Top union leader heads up Jipsa working group
08-MAR-06
Plans for Jipsa were announced by President Mbeki in his 2006 State of the Nation address. The project falls under the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (Asgisa) which is being driven by Deputy President Mlambo-Ngcuka..
The Jipsa initiative is intended to bring together social partners to act on immediate and medium-term skills needs in the economy, particularly high-level and artisan skills.
Cabinet also approved the composition of the Jipsa Task Team which will be chaired by the Deputy President and made up of senior representatives of government, labour, business, youth, women, academic institutions, science councils and State-Owned Enterprises. It has been reported in the media that Bobby Godsell, CEO of Anglogold Ashanti will also play a leading role.
The National Business Initiative (NBI) will constitute a secretariat for the initiative and policy head Glen Fisher driving activities.
The cabinet also agreed that the needs of people with disabilities needed to be integrated into Jipsa activities.
Much work has already been done on planning for Jipsa including a business plan on the activities to be performed over the next 18 months to ensure that the skills deficit is addressed.
Raisibe Morathi, economic advisor to the Deputy President, told the press this week that a working plan for Jipsa should be released before the end of the month. Morathi said that activities that the initiative might propose to address the skills shortage included special training programmes, brining retirees back into the workforce and recruiting South Africans now living abroad.
Seta CEOs were introduced to the Jipsa plans at a briefing with Morathi this week.
