NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
QUESTION 383 Written Reply 22 OCTOBER
2010
383. Mr. D B Feldman (COPE-Gauteng) to ask the Minister of Public Works:
Whether his department has any plans in place to attract skilled
personnel to avoid loosing them to the private sector; if not, why not;
if so, what (a) plans and (b) incentives can be offered to skilled
personnel?
Reply
(a) The current human resource capacity in general and for the built
environment in particular, is way below what the country requires to
achieve its objective of service delivery. As a response to this
situation, the National Department of Public Works (NDPW) committed
itself to make a contribution towards the Skills Development Act,
1998, the Skills Development Levy Act, 1999, the South African
Qualification Authority Act, 1995, and the Employment Equity Act,
1998. The Department purported to support the National Skills
Development Strategy, the Human Resources Development Strategy and the
Departmental Human Resources Planning needs through the implementation
of the Bursary Scheme, and Human Capacity Development Programmes
namely; Learnerships, Internships, Artisan Training, Young
Professional, Mentorship and Exchange programme.
In the departmentâs intermediate strategy, the department undertakes
the following;
⢠Source graduates for candidacy and placement in the Young
Professional programme;
⢠Ensure ongoing development before and after candidacy registration;
⢠Provide Life skills training;
⢠Exposure to national and international projects/ Exchange
opportunities;
⢠Placement of candidates in selected centres of occupational
development and professional firms;
⢠Experiential learning, coaching, on the job-training and on-site
experience is provided. Learners sourced from disadvantaged
communities, bursary scheme, and a targeted recruitment in
Universities/ Universities of Technology
⢠Create flow of professionals into Built Environment sectors through
awareness, attraction, retention and implementation of Internships
in the following identified shortages of skills;
⢠Engineering (Structural, Civil, Electrical, Mechanical)
⢠Quantity Surveying
⢠Construction Project Management
⢠Architectural
⢠Town Planning
⢠Property Valuation
⢠Water Care & Chemistry
⢠Interior design
⢠Create flow of property practitioners through Internships and
Understudy
⢠programmes in;
⢠Property Management: Leasing, Contracts and Utilisation
⢠Asset Management: Industry Research, Investment Analysis, Portfolio
Performance Management, Key Account Management, Asset Registry
⢠Create flow of Artisans into the Built Environment through
Learnerships, NYS, Bursary scheme and internships in these areas of
shortage of skills
⢠Electrical
⢠Mechanical
⢠Plumbing
⢠Carpentry
⢠Bricklaying and Painting
(b) Further the department has put in place the following in
attracting and retaining its skilled personnel;
⢠Recognises retention of professionals as per cost, time and effort
through Occupational Specific Dispensation (OSD). That recognises
years experience, level of competencies, qualifications and
professional registration and remunerates accordingly.
⢠Use professionals as Centre Of Excellence,
⢠Attract retired professionals back into industry by appointing them
as Mentors
⢠Encourage existing practicing employees to be incorporated into the
Young Professional programme for the accelerated registration
process as professionals
⢠Support training programmes that lead to obtaining of Continuous
Professional Development (CPD) points
⢠Grade progression without competing for vacancies or promotion to
higher posts.
⢠OSDâs are not general salary increases, but a systematic way to
improve the salaries of employees after predetermined periods based
on the following: Performance; Qualifications; Scope of work;
Experience, etc.
⢠Provides for longer salary bands and overlaps to incentivize
employees to stay in production and not supervisory or specialist.
⢠Qualifying periods and criteria for progression are prescribed in
the relevant OSDâs.
⢠Provide for accelerated progression at production levels to higher
grades for employees who consistently perform above average.
⢠Recognition of experience in a discipline.