Denial is a river in Africa – SA skills shortage takes centre stage
Why do South Africa’s senior politicians struggle to apply their minds to some of the country’s most serious challenges? It seems regardless of the severity of a particular crisis, government is content to sit on its hands as allow the problem to spiral o
More recently government has drawn a lager around every higher-up charged with ensuring the country’s safety and security. Crime is not a problem in South Africa, but rather a manufactured fairy tale – the preserve of ‘whinging’ whites. The statistics are no doubt a bunch of lies contrived in similar fashions. And of course Zimbabwe is progressing nicely to a democratically engineered solution.
In one of the first articles we wrote for FAnews Online we dealt with one-time New York mayor, Rudi Giulliani’s success in reducing that city’s high crime rate. The pearl of wisdom from that article was that to address a problem, those in positions of power first have to acknowledge its existence. It takes little guesswork to realise why South Africa’s major crises remain unsolved.
What skills shortage?
We are under siege from Aids, crime and Zimbabwe ‘denialists’. And now we have another denial to add to the list. We will call members of the newest category ‘skills denialists’. The champion of the campaign is undoubtedly Employment Equity Commission chairperson, Jimmy Manyi. Manyi’s claim to fame is his suggestion that South Africa’s skills shortage is an “urban legend” – and that if it does exist it is only because white management refuses to appoint ‘skilled’ black staff. (Click here to read "The skills shortage is no urban legend" and click here to read "Head deep in the sand, the ostrich asked “What skills shortage?”)
This prompted Flip Buys, general secretary of Trade Union solidarity to call for government to sack Manyi. Buys alleges that “Manyi fails to support his allegations with examples and statistics.” He goes on to say that “The Jipsa chairperson, Gwede Mantashe, recently pointed out that 30% of all technical positions at municipalities are vacant on an ongoing basis.” This fact alone cast aspersion on both of Manyi’s claims. “Does this mean that the approximately 80% of municipalities that are under ANC control also ignore trained black applicants, a trend that, according to Mr Manyi, is generally the case?’ Buys asked.
Now Deputy-President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has opened a new sub-category of denial on the matter. She heads up the ‘ignoring the real reasons for skills shortages’ sub committee by going on record at a recent parliamentary question and answer session as saying that South Africa’s economic growth was responsible for the increasing demand for skilled labour.
SA is a global player
IFP spokesperson, Dr Usha Roopnarain believes that “the danger lies in the [Deputy President’s] presumption that this makes [skills development] less of a crisis.” South Africa is not able to produce the number or quality of graduates to fill all the available positions in the private and public sectors. Statistics SA recently published a study noting that 9.1% of South African’s over the age of 20 have completed a degree. This compares with closer to 30% on an international basis.
In addition, government’s effort to boost the inflow of skilled workers by offering expedited entry for priority skills has been a dismal failure. The campaign attracted a trifling 2, 342 applications between 2003 and 2005.
The crux of the matter is not economic growth, but rather an education system which fails to produce sufficient graduates to address the shortage. Only 9.1% of people over 20 complete degrees or diplomas in South Africa, according to Statistics SA. This compares negatively with an international graduate output rate of around 30%.
Nothing to do with affirmative action either
The Deputy President makes one assertion with which we agree. She believes that the current skills shortage exists regardless of government’s affirmative action policy. While softer employment policies could make a slight dent in current skills shortages, the abolishment of affirmative action is unlikely to have a marked impact. “The perception that affirmative action has resulted in a huge loss of skills to the country is not supported by recent studies – published by reputable institutions – on this issue.”
What would make a real difference is for all South Africans to drop the race issue when debating skills development and focus on education instead.
Editor’s thoughts:
The South African economy is facing a massive skill shortage. Once acknowledged, government will soon realise there is no short-term solution to it. And the poor quality of many of the country’s graduates exacerbates the crisis. With full commitment from all stakeholders we could begin making progress in seven to 10 years. But with so many denials as to the existence, nature and extent of the problem this is unlikely to happen. What would you suggest we do to address the crisis? Send your comments to gareth@fanews.co.za – or simply submit them online by completing the submission box below.
