ISETT SETA slams ICT industry

Johannesburg, 24 Nov 2006

The IT sector training authority, ISETT SETA, has lashed out at the ICT industry, which, it says, refused to assist it with research aimed at combating skills shortages.

In June, about 19 large companies in IT and telecommunications were asked by ISETT SETA to submit responses concerning where vacancies and shortages exist, in order for the authority to develop strategies going forward.

Among the big firms that refused to assist ISETT SETA, and which were named at its AGM, in Midrand yesterday, are Siemens, MTN, Cell C, Vodacom, Accenture, IBM, Microsoft, Bytes Technology Group and Oracle.

Only four companies submitted responses, and this, said CEO Oupa Mopaki, was after repeated phone calls urging all the companies to help the authority with its research.

"It was a simple template; a workplace skills plan," explained Mopaki. "We were asking for company details, the number of employees, gender and race statistics, and whether the company will be training - and whether it will be internships, learnerships or skills programmes.

"We also asked them to tell us if they have a skills shortage, and in what areas, as well as where the vacancies are," he said shortly after the AGM.

Only arivia.kom, Telkom, SITA and MediKredit supplied the information ISETT SETA requested.

Reasons

Mopaki believes the reason for the apathy is that those responsible for skills development in large organisations are normally at middle-management level. He pointed to the discord that often exists between these people and the company's overall focus.

"With employment equity, for instance, the top guy is held responsible; but with skills development, the responsibility does not normally reside near the top - and people in the middle are not normally privy to strategic information."

In essence, Mopaki argued, skills development is not being regarded as a strategic imperative, as it should be.

Industry responsibility

Mopaki, during his annual report back, noted that many of the sector authority's targets had been met, where financially and logistically possible.

The National Skills Development Strategy is moving into phase two (NSDS2), from now until 2010. NSDS1 spanned the years between 2000 and 2006.

The coming years present many challenges, noted chairman Lucky Masilela, who pointed out that the authority will concentrate on:

* Forming strategic alliances with higher learning institutions;
* Improving its relationship with stakeholders;
* Expanding its footprint;
* Working out how to address the skills gaps; and
* Implementing workplace experiential training.

"The industry must take responsibility for addressing the skills shortage problems, and this is why we need to engage with other institutions," said Masilela.

Although he described the recent auditor-general's report as "disappointing", Masilela said: We have plans to turn the ship around."

R135m to spend

Peter Mongwenyana, financial manager, said in his report ISETT SETA received almost R262 million in funding. Administration (R34.6 million), mandatory grants (R120.1 million), discretionary grants (R40.1 million), National Skills Fund project expenses (R20.3 million) and other costs, left a surplus for the year of nearly R39 million.

"In terms of the legislation, surplus funds [which now stand at R135 million] are moved to the discretionary fund reserve to be utilised for projects," he told attendees.

Mongwenyana explained that R54 million would be used for grant payments, R71 million for learnership commitments, and R10 million for creditor payments.