DEPARTMENT: PUBLIC ENTERPRISES
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
QUESTION FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO.: 1165
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 15 April 2011
1165. Dr G W Koornhof (ANC) to ask the Minister of Public Enterprises:
With reference to the planned infrastructure build programme on (a) energy,
(b) rail and (c) port investment for the next five years, what (i)
projected amount in actual numbers will be needed to train and employ (aa)
scientists, (bb) engineers and (cc) artisans with regard to each specified
type of investment, (ii) plans have been put in place to (aa) train and
(bb) employ the necessary skilled labour nationally and internationally and
(iii) plans are in place to retain such skilled labour for state-owned
entities? NW1288E
REPLY
Eskom
(a)(i)(aa)(bb)(cc) Eskomâs build programme over the next five years will
require the following critical skills: 160 scientists, 2145 engineers and
2951 artisans (on average) per annum.
(ii)(aa)(bb) Eskomâs recently launched Eskom Academy of Learning (EAL), in
addition to partnerships with tertiary institutions and supplier networks
are collectively used as key enablers for skills development.
The objective of the EAL is to coordinate and integrate all learning
throughout Eskom in line with business needs. The key focus is on
developing engineers, technologists, technicians and artisans. The
following Academy faculties have been created namely, Engineering, Artisan,
Services, Project management, Leadership and Finance.
In addition, commercial contracts have been entered into with suppliers on
Eskomâs build programme with clauses that deal with knowledge transfer and
training.
There are currently 5283 learners in the pipeline, 4240 (80%) of whom are
studying in the Engineering and Technical fields. Eskom has an additional
5000 learners, 2500 of whom are unemployed matriculants in trades training
and 2500 are unemployed graduates in internships.
Learners in the supplier network are contracted by the contracting company
while Eskom is the primary employer in the Learner Pipeline.
(iii) The retention plans for current and future skilled labour are as
follows:
⢠Employment Value Proposition (EVP) â Eskom provides a sound EVP to new
and existing employees by paying above market related remuneration and
implementing flexible benefits that meet the needs of diverse
generations.
⢠Continuous Professional Development (CPD) â Eskom provides and
facilitates CPD to ensure that its professionals stay relevant to new
technologies and processes.
⢠Talent management and career development processes â Talent Boards are in
place in each Eskom Division to ensure that high potential is
strategically discussed and that succession planning is followed through.
⢠Turnover targeting â Eskom has set limits to manage external losses. The
turnover over the last year has been 3.8% which is low according to
industry norms.
Transnet
(b)(c)(i)(aa)(bb)(cc)(ii)(aa)(bb)(iii)
To ensure that Transnet acquires and retains the necessary skills in
support of its core business, national training interventions have been
developed and the following skills development targets have been set as
shown below. This excludes supplier development training figures.
| |2011 |2012 |2013 |2014 |2015 |2016 |
| |In System|New Intake|New |New |New Intake|New Intake|
| | | |Intake |Intake | | |
|Engineers |427 |60 |60 |60 |60 |60 |
|Artisans |1412 |500 |500 |500 |500 |500 |
Transnet spends R144m per annum on its Engineering bursaries and R73m on
its Artisan Training and currently places all of its Engineering bursars
and 80% of the qualified Artisans exiting in its programme. The remainder
of the skilled labour is available for absorption by the broader economy.
Although opportunities exist to grow the intake of artisans, this will
require additional funding to upgrade facilities and ensure adequate
resources. Preliminary estimates indicate a requirement for R212 million
for an additional 1 000 trainees and R325 million for an
additional 2000 trainees.
The Department of Public Enterprises and the Department of Higher Education
and Training are currently working together to deal with this issue as the
National Skills Fund currently does not fund infrastructure investment.
Transnet actively implements an appropriate skills retention strategy.