Impact of Skills Development Legislation

The South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA)

The SA Qualifications Act of 1995 established the South African Qualifications Authority and a National Qualification Framework to regulate Education, Training and Skills Development in South Africa.

SAQA is a body appointed by the Ministers of Education and Labour. The functions of the Authority are essentially twofold:
To oversee the development of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF), by formulating and publishing policies and criteria for the registration and accreditation of bodies responsible for establishing education and training standards or qualifications.
To oversee the implementation of the NQF by ensuring the registration, accreditation and assignment of functions to the bodies referred to above, as well as the registration of national standards and qualifications on the framework.

Standards Generating Bodies were established, responsible for generating standards and qualifications and recommending them to Consultative Panels.

The Education and Training Quality Assurance (ETQA) regulations were also published in 1998 and provided for the accreditation of Education and Training Quality Assurance bodies. These bodies are responsible for accrediting providers of education and training standards and qualifications registered on the NQF, monitoring provision, evaluating assessment and facilitating moderation across providers, and registering assessors.

Skills Development and Employment Equity Act

Employers employ Employees to make the effective and profitable operation of the organization or company possible. Employees offer their person and skills to the employer for this purpose, and expect a fair and market-related reward for their efforts. The entire process is governed by a framework of government laws and regulations, aimed at preventing injustices and ensuring future prosperity for the individuals, the organization, and the country. One of the primary laws governing human resource practices is The Skills Development and Employment Equity Act (EEA), which mandates employers to develop the relevant skills of their employees, within the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) and in compliance with standards set by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA). An essential element in any Skills Development programme is assessment, to determine what development is required and to ensure that training is conducted effectively.

According to the Skills Development Act (1998) and the Skills Development Levies Act (1999), employers are mandated to pay 1% of their payroll towards annual skills levies. Employers can recover this levy if they can prove that they have assessed and trained employees during the year. All employers are legally obliged to appoint a SDF (Skills Development Facilitator), to complete and submit a Workplace Skills Plan (WSP), and to report on training in an Annual Training Report (ATR)
A Major Challenge for Every Human Resource Manager is to comply with the Employment Equity Act (EEA) requirements, which resulted in 2007 in more than 66 companies being fined by the Department of Labour between R100,000 to R900,000 each for non-compliance.

Non compliance with the EEA is:

Not submitting a plan yearly
Not preparing an Individual Development Plan for each employee (IDP)
Not implementing the IDP
Not appointing a Senior Manager to take responsibility for the EEA project

These are the main offences for which the 66 companies employing more than 50 employees were fined.

Managers have to recognise the prior learning (RPL) of employees in order to place them in on-the-job or job relevant training programmes. Refunds of mandatory skills levies are claimed by the companies from the SETAs for submission of WSPs and ATRs. Furthermore, discretionary grants can be claimed for the registration and provision of Learnerships and Skills Programmes to employees.

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