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Final Draft Annual Update: 2016-2021
DATE: 30 September 2015
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FOREWORD
It is with pleasure that the Chemical Sector Education and Training Authority (CHIETA) Board, sub-mits the Sector Skills Plan (SSP) update for the Chemical Sector for the period 2014 to 2019 to the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), and the update for 2016-2021. The Sector Skills Plan has been prepared in accordance with the National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS) III for the period 2011 to 2016, as well as the DHET requirements for Sector Skills Plans. Feedback re-ceived from the DHET on the draft SSP update submitted on 15 June 2015 has been taken into ac-count in the development of this report. In addition, current debates around skills development, in-cluding sector specific and broader national discussions around the growth and development of the economy have also been considered. Specific consideration was given to the National Development Plan (NDP), which provides the guiding principles for further development of the country, including skills development. The White Paper for Post School Education and Training gives effect to some of the principles outlined in the NDP and provides a roadmap for the further development of the edu-cation and training and skills development system. This SSP Update has been developed as guided by the requirements of the recently published Sector Skills Plan Framework and Requirements 2011-2016 (Feb 2015). The SETA Grant Regulations (3 December 2012) have also been factored into this SSP update.
The NDP and The Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) are the two key mechanisms through which Government intends to stimulate economic growth and development. The IPAP focuses on key as-pects of the Chemical Sector for which the CHIETA has a responsibility to support economic devel-opment plans with corresponding skills development initiatives. The skills needs resulting from IPAP interventions are factored into the CHIETA’s planning. The National Development Plan emphasises the importance of science and technology as the keys to development. Innovation is the most im-portant driver of the kind of technology-based growth that is associated with higher living standards. The Chemical Sector is at the forefront of the drive towards an ‘innovation economy’ and the im-provement of the skills of our workforce is imperative for the achievement of this.
Addressing the energy crisis faced by the country is at the forefront of CHIETA’s skills priorities and plans. The energy, oil, and gas subsector in the CHIETA is one of the biggest, and partnerships with relevant stakeholders in this regard are being expanded and new ones are being fostered to ensure a sustainable energy situation for the country and to see to an energy mix supportive of economic growth. The main purpose of this SSP update is to guide and inform skills development initiatives in the sector. It is the result of not only a thorough research process, but also of extensive stakeholder consultation. Through the various consultative processes undertaken in the development of this up-date, the CHIETA stakeholders have taken ownership of this plan and now all stakeholders are urged to work together over the next five years to address the skills development priorities and to achieve the goals and objectives set out in this SSP. The SSP will be revised and updated on an annual basis and will be aligned to government policies and growth plans, as these become operational.
Ms Nolitha Fakude
Chairperson
Chemical Industries Sector Education and Training Authority
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BOARD ENDORSEMENT
This is the Sector Skills Plan update prepared by the Chemicals Sector Education and Train-ing Authority for the Chemical Sector (2016 – 2021). It is submitted to the Minister of Higher Education and Training in compliance with the requirements of the Skills Development Act of 1998 as amended. The Sector Skills Plan update is hereby approved by the CHIETA Ac-counting Authority (Governing Board).
Endorsed by For Title Signature Date
Ms Kedibone Moroane
CHIETA Executive Manager: Research and Skills Planning
Ms Ayesha Itzkin
CHIETA
Acting Chief Execu-tive Officer
Mr Mosehle Mampho
On behalf of the CHIETA Accounting Authority (Govern-ing Board), as duly authorised.
Governance and Strategy Committee Chairperson
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ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
ABET Adult Basic Education and Training
AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
API Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient
AQP Assessment Quality Partners
ARV Antiretroviral
ATR Annual Training Report
BBBEE Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment
CAIA Chemical and Allied Industries' Association
CEE Commission for Employment Equity
CHIETA Chemical Industries Sector Education and Training Authority
CPD Continuing Professional Development
CTL Coal-to-Liquid Technology
DBE Department of Basic Education
DHET Department of Higher Education and Training
DEA Department of Environmental Affairs
DME Department of Minerals and Energy
DMR Department of Mineral Resources
DoE Department of Energy
DoH Department of Health
DoL Department of Labour
DQP Development Quality Partners
DST Department of Science and Technology
DTTC Decentralised Trade Test Centre
dti Department of Trade and Industry
EAP Economically Active Population
EE Employment Equity
EU European Union
FET Further Education and Training
FETC Further Education and Training Certificate
FLC Foundational Learning Competency
FMCG Fast Moving Consumer Goods
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GET General Education and Training
GTL Gas-to-Liquid Technology
HDI Historically Disadvantaged Individuals
HEI Higher Education Institution
HEMIS Higher Education Management Information System
HET Higher Education and Training
HETC Higher Education and Training Certificate
HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus
HRDS Human Resource and Development Strategy
IDC Industrial Development Council
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IPAP Industrial Policy Action Plan
IRP Integrated Resource Plan
ISOE Institute of Sectoral or Occupational Excellence
LFC Liquid Fuels Charter
MTSF Medium Term Strategic Framework
NAMB National Artisan Moderator Body
NADSC National Artisan Development Support Centre
NSFAS National Student Financial Aid Scheme
Nedlac National Economic Development and Labour Council
NC(V) National Certificate (Vocational)
NDP National Development Plan
NGP New Growth Path
NIPF National Industrial Policy Framework
NQF National Qualifications Framework
NSC National Senior Certificate
NSDS National Skills Development Strategy
OFO Organizing Framework of Occupations
PESTEL Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legislative
PIC Public Investment Corporation
PIVOTAL Professional, Vocational, Technical and Academic Learning
PG Dip/Cert Post Graduate Diploma / Certificate
QCTO Quality Council for Trades and Occupations
QLFS Quarterly Labour Force Survey
R&D Research and Development
RPL Recognition of Prior Learning
SAPIA South African Petroleum Industry Association
SAQA South African Qualifications Authority
SARB South African Reserve Bank
SARS South African Revenue Services
SATN South African Technology Network.
