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Boosting productivity in SA labour market

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 09:56

Bongani Coka, Chief Executive Officer of Productivity SA, was addressing a meeting of the Select Committee on Labour and Public Enterprises about their strategic priorities going forward.

“Amongst immediate things to do is to appoint regional managers for Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Free State, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and North West. This move will see 60 percent of resources being devoted to these areas in terms of education and training, small enterprise development, productivity improvement projects as well as assessment centres.

The entity already exists in Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

Productivity SA is an entity of the Department of Labour that advises and implements programs, monitors solutions and evaluates progress in order to promote a more competitive South Africa.

Coka said their highlights dating from 2010/11 include having managed to save more than 15 000 jobs with the partial funding from Unemployment Insurance Fund, having expanded the Productivity Awards Programme into the Eastern Cape, partnered with key stakeholders in underserviced provinces, having the lowest labour turnover in the last 10 years and were also included in the recent African Union Agenda forum where Productivity agenda for Africa was approved.

Turning to workplace challenges faced by Productivity SA, he said the news focus is to increase the competiveness and therefore employment in the previously underdeveloped regions of the country and the improvement of the productivity and competitiveness of enterprises.

Meanwhile the entity’s CFO Bheki Dlamini said their financial status are more healthier as compared to the previous years as supported by the “unqualified audit” they received the last financial year. “For instance, we started this financial year on a deficit of just above R 1 million and we are now on a surplus of close to R10 million,” he said.

For his part, Nhleko said Productivity SA has been “a feather in the hat in the manner in which they are beginning to make in-roads in terms of developing partnerships with stakeholders.” Nhleko said Productivity SA should share their best practices including that of their financial management with other state entities.

Also present during the Select Committee hearing were the Director-General of Labour, Nkosinathi Nhleko, Productivity SA board chairman, Alwyn Nel, Deputy Director-General for Public Employment Services, Sam Morotoba as well as Deputy Director-General for Corporate Services, Lerato Molebatsi.