My Regional Economy: ‘Skills training suffers when SOEs flounder’ – Chamber portfolio committee chair

The hollowing out of South Africa’s state-owned enterprises has accelerated the national skills training crisis, further undermining economic growth.

So says Peter Haylett, chairperson of the Cape Chamber’s Infrastructure Business Environment Portfolio Committee.  

Inhouse skills-training capabilities of SOE behemoths like Eskom and have all but disappeared, a decline explained partly by the parlous sate of parastatal balance sheets, Haylett says.

The loss of these key industrial skill incubators is particularly troubling considering mounting concerns about the efficacy of the National Skills Fund (NSF), which falls under the Department of Higher Education and Training.    Haylett believes skills training is too vital to be left in government hands, particularly following recent concerns about the NSF and Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs).

“What is at stake here is not only the state of the economy, but the future of the economy,” Haylett said. “The state institutions that used to train people now don’t even have trainable people to do the training.”

“Skills training should be run privately.”

Haylett flags the recent example of a scheme to raid the NSF to help fund a major PetroSA infrastructure upgrade, as reported by the amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism. The scheme, which was never implemented, involved high-level discussions between NSF and PetroSA regarding possible use of NSF budget for purposes other than skills training. 

The fact of the discussions is deeply concerning, according to Haylett: “The moral of the story that comes through to me is that the state has overreached its mandate – it should provide oversight, not run things as important as skills training. The private sector can do that far more effectively.”