SDA Skills Development Act
SET Science, Engineering and Technology
SETA Sector Education and Training Authority
SIC Standard Industrial Classification
SIP Special Infrastructure Project
SMME Small, medium-sized, and micro-enterprises
SSP Sector Skills Plan
StatsSA Statistics South Africa
UG Dip/Cert Under Graduate Diploma / Certificate
UIF Unemployment Insurance Fund
UoT University of Technology
YEA Youth Employment Accord
WSP Workplace Skills Plan
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The South African Chemical Sector plays a critical role in the South African economy. Not only does it contribute significantly to GDP, but it also produces inputs that are used in al-most all other economic sectors. The sector contracted during the 2008/2009 recession and although it recovered in the subsequent three years, growth has again been stifled some-what in 2013 and 2014. The sector is highly dependent on imports, which makes it vulnera-ble to changes in world economic growth, competition from fast-growing chemical produc-ers such as China and exchange rate fluctuations.
At this stage the economic outlook for the next few years is dampened because of an uncer-tain regulatory environment. The Petroleum subsector is in particular affected by uncertain-ty regarding legislation while the low crude oil prices are putting companies in this subsec-tor under financial pressure. Despite this situation the growth potential of the sector in South and Southern Africa is undisputed. Skills development needs to continue in order to build the capacity to unlock the potential once the major stumbling blocks are out of the way.
The Chemical Sector employs approximately 160 000 people and small increases in em-ployment were seen in the last two years. This reflects a small growth (rather than a nega-tive growth or stagnation) the slow growth in employment corresponds with the slow eco-nomic growth seen in the sector in the last two years.
The Chemical Sector is dependent on high-level professional and technical skills which are globally in short supply. The dependence of the sector on these skills makes it more suscep-tible to skills shortages because of the long lead-times in the training of high-level and spe-cialised skills. There are a myriad of factors that impact on the performance of the Chemical Sector and on the demand for skills in the sector. Most of these factors tend to increase the demand for high-level and specialised skills.
In terms of equity, White and Indian people are relatively over-represented in the Chemical Sector in terms of the economically active population targets of the Employment Equity Act. African women are particularly under-represented. That means that transformation remains an important objective for the sector.
The sector is highly regulated and organisations have to contend with a host of local (and in many cases international) legislative and regulatory requirements. Regulations are also ev-er-changing and organisations have to keep up and remain compliant. The burden of regula-tory compliance normally falls on the shoulders of managers and certain professionals.
The South African Government is actively involved in the Chemical Sector. Through IPAP it attempts to stimulate economic and employment growth in some of the subsectors. It is also a player in the sector through various state-owned enterprises. If all the government initiatives bear fruit, the sector will certainly experience growth in employment. However, the actual effect of Government initiatives as well as new developments such as the mooted shale gas exploration will only become evident in the next few years. At the same time these initiatives and developments are dependent on the availability of skills and the CHIETA, to-
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gether with other role players need to ensure a steady flow of people with the right skills to take up positions in new enterprises.
This SSP identifies four issues that are pertinent in the sector and that underpin skills plan-ning for the period. The first is the need for more robust and refined skills information and planning system. The second is the need for long-term planning for the provision of profes-sionals and scientists with specialised skills needed for the sector. The capacity of the TVET colleges and quality and relevance of their educational offerings is a third issue that the sec-tor needs to contend with. The last issue is RPL and the availability of articulation pathways for qualifications between various levels at public institutions. The transformation of the Chemical Sector is a transversal theme that cuts across all the issues that this sector is grap-pling with, just as other sectors are.
Based on the skills needs of the Chemical Sector as reflected in the analysis presented in this
SSP, the CHIETA has set itself five strategic objectives for the planning period:
Priority 1: Enhancing the skills of the existing workforce of the Chemical Sector
Priority 2: Supporting skills development of new entrants to the Chemical Sector
Priority 3: Responding to changing sectoral needs and priorities
Priority 4: Strengthening and expanding strategic partnerships to maximise sustainability
and impact of skills development interventions
Priority 5: Support national imperatives (including transformation) in relation to skills devel-opment, with emphasis on the Chemical Sector
This report concludes with key priority action reported against the five strategic objectives for the planning period based on the analysis from the four chapters of the document.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD ............................................................................................................. i BOARD ENDORSEMENT .......................................................................................... ii ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................... iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................ v
LIST OF TABLES....................................................................................................... ix
LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................... ix
1. SECTOR PROFILE .............................................................................................. 1
1.1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 1
1.2 SCOPE OF COVERAGE ............................................................................................ 1
1.2.1 SIC Codes, Subsectors and Chambers ....................................................................... 1
1.2.2 Overview of subsectors ............................................................................................. 2
1.3 KEY ROLE PLAYERS ............................................................................................... 5
1.3.1 Employer and industry organisations ....................................................................... 5
1.3.2 Employee organisations ............................................................................................ 5
1.3.3 Government departments involved with the sector ................................................ 6
1.4 ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE .................................................................................. 6
1.4.1 Imports and exports ................................................................................................ 7
1.4.2 Growth in gross value added .................................................................................. 7
1.4.3 Factors that influence the economic performance of the sector ............................ 8
1.4.4 The current economic outlook ............................................................................... 11
1.5 LABOUR MARKET PROFILE ................................................................................ 14
1.5.1 Employment in the sector ....................................................................................... 14
1.5.2 Provincial distribution of employees ...................................................................... 15
