The impact of the national skills fund on job creation (North West Province)

Abstract

The South African economic deficiency is reflected in the low levels of skills in an environment that is increasingly experiencing a major change in the workplace and in response to this deficiency of skills in the labour force the Skills Development Act (Act No. 97 of 1998) and the Skills Development Levies Act (Act No. 9 of 1999) were promulgated by government to address this situation. The National Skills Fund (NSF) is one of the institutions that were established by the Skills Development Act to achieve the redress, and it is seen as a source of funds for many different priorities including the training of the unemployed persons training in developmental projects and funding training within the Provincial Growth and Development Strategies and Municipal Integrated Development Plans. In spite of the legislation and NSF training interventions by the Department of Labour (DoL), the rate of unemployment is stills unacceptably high in the North West Province. The purpose of the study was to investigate the National Skills Fund impact on job creation and self-employment in the Province. The National Skills Development Strategy was the springboard for the study. Questionnaires were administered to 95 stakeholders involved with skills development issues, and these comprised of unemployed trainees in community projects, unemployed workseekers registered on the DoL database, Training Providers, DoL Employment and Skills Development Services Staff, Provincial Government Departments and Non-Governmental Organisations in order to get their views on the National Skills Fund interventions. Policy documents, other authors and published materials were consulted with regard to skills development. The findings of the research that focused mainly in the North West Province showed successes and challenges of the initiatives. The study concludes by making recommendations that could improve implementation and administration of the National Skills Fund, and for it to have a maximum impact on job creation and self-employment.