Deputy Speaker, the framework for South Africa's response to the international economic crisis was concluded between government, organised business, the labour movement and community representatives in February 2009.
One of the measures in this framework was provision for a training lay-off scheme. During the second half of last year, we sat down with our social partners, concluded a set of rules that should apply to the training lay- off scheme, identified where we could get money for the scheme and announced it publicly.
The scheme provides for up to half of the wage of a worker to be paid, during periods they otherwise would have been retrenched or placed on short time. Instead, through this fund they can be trained. It was piloted in the last three months of last year and we officially launched it in January this year.
No comprehensive analysis has been made of the total jobs impact of the framework agreement as a whole, given that the measures vary from counter cyclical fiscal policies, support for the infrastructure development programme, to specified industrial and trade interventions.
Perhaps, I can illustrate the impact of the framework by reference to specific employment and industrial initiatives. The training lay-off scheme, for example, was reported to have saved 6 375 jobs up to the end of September this year. The smallest company covered by the scheme had ten workers and the largest company had 1 500 workers. In addition to that, we set up a fund for distressed companies, administered by the Industrial Development Company, IDC, that saved or created the further 18 073 jobs. The IDC and the Unemployment Insurance Fund, UIF, also launched a development bond aimed at job creation and an additional 19 031 jobs, excluding companies that were on any other scheme, were saved or created through this.
In addition to this, the CCMA itself strengthened its efforts to save its jobs through better facilitation and mediation in cases where companies used section 189 of the Labour Relations Act. The CCMA has reported to us that between October last year and the end of September this year, 8 350 additional jobs were saved in large-scale retrenchment processes. This excludes all the other numbers that I have given. It's not people who are on training lay-offs or any of the other schemes.
We have also launched an effort to combat illegal imports and customs fraud, and Sars seized 750 tons of goods by December last year in one sector alone, which translates to the number of 1 400 jobs saved. The Expanded Public Works Programme of government that the Minister of Public Works previously reported on gives an indication of the kinds of measures that are in place and the impact that it has. Thank you.
Deputy Speaker, thank you, Minister, for your comprehensive response. Minister, with regard to the training lay-off scheme, I want to know whether there are any disadvantages for those companies who do not have organised labour, those who do not have unions. What type of training is being offered regarding this scheme? Thank you.
Deputy Speaker, let me answer the first part of your question. Companies with trade unions have the opportunity to access the scheme because unions can publicise it to workers. They can propose it to companies during retrenchment negotiations. They can ensure that the training programmes are customised to the needs of workers at a particular workplace and, importantly, they can help to negotiate the package of social benefits, like medical aid and so on, that should apply during the training period.
With regard to the training that is offered, it varies greatly because it is demand-driven. It is largely determined at the workplace level. Some of these do, however, indicate specialised skills courses on welding; electrical and refrigerator operations; rigging; charcoal manufacturing; health and safety, including HIV and Aids management; supervision courses and courses on entrepreneurship.
This just gives a flavour of the range of activities. Some companies have introduced Adult Basic Education and Training courses. We are encouraging companies to use the opportunity now to strengthen information communications technology, ICT, skills at the workplace. As the economy and employment recovers, workers also have a much greater skills set that they bring to the productive process. Thank you.
Deputy Speaker, hon Minister, the question of training is quite broad. If people are not given specific qualifications, it can have a negative impact. It is like investing in a situation where you do not have any future gains. Is there any specific qualification that these people are given after this training, and what duration of training is needed for people to qualify for that specific qualification?
Deputy Speaker, I think I would agree on the importance of qualification in instances of training, but it is important to distinguish what this does. Typically, before we had the training lay-off scheme, when there is a slack demand in a company the option that was often used is simply to lay off workers through retrenchments. They then permanently lose their jobs.
Through the training lay-off scheme, we have created a facility that a company can access. Instead of retrenching a worker, they place them on short-term training. The duration of the training could be up to three months, full-time equivalent. It does not need to be taken in one period, it could be spread out. You could have two days training a week, stretched over a period longer than three months, but equivalent to three months full- time.
The types of training is determined by the discussion between business and labour at plant level, but the sector education and training authorities, Setas, at industry level helped to co-ordinate some of the training. So the facility is certainly available for all skills that workers have obtained to be certified through the Setas. Thank you.
Deputy Speaker, in his state of the nation address last year the President mentioned the possibility of a wage subsidy for youth and this particular topic was also mentioned by the Minister of Finance in his Budget Speech, earlier this year.
South Africa is experiencing job losses, and it is estimated that almost a million South Africans have lost their jobs. It is also estimated that more than 3 million South Africans between the ages of 18 and 35 are unemployed. Is government considering the imposition of a youth wage subsidy, in light of our alarming rates of unemployment? Thank you.
Deputy Speaker, let me start by confirming the importance we assign to dealing with the crisis of youth employment or unemployment. If you look at the data, it is quite revealing. More than half of our young people are without jobs, more than three quarters of the unemployed, are young people. This is a crisis that we have to deal with.
In government's view, it will require a multiplicity of interventions. We'll have to do many things and we'll have to do them smartly to address the issues of unemployment. We are now busy putting together a comprehensive response to youth employment, which will include targeted measures for companies. It will also include measures in the Public Service through using public works programmes, more aggressively targeted at young people.
In the growth path, we have identified sectors of the economy where, in fact, young people can and ought to be employed in large numbers. Government is looking at all those options, putting them together in a coherent package and will announce them as soon as the work is concluded. Thank you.
Deputy Speaker, there is no doubt that the implementation of these schemes have a positive social impact. With the implementation of these schemes, is there a cost-benefit analysis being done so that, at the end of the day, we know that if we have spent R50, it was well spent, but if we had spent R500 you might as well have given the person R200? Thank you.
Deputy Speaker, I think the view we have taken during the recession we experienced last year, is that we need to bring in new tools to manage job losses. As we gain experience in this, one of the critical issues would be to do the cost-benefit analysis
The first thing that we are doing now through the work of the IDC is to measure the cost per job for all the interventions that we undertake. That figure is monitored constantly to see whether, in fact, through our interventions, we are increasing the number of jobs per million rand that is utilised. I thought I should also indicate that these are not passive subsidies. In a number of cases, they are a bridging means to get companies back into viability.
On the website of one company that utilised the public resources, Bell Equipment, they say the following, and I quote:
After the very tough 2009, due to the global recession, Bell Equipment has announced a profit for the first six months of 2010.
Bell was one of the earliest in the industry to be hit, in view of their make-to-stock requirement, but now it is one of the first to recover. They then go on to say, and I quote Gary Bell:
We appreciate the support received from government and the IDC loans. We look forward to further engagement on ways in which we can further increase local employment and develop the local supply base. So far this year, Bell has been able to re-employ 250 people at the Richards Bay plant and this number will increase as demand improves further.
The point is that these interventions are intended to bring companies back to viability, and to the extent that we achieve that and that we keep the cost of support for each job as low as possible, they constitute an effective and good intervention. Thank you.
Position regarding adequacy of steps taken by cellular phone operators to extend coverage to rural areas
273. Mr K M Zondi (IFP) asked the Minister of Communications:
Whether he has found that the steps taken by cellular phone operators to extend coverage of their services to rural areas have proved to be adequate; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?