1.5.3 Educational qualifications of employees ................................................................ 16
1.5.4 Occupational distribution of employees ................................................................ 16
1.5.5 Age, population group and gender distribution of employees .............................. 17
1.5.6 People with disabilities ........................................................................................... 18
1.6 CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................................................... 19
2. KEY SKILLS ISSUES .......................................................................................... 20
2.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 20
2.2 CHANGE DRIVERS ................................................................................................ 20
2.2.1 Regulatory environment ......................................................................................... 20
2.2.2 Global integration ................................................................................................... 20
2.2.3 Technological development and innovation .......................................................... 21
2.2.4 Health and safety .................................................................................................... 21
2.2.5 Environmental legislation and regulations ............................................................. 22
2.2.6 Transformation imperatives ................................................................................... 22
2.2.7 Offshore operations ................................................................................................ 23
2.3 NATIONAL STRATEGIES AND PLANS ................................................................ 23
2.3.1 IPAP II ...................................................................................................................... 23
2.3.2 Operation Phakisa ................................................................................................... 24
2.3.3 The National Infrastructure Plan and Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPS) ............ 25
2.3.4 Strategies aimed at energy provision ..................................................................... 26
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2.3.5 The White Paper for Post School Education And Training ..................................... 26
2.4 IMPLICATIONS FOR SKILLS PLANNING IN THE CHEMICAL SECTOR ............. 27
2.4.1 The need for a more robust and refined skills information and planning system . 27
2.4.2 The provision of professionals and scientists ......................................................... 28
2.4.3 Improvement of the quality of the TVET college sector ......................................... 28
2.4.4 Recognition of prior learning (RPL) and articulation between qualifications ........ 29
2.5 CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................................................... 29
3. THE EXTENT OF SKILLS MISMATCHES ............................................................. 30
3.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 30
3.2 EXTENT AND NATURE OF DEMAND .................................................................. 30
3.2.1 Occupational employment trends .......................................................................... 30
3.2.2 Hard-to-fill vacancies .............................................................................................. 32
3.2.3 Wage trends ............................................................................................................ 33
3.2.4 Conditions of employment ..................................................................................... 33
3.2.5 The effect of migration on the sector ..................................................................... 34
3.3 EXTENT AND NATURE OF SUPPLY .................................................................... 34
3.3.1 Unemployed ............................................................................................................ 34
3.3.2 Current employees ................................................................................................. 34
3.3.3 General education and training .............................................................................. 35
3.3.4 Higher education and training ................................................................................ 37
3.3.5 Workplace learning ................................................................................................. 39
3.3.6 Supply problems experienced in the sector ........................................................... 41
3.4 IDENTIFICATION OF SCARCE SKILLS AND SKILLS GAPS ................................ 43
3.4.1 Scarce skills ............................................................................................................. 43
3.4.2 Skills gaps (general and cross-cutting skills needs)................................................. 48
3.4.3 The impact of shortages on firms ........................................................................... 50
3.5 CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................................................... 51
4. SECTOR PARTNERSHIPS ................................................................................. 52
4.1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 52
4.2 THE CHIETA PARTNERSHIP MODEL ....................................................................... 52
4.3 EXISTING PARTNERSHIPS ....................................................................................... 52
4.3.1 The state of existing partnerships in the CHIETA ................................................... 52
4.3.2 Industry Institution Partnership .............................................................................. 53
4.3.3 Linkages with other SETAs ...................................................................................... 54
4.3.4 Outputs of partnerships .......................................................................................... 55
4.3.5 Stakeholder participation in skills planning ............................................................ 56
4.4 NEW PARTNERSHIPS .............................................................................................. 57
4.4.1 Partnerships with new University and TVET College .............................................. 57
4.4.2 Provincial and local government partnerships ....................................................... 57
4.4.3 Operation Phakisa ................................................................................................... 58
4.4.4 Partnership with the Department of Energy and NECSA ....................................... 58
4.5 CONCLUSIONS........................................................................................................ 58
5. SKILLS PRIORITY ACTIONS .............................................................................. 59
5.1 KEY FINDINGS OF THIS SSP .................................................................................... 59
5.2 SKILLS PRIORITIES FOR THE SECTOR ...................................................................... 60
5.3 CONCLUSIONS........................................................................................................ 64
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1-1 Industrial coverage, subsectors and chambers of the Chemicals Sector .................. 2
Table 1-2 The Chemicals Sector’s contribution to the South African economy: 2014 .............. 7
Table 1-3 Projected growth in gross value added: 2015 to 2019 ............................................ 11
Table 1-4 Employment per subsector: 2012-2015 .................................................................. 15
Table 1-5 Provincial distribution of employees: 2012 - 2015 .................................................. 15
Table 1-6 Occupational composition of the Chemical Sector: 2012 – 2015 ........................... 16
Table 1-7 Age distribution of workers in the Chemical Sector: 2012 – 2015 .......................... 17
