DEPARTMENT: PUBLIC ENTERPRISES
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
NCOP
QUESTION FOR Oral REPLY
QUESTION NO.: 229
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 16 October 2013
(229. Mr R J Tau (ANC-NC) to ask the Minister of Public Enterprises:
(1) Whether any progress has been made with regard to the development of a
transformation strategy that will guide state-owned companies (SOCs) (a) on
integration of small enterprises and/or Broad-Based Black Economic
Empowerment into the value chain of suppliers of such companies, (b) in the
expansion of skills development programmes of such companies to support the
development of critical skills and (c) in driving youth empowerment
programmes within such companies; if not, (i) why not and (ii) what are his
departmentâs plans and strategies in this regard; if so, (aa) what progress
and (bb) what are the further relevant details;
(2) Whether any progress has been made in respect of manufacturing 30 train
railway wagons which will provide the much needed jobs for the community of
De Aar (details furnished); if not, why not, if so, what progress? CO618E
Reply:
1) (a-c)(aa-bb) My Department has made progress in guiding SOCs to ensure
that their procurement interventions are aligned to the national
transformation objectives as set out in the Broad Based Black Economic
Empowerment (BBBEE) Codes through procurement spend. This, amongst
others, includes transformation targets included in the SOCs Shareholder
Compacts focusing on procurement spend on localisation and support
provided to BBBEE compliant companies with emphasis on supporting Black
Owned Companies, Women Owned Companies and Youth Owned Companies in
particular supporting integration of small enterprises. As a result to
strengthen these commitments made by SOCs, the Department hosted a
supplier development summit which culminated in the establishment of a
supplier development forum to develop strategies to expand participation
of small enterprises to benefit from SOCs procurement initiatives.
Transnet has also established an Enterprise Development Hub wherein
small businesses will have easy access to products and services offered
by both Provincial and National Economic Development Institutions.
A process has also been established to develop a Transformation Framework
and Guidelines to ensure that SOCs contributions maximise impact concerning
key transformation elements which includes Job Creation, Skills
Development, Procurement and Corporate Social Investments.
SOCs are also committed to expanding their skills development programmes to
support the provision of scarce and critical skills and optimizing
utilization of their training facilities. This resulted in establishment of
collaboration with the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET).
Through this collaboration, Transnet has received an amount of R175 million
from the National Skills Fund to train additional 1000 artisan trainees to
be trained over a period of three years towards support to the National
Skills Accord commitments. Other SOCs are developing proposals to also
optimize their training facilities to train artisan trainees over and above
their own needs.
Furthermore, I have launched a Youth Economic Participation Programme in
June 2011 to ensure SOCs support youth empowerment through SOCs
transformation interventions to ensure that youth are beneficiaries of SOCs
skills, job creation, procurement and corporate social investment
programmes within SOCs in Department of Public Enterprises portfolio. The
Department is also collaborating with various government departments such
as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Economic Development
Department (EDD), (DHET) and the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA)
to support youth development.
To date, a number of interventions have been undertaken and youth sessions
were held in collaboration with provincial governments including Kwa-Zulu
Natal (KZN), Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and Free State in which SOCs
presented business opportunities available for youth entrepreneurs. A Youth
Camp was held in June 2013 hosted by Denel for 100 learners in Grade 10 and
11 studying maths and science. The youth visited other SOCs, including
South African Airways (SAA), Eskom and Transnet to have a feel of various
occupations and assist them to make career choices when completing their
matric. Eskom has established a Youth Strategic Initiative and an average
of 5000 learners in the pipeline which include about 2500 matriculants
trained in trade skills and about 2500 Universities of Technology graduates
placed in work experiential learning through the supplier network. SOCs are
also playing important roles and have established partnerships with Further
Education and Training (FET) colleges to enhance the sector and to ensure
that FET College graduates are placed in SOCs for work experiential
learning towards attainment of artisan status. Also, through collaboration
with Stellenbosch University, SOCs are supporting with installation of
telematics to support learners doing maths and science in disadvantaged
communities.
To enhance collaboration with DHET, the Directors-General of DPE and DHET
have signed a Memorandum of Understanding which establishes SOC
partnerships with Institutes of higher learning such as Universities of
Technology to increase the number of youth to be placed for work
experiential learning.
2) There has been significant progress made as part of the preparatory work
prior to commencement of the manufacturing of wagons project at the
Transnet Engineering De-Aar factory.
Included in this preparatory work was the appointment of staff from De-Aar
which are currently undergoing on-job training at various Transnet centres.
There were challenges in the supply of critical equipment due to the lack
of local supplier readiness. These challenges are however being addressed
and I am confident that this project will start before the end of this
financial year.