training Committee

20

Transitional plan (…2)

The proposed mandate for this forum may include:

The development of training and development strategies and plans for the Industry.

The engagement of relevant parties such as AsgiSA/JIPSA/SAQA/SETAs/ to promote

and advance training and development for the EDI.

To review current legislation and if required make recommendation to the relevant

bodies regarding reform.

To Consider the possible establishment of a National EDI Capacity Building Academy

that would be capable of developing individuals within the Industry, at all levels, with an

acceptable level of quality assurance, SAQA accreditation and in conjunction with

recognition higher education institution.

To ensure the alignment of EDI initiatives to other initiatives e.g. JIPSA, SALGA, Eskom

etc.

21

THE END

????????