Table 1-8 Disabled workers according to population group, gender and age: 2012-2015 ..... 18
Table 3-1 Main occupations in each occupational group: 2015 .............................................. 31
Table 3-2 “Hard-to-fill” vacancies reported by employers: 2012 - 2015 ................................. 33
Table 3-3 Examination results in Engineering at TVET colleges: 2013 .................................... 36
Table 3-4 Examination results of selected National Certificate (Vocational) courses at TVET colleges: 2013 .......................................................................................................................... 37
Table 3-5 Number of national diplomas awarded in selected engineering fields: 2010-201337
Table 3-6 First degrees awarded in selected engineering fields: 2010 - 2013 ........................ 38
Table 3-7 Number of diplomas and first degrees awarded in Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Science: 2001-2013 .................................................................................................................. 38
Table 3-8 Number of national diplomas and first degrees awarded in selected fields in Life Sciences: 2010 - 2013............................................................................................................... 38
Table 3-9 Number of learners enrolled on and completed apprenticeships: 2010/11 to 2013/14 .................................................................................................................................... 40
Table 3-10 List of scarce skills in the Chemical Sector: 2015 ................................................... 45
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1-1 Imports and Exports of the Chemical Sector 2004 - 2014 ........................................ 7
Figure 1-2 Change in Gross Value Added (GVA) in the Chemical Sector 2004 - 2014 ............... 8
Figure 1-3 Subsectoral distribution of levy-paying organisations and levy-amounts paid: 2014/2015 ................................................................................................................................ 13
Figure 1-4 Provincial distribution of levy-paying organisations 2014/2015 ; .......................... 13
Figure 1-5 Estimate of total employment in the Chemical Sector: 2012-2015 ....................... 14
Figure 1-6 Educational qualifications of employees: 2012 – 2015 .......................................... 16
Figure 1-7 Population group composition of employees in the Chemical Sector: 2012 – 2015.................................................................................................................................................. 17
Figure 1-8 Gender composition of employees in the Chemical Sector:2012 – 2015 .............. 18
Figure 3-1 Skills composition of the Chemical Sector: 1970 to 2014 ...................................... 31
Figure 3-2 Average real remuneration per employee in the Chemical Sector and in the South African Economy: 2004 – 2014 ................................................................................................ 33
Figure 3-3 Components of the skills development system ..................................................... 35
Figure 3-4 Learnership enrolments and achievements: 2009/10 to 2013/14 ........................ 39
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1. SECTOR PROFILE
1.1 INTRODUCTION
The sector profile starts with the coverage of the Chemical Sector and the key role players involved in the sector’s activities. This profile includes the contribution of the Chemical Sec-tor to the South African economy and a short overview of the current economic perfor-mance of the Chemical Sector. The chapter also provides an overview of the employers in the Chemical Sector and its subsectors, including the size of employer businesses and their geographic distribution.
The labour market profile includes information on trends in employment in the Chemical Sector, employees’ age, race and gender distribution and information on disabled employ-ees. The labour market profile provides insight into the sub-sectors in which people work within the Chemical Sector and how employment in the sector and sub-sectors has changed over the last few years. CHIETA has been working over the last 4 years to obtain credible workforce data from firms, as also reflected on firm databases available from, inter alia, the firm’s HR Departments.
1.2 SCOPE OF COVERAGE
1.2.1 SIC Codes, Subsectors and Chambers
The Chemical Sector, as determined by the skills development legislation, consists mainly of companies engaged in manufacturing activities (SIC Major Division 3). Also included are companies in Agriculture, Fishing and Forestry aligned to CHIETA’s Fertilisers subsector (SIC Major Division 1); Electricity Gas and Power Supply addressing the Petroleum, Energy Oil and Gas subsector (SIC Major Division 4); Wholesale and Retail Trade (SIC Major Division 6); and Financial Intermediation, Insurance, Real Estate and Business Services (SIC Major Divi-sion 8).
The CHIETA has grouped the SIC Codes into nine subsectors and the subsectors into five chambers comprising representatives from CHIETA’s stakeholders. The chambers form part of the organisational structure of the SETA and much of the work pertaining to skills plan-ning takes place in the respective chambers. Table 1-1 shows the SIC codes allocated to the sector, the SIC codes that are combined to form subsectors and the combinations of subsec-tors that make up the five chambers. It should be noted that the subsectors included in the CHIETA scope of coverage do not fully correspond with the dti delineation of the Chemical Sector. Direct comparisons are therefore not always possible.
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Table 1-1 Industrial coverage, subsectors and chambers of the Chemicals Sector
SIC Code
Scope of Coverage/Description Subsector Chamber
33410 Manufacture of basic chemicals, except fertilisers and nitrogen compounds
Base Chemi-cals
Petroleum and Base Chemicals
33430 Manufacture of plastics in primary form and of syn-thetic rubber
34000 Manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products
41210 Manufacture of industrial gases in compressed, lique-fied or solid forms
33100 Manufacture of coke oven products
Petroleum 33200 Petroleum refineries/synthesisers
61410 Wholesale trade in solid, liquid and gaseous fuels and related products
87140 Industrial research, e.g. fuel research
33501 Chemically-based general household and personal care products Fast Moving
Consumer Goods
Fast Moving Consumer Goods and Pharmaceu-ticals
33541 Manufacture of soap and other cleaning compounds
33543 Manufacture of beauty products
33530 Manufacture of pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemicals and botanical products
Pharmaceu-ticals
33592 Manufacture of explosives and pyrotechnic products Explosives
Explosives and Fertilisers
11600 Production of organic fertiliser
Fertilisers 33420 Manufacture of fertilizers and nitrogen compounds
33421 Manufacture raw materials and chemical compounds used in agriculture
33502 Manufacture, sale and/or distribution of diversified speciality chemicals for industrial use Speciality
Chemicals Speciality Chem-icals and Surface Coatings
36400 Manufacture of accumulators, primary cells and pri-mary batteries
33520 Manufacture of paints, varnishes and similar coatings, printing ink and mastics
Surface Coatings
39005 Powder coating
34110 Manufacture of glass and glass products
Glass Glass 34112
Manufacture of glass containers; glass kitchenware and tableware; scientific and laboratory glassware, clock and watch glasses and other glass products
1.2.2 Overview of subsectors
Base Chemicals 1.2.2.1
The Base Chemicals subsector includes organisations involved in the production of petro-chemicals, derivatives and basic inorganics. Base chemicals act as essential starting products for intermediates, agrochemicals, polymers, coatings and a variety of other products. Base chemical products are sold to the chemical industry itself or to other industries (ABB South Africa, 2015).
