Department of Labour Annual Report 2006/07
NCOP Public Enterprises and Communication
17 October 2007
Meeting Summary
A summary of this committee meeting is not yet available.
Meeting report
LABOUR AND PUBLIC ENTERPRISES SELECT COMMITTEE
17 October 2007
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR ANNUAL REPORT 2006/07
Chairperson: Ms M Themba (ANC)
Documents handed out:
Department of Labour Annual Report 2006/07
Compensation Fund Annual Report 2006/07
[available later at www.labour.gov.za]
Department of Labour
Annual Report presentation
Audio recording of
meeting
SUMMARY
The Committee was briefed on the Department’s performance over the past
year as contained in its Annual Report. The briefing focused on the service
delivery and other achievements in its different programmes including the
Unemployment Insurance Fund, the Compensation Fund, Employment and Skills
Development Services, Human Resource Development, Labour Policy and Labour
Market Programmes. This was followed by a briefing on its 2006/07 expenditure
information and on the steps it had taken to rectify the qualified audit
reports that the Auditor General had given to the Department, the Sheltered
Employment Factories and the National Skills Fund.
MINUTES
Department of Labour presentation
Mr Les Kettledas, Deputy Director General (DDG): Labour Policy and Labour
Market Programmes, led the delegation from the
Department of Labour. He stated that the presentation covered reporting on the
implementation of the department’s programmes as well as the financial and
expenditure information for the period under review. Under service delivery, he
noted that the Department processed and paid 88% of Unemployment Insurance Fund
(UIF) claims within six weeks of receiving complete documentation, while 35% of
compensation fund claims were processed and paid within 90 days of receiving
complete documentation. Also Phase 1 of the Employment Services System (ESSA)
had been completed.
Employment and Skills Development Services
Mr Kettledas stated that with respect to skills development initiatives,
2,637 projects were identified and out of this, 2314 (88%) were supported.
Furthermore, under service delivery the following had been achieved by the
department:
- 118,153 unemployed persons had been trained and of this, 90,691 (77%) had
been placed with 36%receiving accredited training.
- 2,294 retrenched persons had been registered, while 696 of these were
counselled and 642 referred for training.
- 3,826 youths were trained and 1,462 of them placed in sustainable employment.
- Out of 180,767 workplaces inspected, 136,845 (76%) complied with
requirements.
- 97% of labour related complaints were settled within 90 days.
- 5,692 workplaces in high-risk industries were inspected in terms of Occupational
Health and Safety. There was a 23% decrease in reported incidents.
- The draft Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Policy and Bill had been
finalised in consultation with OHS Advisory Council.
Employment and Skills Development (ESDS) & Human Resource Development
(HRD)
Mr Kettledas stated that the total funds available was R2.2 billion, and of
this, R37.8 million was paid for the training of 20,000 unemployed ABET
learners. Also, R10 million was budgeted for the printing of guides and
training of career guidance counsellors, while R316 million was approved as
grants to benefit 10,900 learners on learnerships, apprenticeships and
internships. Other achievements in this area included:
- 1,148 undergraduates and 1,042 post-graduate students received bursaries
totalling R78.5 million.
- All 23 Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) signed Service Level
Agreements (SLAs) and 20 of them had performed satisfactorily against set
targets.
- 98,588 employed and unemployed learners were trained in programmes linked to
scarce skills of which 33,674 were completed.
- 3,287 youth were trained in new venture creation learnerships.
- Strategic projects worth R886 million were initiated to support nine
provinces over the next three years.
Labour Policy and Labour Market Programme
Mr Kettledas said that research samples to inform welfare sectoral
determination was expanded and timeframes for the project was extended into
2007/08 financial year. Also, an awareness raising strategy on the elimination
of child labour was conducted in all provinces, just as pilot programmes were
implemented to address worst forms of child labour including sexual
exploitation, trafficking and children used by adults to commit crime.
A new labour market information report had been published which covered issues
such as industrial action, employment/unemployment trends, labour market
review, state of skills etc. Participation at the ILO Conference and its
Governing Body was ensured. The Minister was appointed Chairperson of the
Governing Body for a year.
Administration
Mr Kettledas highlighted achievements to do with the Department’s
administration in the following units: communications, human resource
management, information technology and financial management.
Expenditure Information and qualified Auditor General’s Reports
The briefing looked in detail at the Auditor General’s qualified audit
reports for the Department, Sheltered Employment Factories and National Skills
Fund and explained what corrective measures had been put in place (see
document).
Discussion
The Chair commended the Department for the establishment of its gender
policy. She asked when it would be implemented and when copies of the policy
would be presented to the Committee for their input.
Ms Matlohadla (ANC) asked if there had been any growth in employment statistics
and whether there was an online registration for jobseekers. She also asked how
the Department registered its assets.
Ms Mchunu (ANC) asked where the registering of retrenched persons took place.
She also raised a concern as to the danger of non-trained and non-counselled
retrenched staff might resort to criminal activities if they are not attended
to.
In his response, Mr Kettledas stated that the Department was currently working
on a regulation that would require employers to register vacancies with the
Department. Not only vacancies but also opportunities for learning could be
registered. Currently, jobseekers registered at the various work centres
nationwide, and there was currently 40,000 jobseekers
on the Department’s database and about 6,000 existing opportunities. He pointed
out that there had been a recorded growth in employment as over 200.000 new
jobs were created during the year under review.
On the asset registration, Mr van der Merwe (Chief Financial Officer) stated
that the Department had employed a consultant to assist with the management of
the asset register. He added that the register had not been linked to any
office or location yet.
On the gender policy issue, Ms M Xaba (DDG: Corporate Services) stated that the
Department was currently undertaking a consultative process with other
stakeholders. They were working with other agencies and departments to deal
with the problems of child trafficking, especially considering the build-up to
the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
The Chair asked if the Department was also consulting at the provincial level.
Ms Xaba responded that the Department was not consulting at the provincial
level. She however stated that such consultation was necessary.
The Chair thanked the delegation for the report and presentation and repeated
her request that the gender policy be presented to the Committee for their
input.
The meeting was adjourned.
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