Locals to fill ICT posts

By Christelle du Toit, ITWeb senior journalist

Johannesburg, 29 Apr 2008

The majority of SA`s 40 000-strong ICT skills shortage will be filled by South Africans.

This is according to deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, who last week commented on the country`s ongoing skill shortage.

Speaking at the launch of the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (Jipsa) 2007 annual report, Mlambo-Ngcuka could not say how many of the currently vacant ICT posts would be filled by foreigners, but stressed the importance of local skills development.

"The bulk of the people we need, will come from South Africa," said Mlambo-Ngcuka.

She said the acquisition of skills from overseas was, however, "very urgent" as top-level skills were needed to mentor those people who were being produced by universities and technical colleges domestically.

The deputy president said that while the number of foreigners brought into the country would therefore be "almost insignificant", they would play a strategic role.

Mlambo-Ngcuka`s comments follow recent revelations that the Department of Labour believes there are 37 565 empty ICT positions in the country.

While Jipsa previously stated that skills must be imported in the short-term where need be, the Department of Home Affairs has so far not revealed what percentage of the ICT skills shortage would be addressed through this means.

Leaking skills

Meanwhile, the issue of the ICT brain drain also received the deputy president`s attention.

One of the major challenges she identified was the "leakage" of skills, meaning the emigration of skilled workers to other countries.

She said in order to address this, the working conditions of those in the public sector, specifically, were being addressed, with better remuneration meant to pave the way for skills to stay in the country.

However, Mlambo-Ngcuka admitted: "We don`t have a magic wand to keep people." She urged companies to therefore train more people than are currently required, in order to compensate for the losses going forward.