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Petroleum 1.2.2.2
The Petroleum subsector includes upstream recovery from the earth’s resources, midstream conversion into a number of core elements and downstream commercial applications. The economic activity in the subsector includes the exploration of oil and gas, refining of crude oil, gas to liquid (GTL) refining, storage and distribution, and wholesaling. Industrial re-search, and specifically fuel research, is also included in this subsector. South Africa is a world leader in coal-based synthesis and gas-to-liquid technologies and has a unique and highly developed synthetic fuels industry that uses coal and gas as feedstock. The two synfuel facilities in the country, which are owned by Sasol and by PetroSA, are in-cluded in the Petroleum subsector.
The subsector furthermore includes the manufacturing of coke and coke by-products, in-cluding coke oven gas, which is produced by heating, in the absence of air, of suitable grades of coal. The process further includes the processing of coke oven gas to remove tar, ammonia, phenol, naphthalene, light oil and sulphur before the gas is used as fuel for heat-ing the ovens (Pollution Prevention and Abatement Handbook, 1998).
In terms of wholesaling, the main players in the South African industry operate storage ter-minals and distribution facilities throughout the country.
Fast Moving Consumer Goods 1.2.2.3
The term ‘Fast Moving Consumer Goods’ (FMCG) is used as the name of one of the Chemical Sector’s subsectors. However the FMCG sector in South Africa comprises a range of product categories, a few of which are not all applicable to the CHIETA. FMCG is defined as products that are sold quickly and that are commonly replaced or used up over a relatively short pe-riod. FMCG products are generally sold at supermarkets and have a high customer demand. The main products of the FMCG sector include personal care products (such as oral care, hair care, skin care, soaps, cosmetics, toiletries, deodorants, perfumes and shoe care), household care products (such as fabric cleaners, household cleaners, insecticides, metal polish and furniture polish), and food and beverage products (such as soft drinks, cereals, bakery products, snack food, tea, coffee, processed fruits, vegetables and meat, dairy prod-ucts, bottled water, flour and sugar).
In the CHIETA the FMCG subsector consists of all consumer chemicals, such as soaps and cleaning chemicals, as well as cosmetics and toiletries. Industrial cleaning chemicals, which are regarded as speciality chemicals, are excluded.
Pharmaceuticals 1.2.2.4
The Pharmaceutical Subsector comprises companies involved in the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemicals and botanical products. This includes the manufactur-ing of medicinally active substances; processing of blood; manufacture of medicament (anti-sera and other blood fractions, vaccines and diverse medicaments, including homeopathic preparations); manufacture of medical diagnostic preparations; manufacture of radioactive in-vivo diagnostic substances; manufacture of biotech pharmaceuticals. The manufacturing and distribution of pharmaceutical products are strictly controlled. This subsector is also unique in the sense that Government controls the major share of the end-use market, i.e. the public health system.
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Explosives 1.2.2.5
The Explosives Subsector comprises the activities surrounding the manufacture and distribu-tion of explosives. The key activities in this subsector include the designing of explosives, the manufacturing of explosive materials and the specialised transportation required to distrib-ute the products. Explosives are manufactured for use in mining and civil construction as well as for military use.
Fertilisers 1.2.2.6
According to the International Fertiliser Industry Association (2015) fertilisers include any solid, liquid or gas substances containing plant nutrients which is applied to the soil, directly to plants or added to fluid mixtures to maintain soil fertility, improve crop development, crop yields and crop quality. Fertilisers supplement the natural soil nutrient supply and build up soil fertility in order for agriculture activities to satisfy the demand of crops. The Fertilisers Subsector encompasses both major forms of fertilisers namely organic and mineral/manufactured fertilisers.
Speciality Chemicals 1.2.2.7
Speciality chemicals are chemicals that serve specific purposes. The Speciality Chemicals subsector produces more than 50 categories of speciality chemicals, including textile dyes and chemicals, leather dyes and chemicals, pharmaceutical intermediates, intermediates for pesticides and herbicides, pigments, additives, electronic chemicals, adhesives, plastics, paints and water treatment chemicals.
Surface Coatings 1.2.2.8
Surface coating includes any mixture of film-forming materials plus pigments, solvents and other additives, which yield a thin film that is functional and often decorative when applied to a surface and dried. Surface coatings include paints, drying oils and varnishes, synthetic clear coatings and other products with the primary function of protecting the surface of an object from the environment. These products can also enhance the aesthetic appeal of an object by emphasising its surface features or even by concealing them from view (Encyclo-paedia Britannica, 2015).
Glass 1.2.2.9
The Glass Subsector involves the manufacture of raw glass by melting various raw materials (e.g. soda ash, sand), which is converted into products. The Glass subsector is divided into four main sub-industries (Glass Industry Employer’s Association, 2010: 2):
Glass manufacturing (mass production),
Glass processing and distribution,
Fibreglass manufacturing, and
Industrial mineral and manual glass production.
There are various types of glass which are used to manufacture a variety of products for use in various other sectors of the economy, such as container glass, flat glass, domestic glass, glass wool fibre, reinforcement fibres, optic fibre, special glass and glass frits.
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1.3 KEY ROLE PLAYERS
Key role players include employer and industry organisations, labour unions, and profes-sional bodies. Role players are engaged and brought together in the five chambers (Table 1-1) in order to discuss and address skills issues. A variety of government departments also form part of the key role players in the Chemical Sector.
