An evaluation of the extent to which the National Skills Development Strategy has been implemented - the case of AngloGold Limited

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:The research project, conducted at AngloGold Limited, a Johannesburg basedinternational mining company, was an evaluation of the extent to which the company hadi'hlplemented the National Skills Development Strategy. It was prompted by the generalperception that companies were lagging behind in the implementation of this strategy.The research problem therefore was: To what extent is AngloGold Limited progressingor lagging behind in the implementation of the National Skills Development Strategy?As the project sought to evaluate implementation progress, an evaluation researchdesign was used. Since persons with in-depth knowledge of the implementation of theNational Skills Development Strategy were available at AngloGold Limited, a purposivesampling method was used. Two techniques were used to gather information: individualsemistructured interviews were conducted with AngloGold Limited personnel and unionmembers, and an unstructured in-depth interview with a representative of the MiningQualifications Authority. Documents of AngloGold Limited and of the MiningQualifications Authority were also analysed, and a general review of pertinent literaturewas conducted.The literature traces the history of formal education and training in South Africa back to1922, when the Apprenticeship Act (Act No. 26 of 1922) was enacted. Notable in thehistory of training in South Africa prior to the current dispensation of the National SkillsDevelopment Strategy was the Manpower Training Act (Act No. 56 of 1981.Notwithstanding its shortcomings, this Act provided a platform from which the currentlegislative framework for human resource education and training and subsequently theNational Skills Development Strategy evolved. The National Skills DevelopmentStrategy, which is the government's education and training reform agenda, is onecomponent of the all-encompassing Human Resources Development Strategy. Thisagenda is not modelled on the experience of any particular country; however, there isevidence that its conceptualisation was influenced to some extent by internationalpractices. The National Skills Development Strategy is underpinned by three pieces of legislation,the South African Qualification Act (Act No. 58 of 1995), the Skills Development Act (ActNo. 97 of 1998) and the Skills Development Levies Act (Act No.9 of 1999). TheEmployment Equity Act and the Further Education and Development Act also have abearing on the National Skills Development Strategy. The Skills Development Actprescribes what is expected of workplaces/companies in the implementation of theNational Skills Development Strategy. Workplaces play their part in the implementationof this strategy within the parameters of the implementation process at the macro level.At this level, the implementation process is progressing fairly well.The evaluation of the implementation of skills development at AngloGold Limited againstwhat is expected of workplaces placed it among companies that are progressing well inthe implementation of the National Skills Development Strategy. The company has so farcomplied with most of the implementation requirements, except for the strategy forcompany-wide communication of the National Skills Development Strategy process. Thecompany needs to develop an effective and efficient information dissemination strategyto this end. Moreover, the company needs to move beyond reporting on training in termsof numbers to providing information on the actual skills acquired. Learnerships also needto be extended beyond the engineering discipline.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University