Pretoria – With South Africa on a quest to create jobs and grow its economy, the KwaZulu-Natal government has taken up the challenge of upskilling its population and contributing towards national growth.
The provincial government has committed to work with the Human Resource Development Council -- which was launched on Wednesday -- to start a skills revolution, which it says will eventually result in the province becoming the ‘skills capital’ of South Africa.
The Provincial Growth and Development Plan has set an ambitious target of creating 2.1 million jobs by 2030, which can only be achieved through a skilled population.
This provincial target is in line with the National Development Plan (NDP), which is the blueprint of reducing inequality and eradicating poverty in South Africa by the year 2030.
Speaking at the launch of the council, KZN Premier Senzo Mchunu said in future, they want millions of people, especially the youth, to be the drivers of job creation in various sectors of the economy.
“We have a vision of ensuring that KZN becomes a prosperous province with a healthy, secure and skilled population, acting as a gateway to Africa and the world. We can only achieve this vision if we aggressively embark on a skills revolution,” he said.
Premier Mchunu said the responsibility of the council would be to guide government and the province in producing a highly skilled workforce that will improve the global socio-economic status of KZN.
“The council will pay a strong focus on scarce skills such as engineering, science and technology, accounting, information technology, agriculture, health and social services. There are other key sectors for job creation such as the green economy,” said the Premier.
The goal of the Provincial Growth and Development Plan is to ensure that the human resource capacity is adequate, relevant and responsive to the growth and development needs of KwaZulu-Natal.
It identifies the improvement of early childhood development, primary and secondary education as crucial to producing people with the relevant knowledge, skills and attitudes, who can contribute to growth and development.
The plan also identifies the alignment of skills to economic growth, so that there are enough skills to service the economic growth and development needs of the province.
Premier Mchunu said the province will be doing more to tap into the potential of its marine resources. South Africa has recently unveiled its Operation Phakisa, which is expected to place marine resources at the centre of the economy.
Premier Mchunu said the Human Resource Development Council must work with this in mind.
“Importantly, the province has a long coastline, two big ports in Durban and Richards Bay, many rivers and dams. As a result, there are career opportunities in the maritime industry both at the harbours, on ships and in ship building.
“The industry needs artisans, shipbuilders, sailors and boat captains,” he said. - SAnews.gov.za