1.3.1 Employer and industry organisations
The following employer associations are active in the Chemical Sector and are parties to the National Bargaining Council for the Chemical Industry:
• Explosives Industry Employers’ Association • Fertilizer Industry Employers’ Association • Glass Industry Employers’ Association • Labour Affairs Association of the Pharmaceutical Industry • National Base Chemical Employers’ Association • National Fast Moving Consumer Goods Employers’ Association • National Petroleum Employers’ Association • National Speciality Chemicals Employers’ Association • Surface Coatings Industry Employers’ Association
In addition to the employer organisations that play a key role in labour relations and in col-lective bargaining processes, the sector also has various industry organisations whose main functions are to set and promote quality standards, represent the local industries in interna-tional forums and to market and promote the specific industries in various ways. These or-ganisations, some of which are actively involved in the CHIETA’s activities include:
• The Chemical and Allied Industries' Association (CAIA) • The Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association of South Africa (CTFA) • The Fertiliser Society of South Africa (FSSA) • The National Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (NAPM) • The National Institute for Explosives Technology (NIXT) • The South African Glass and Glazing Association (SAGGS) • The South African Glass Institute (SAGI) • The South African Oil and Gas Alliance (SAOGA) • The South African Paint Manufacturers Association (SAPMA) • The South African Petroleum Industry Association (SAPIA).
1.3.2 Employee organisations
Many of the employees in the sector are professionals and technicians who belong to volun-tary professional associations and/or are registered with statutory professional councils such as the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA), the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) and the Pharmacy Council of South Africa (PCSA). These organisations are in various ways involved in skills development and for this reason they are important role players to be considered in skills planning processes.
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The following are the main trade unions active in the Chemical Sector:
• Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union (CEPPWAWU) • General Industries Workers Union of South Africa (GIWUSA) • Solidarity • South African Chemical Workers Union (SACWU) • United Association of South Africa (UASA)
These trade unions are all active in the CHIETA structures and the first four are members of the National Bargaining Council for the Chemical Industry.
1.3.3 Government departments involved with the sector
As per the CHIETA constitution, the most relevant government departments are:
The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti)
The dti is the custodian of the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP). The IPAP is an an-nually updated document that gives sector-specific overviews of various industries in the South African economy as well as planned interventions of various kinds, includ-ing for skills development. The IPAP contains sector-specific programmes and inter-ventions to promote growth and success.
Department of Energy (DoE)
The DoE is particularly relevant to chemical products used for energy generation, in-cluding petroleum and gas products including nuclear energy. The DoE plays a regu-latory role and is involved in initiatives such as introducing cleaner fuels in South Af-rica.
Department of Science and Technology (DST)
The DST is the curator for scientific knowledge and technological advancement from across the globe including that which is relevant to the Chemical Sector. The DST provides research and development (R&D) support for the advancement of science and technology.
Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA)
The DEA plays a regulatory role in the Chemical Sector. This includes the implemen-tation of government policies and oversight of all products and activities that may pose a threat to the environment.
1.4 ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE
Even though 2014 has been a year of slow growth, the In 2014 the Chemicals Sector con-tributed 3.5% of the South African gross domestic product (GDP) and 25% of total manufac-turing GVA. The subsector Coke and Refined Petroleum Products contributed 1.3% and the subsector Other Chemicals and Man-made Fibres contributed 1.0%. The sector was respon-sible for 13.2% of the country’s imports. The Coke and Refined Petroleum Products subsec-tor was responsible for 3.9% of imports and the Other Chemicals and Man-made Fibres sub-sector for 4.6%. At the same time the Chemical Sector contributed 11.9% of the country’s exports.
7
The Chemical Sector is capital intensive and in 2014 it accounted for 4.7% of the gross fixed capital formation while it contributed only 1.1% of total employment in the country mainly of high level and artisanal skills.
Table 1-2 The Chemicals Sector’s contribution to the South African economy: 2014
Subsector Gross Value
Added Imports Exports
Gross Fixed Cap-
ital For-mation
Employment
Coke & refined petroleum products 1.3% 3.9% 3.3% 2.6% 0.2%
Basic chemicals 0.6% 3.7% 5.7% 1.2% 0.2%
Other chemicals & man-made fibres 1.0% 4.6% 2.3% 0.1% 0.4%
Non-metallic minerals 0.5% 0.8% 0.4% 0.2% 0.4%
Glass & glass products 0.1% 0.2% 0.2% 0.5% 0.1%
Total petroleum, chemicals & glass 3.5% 13.2% 11.9% 4.6% 1.3% Source: Quantec
1.4.1 Imports and exports
South African is a net importer of chemical products. In 2004 imports exceeded exports by a slight margin, however, this situation worsened systematically. This was mainly caused by a dramatic increase in imports in the Coke and Refined Petroleum Products and in the Other Chemicals and Man-made Fibres subsectors, while the exports of these two subsectors re-mained almost unchanged (Figure 1-1).
Figure 1-1 Imports and Exports of the Chemical Sector 2004 - 2014 Source: Quantec
1.4.2 Growth in gross value added
The growth of the Chemical Sector as a whole over the last decade is illustrated in Figure 1-2. The sector grew strongly in the period 2004 to 2007. In 2008 growth declined to 1.5% and in 2009, when the economy went into recession, the sector shrunk by 9.8%. It recov-ered in 2010 however and regained the pre-recession growth levels from 2010 to 2012. In 2013 the sector’s growth dropped to 0.7% and in 2014 it dropped further to only 0.4%.
0
40 000
80 000
120 000
160 000
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
R M
illio
n (
20
10
Pri
ces)
Imports Exports
8
Figure 1-2 Change in Gross Value Added (GVA) in the Chemical Sector 2004 - 2014
Source: Quantec
1.4.3 Factors that influence the economic performance of the sector
The economic performance of the Chemical Sector is influenced by a host of factors. These factors do not necessarily have the same impact on the respective subsectors. Some of the most pertinent factors are discussed below.
The regulatory environment 1.4.3.1
Government plays a very important role in the growth of the sector. A clear and stable regu-latory environment is a key prerequisite for foreign as well as local investment. Companies must control costs and therefore they continuously weigh up the risks and benefits of new projects and products while deciding how much capital to invest. Behind such decisions lie a host of regulatory, safety, environmental and political stability considerations. Political in-terference, uncertainty and delays in passing laws, energy policies and regulations into law stifle growth, development and investment (PwC, 2013).
The availability and cost of raw materials 1.4.3.2
All the subsectors of the Chemical Sector are influenced by the availability and cost of feed-stock and raw materials used in the production of chemical products. Most of the subsec-tors are dependent on imported feedstock.
Because South Africa has very limited crude oil reserves or resources, oil refineries are main-ly dependent on crude oil imports from countries such as Iran, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Angola and Oman. This makes the country vulnerable to decreases in world oil exports and to rising prices. The availability of crude oil to South Africa could be influenced by several factors, including: the continuing rise in domestic oil consumption in oil exporting countries; deple-tion of reserves and production in oil exporting countries; wars, conflict and political uncer-tainty in oil exporting countries; sanctions on oil exports from oil producing countries (for example Iran); and the increase in the demand for oil from large and developing economies
4.9%
8.4% 7.5%
4.9%
1.5%
-9.8%
6.2%
8.2%
4.8%
0.7% 0.4%
-10.0%
-8.0%
-6.0%
-4.0%
-2.0%
0.0%
2.0%
4.0%
6.0%
8.0%
10.0%
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Pe
rce
nta
ge c
han
ge
9
such as China (Creamer Media, 2012). Fluctuations in oil prices have an impact in the econ-omy.
International trends in chemical production 1.4.3.3
The global chemicals industry has grown steadily over the past decades. In the period 2000 to 2010 the industry increased by 54%. However, this growth was uneven with some coun-tries experiencing particularly rapid growth compared to the rest of the world. China’s pro-duction nearly tripled over the period and in 2010 China was the largest chemical producing country, with sales of US$ 754 billion. China’s share in world production rose from 6.4% to 24.4%. The share of other Asian countries and of Latin America also rose in recent years, while the European Union’s share declined from 29.2% to 20.9% (United Nations Environ-ment Programme, 2013). The phenomenal growth in chemical production by large economies such as China and India may have a negative effect on the local sector’s competitiveness – not only in international markets but also in the domestic market. Stakeholders reported that their subsectors are threatened by imports – especially from China (CHIETA stakeholder workshops, 2013). The extent to which local markets are protected through tariffs also has an effect on the growth of the local chemical industry.
Contrary to this, growth in chemical production and consumption in the rest of Africa is po-tentially positive for the local industry. Many South African companies are expanding their operations to the rest of Africa and/or export intermediate products to the chemical indus-tries in other African countries, as well as in other parts of the world.
Global economic growth 1.4.3.4
The level of global economic growth influences the Chemical Sector in several ways, for ex-ample:
Economic growth in the rest of the world increases the demand for chemicals and may open up new export markets or increase the demand from existing markets;
Subdued global growth may, on the other hand, increase competition from imports;
The prices of input commodities are affected by the level of growth in the rest of the world.
Exchange rates 1.4.3.5
The South African Rand is one of the most volatile currencies in the world; it can exhibit moves of greater than 0.20c in a single day of trading versus the US dollar (PSG Online n.d.). Exchange rate instability generally causes an uncertain environment for investment. Accord-ing to the NDP Rand volatility poses great difficulty for both exporters and importers, and for small- and medium-sized enterprises in particular (National Planning Commission, 2011).
Given the overall trade deficit of the Chemical Sector and its dependence on imported raw materials, the negative effects of a weaker Rand can be expected to outweigh sector bene-fits accruing from higher export earnings. Although it could be argued that a weaker ex-change rate could support import substitution industries, the weakening would probably have to be substantial and sustained for that effect to have a meaningful impact.
The linkage and performance other sectors of the economy 1.4.3.6
There are strong linkages between the Chemical Sector and the Manufacturing Sector which uses chemical products in the majority of its processes. This implies that the fortunes of the
10
Chemical Sector are fairly closely correlated with those of manufacturing. Manufacturing is the biggest of the “production” sectors, contributing approximately 25% of total GDP. The Explosives Subsector is directly affected by the performance of the mining and con-struction industries. Chemical sector is highly dependent on other sectors as they are con-sumers of our products. Factors such as labour unrest and volatility in the mining industry may have a knock-on effect on the Chemical Sector.
Consumer markets and consumer spending 1.4.3.7
Some of the subsectors in the Chemical Sector are directly affected by consumer markets and spending, for example the FMCG subsector and the Glass subsector. Others are more indirectly affected through changes in the demand for manufactured products.
Administered, logistics and compliance costs 1.4.3.8
“Administered costs” refers to the prices that firms pay for non-raw material inputs and ser-vices over which they have no bargaining power. Included are items such as port tariffs, electricity, water and municipal rates. While poor service and price increases negatively im-pact the economic performance of the sector, of most concern is the uncertain electricity supply and the considerable increases in electricity prices in recent years. Interruptions in electricity supply have a profound effect on production processes and have huge cost impli-cations for firms in the sector. “Logistics costs” refers to those costs arising from the movement of input and output prod-ucts between suppliers and customers. Most transport fuel in South Africa is produced in the coastal areas and about 68% of it is consumed in the inland Gauteng region (Depart-ment of Government Communications, 2014). Most chemical producers are located inland which means that relatively high transport costs reduce industry competitiveness. Ineffi-ciencies and/or lack of capacity in the transportation sector (such as in bulk rail freight) also increase costs and reduce profitability of operations in the Chemical Sector.
There is a cost to firms associated with having to use bad roads to transport freight. Alt-hough the recent road infrastructure upgrading project in Gauteng has been necessary and welcome, the process was expensive and the cost-recovery process (in the form of the con-troversial e-tolls) undoubtedly impacts on the cost of logistics for the large proportion of Chemical Sector which is based in this region.
“Compliance costs” refers to costs associated with compliance with the different forms of legislation and regulations. This includes health and safety, waste management and other environmental legislation. Although these forms of legislation and regulations have certain positive implications for the economy and for society at large, they also have cost aspects that generally add to the administered and logistics costs cited above and increase the total cost of doing business in SA. The fragmented skills development system poses challenges to skills development. A more coordinated approach by companies not in skills development but also in compliance costs can greatly reduce costs.
11
1.4.4 The current economic outlook 1
As indicated in the previous section, there are a host of factors that influence the economic performance of the sector. At this stage it seems unlikely that the sector will regain the momentum in the short term that it had in the period 2004 to 2007 and in 2010 to 2012. The projected growth of the Chemical Sector, its respective subsectors and the total South African economy can be seen in Table 1-3. The projected growth for 2015 is only 1.3%. The projection for 2016 is a bit more optimistic at 2.3%. However, it remains below 3% for the whole period.
Table 1-3 Projected growth in gross value added: 2015 to 2019
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Coke & refined petroleum products 2.1% 3.3% 2.8% 3.2% 2.9%
Basic chemicals 1.3% 2.9% 2.5% 3.1% 3.1%
Other chemicals & man-made fibres 1.0% 2.3% 2.4% 2.7% 2.5%
Non-metallic minerals -0.1% -0.5% 0.5% 1.2% 1.3%
Glass & glass products 0.1% 1.5% 3.4% 2.9% 4.4%
Total petroleum, chemicals & glass 1.3% 2.3% 2.3% 2.7% 2.7%
Total economy 1.7% 1.5% 1.9% 2.3% 2.3% Source: Econquant econometric model
One of the main factors that are hampering the growth of the Petroleum subsector is regu-latory uncertainty. Currently the two main stumbling blocks are uncertainty about the li-cencing for shale gas exploration and the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill that was referred back for review to Parliament by the President. The in-ternational oil companies are adamant that they will not spend any more money on explora-tion in the absence of adequate legislative certainty.
Another factor is the low crude oil price. Although some components of the Chemical Sector may benefit from the low price, it has an adverse effect on the largest part of the sector, namely the Petroleum subsector. The synfuel producers are the hardest hit, but other com-panies in this subsector are also feeling the effect of the low price.
Of particular importance for this SSP is the effect that the dampened growth will have on the demand for skills and on skills development in the sector. In the first instance it is likely that employment growth will level off or even drop slightly in the next few years. This means that the number of new entrants that the sector will absorb will be limited. On the one hand this may relieve some of the skills shortages experienced but on the other hand it will slow down the transformation of the sector.
The largest employer in the Sector, SASOL, has embarked on a restructuring process in order to increase its efficiency and to deal with the adverse effects of the lower oil price. This in-cludes voluntary retrenchments which will release high-level skills into the sectoral labour
1 This section is informed by viewpoints expressed by industry experts interviewed in the preparation of this SSP update.
12
market. It is however expected that these skills will be absorbed within a relatively short pe-riod of time.
It is not uncommon for companies to cut back on training and development in times of eco-nomic hardship. However, industry experts concur that it is very important for the Chemical Sector to retain a long-term perspective and to continue to maintain the skills development pipeline. Southern Africa is set to be the fastest growing oil and gas producing region in the world over the next three to five years. South Africa is best positioned to supply skilled la-bour to the region. In terms of ship and rig repair in particular, the skills are transversal and crosscutting in relation to other growth industries like manufacturing, renewable energy and nuclear. Other developments should also not be stopped because of the economic downturn. Most of the refineries need to be refurbished to produce cleaner fuels as re-quired by the clean fuels legislation. If the refurbishments are not done timeously South Af-rica may end up importing refined petroleum, including the bi products and thousands of jobs may be lost in the process.
1.4. 5. BBBEE Codes Chemical companies have shown concern about the potential negative skills development impact that has resulted from the BBBEE Codes, most probably as an unintended conse-quence. Although the Codes are very strong when it comes to skills development, compa-nies that use SETA funding for skills development instead of the company funding are penal-ized rather than rewarded with BBBEE points. This has raised concern at CHIETA about the issue of obtaining learners from funded projects. There is a real danger that companies pay-ing skills levies could simply write their levy contributions off as a tax, thus defeating the purpose of contributing training levies. The BBBEE regulations related to this aspect need to be revisited to ensure that firms see the benefit of training not only for their company needs, but also to address national training imperatives
EMPLOYER PROFILE
In the 2014/15 financial year a total of 2010 companies paid skills development levies to the CHIETA. This figure increased by 89 from the previous financial year. This increase can main-ly be attributed to very small companies that started to pay the SDL – probably because their payrolls exceeded the levy threshold of R500 000 per year. The Petroleum subsector contributed 40% of the levies paid in 2014/2015 although companies in this subsector only comprised 9% of the total number of levy-paying companies in the Chemical Sector (Figure 1-3). The reason for this is the presence of a few very large companies in this subsector.
The Base Chemicals subsector contributed 16% of the levies paid and the Pharmaceuticals subsector 13%. This is followed by Speciality Chemicals (9%) and FMCGs (9%). The other subsectors are relatively small. The Glass and Surface Coatings subsectors contributed 4% each to the total levy amount, the Fertilisers subsector 3% and the Explosives subsector 2%. The CHIETA received levies from a small number of organisations that do not, in terms of their activities and focus, belong in the Chemical Sector. They constituted 1% of the organi-sations in the sector and contributed only a very small amount – less than 0.5% of the total levy amount.
The majority (80%) of the companies in the Chemicals Sector are classified as either micro (employing fewer than 5 people) or small (employing between five and 49 people). Only
13
13% are categorised as medium (employing between 50 and 149 people) and 7% as large (employing more than 149 people). The high prevalence of micro and small companies in the sector has major implications for the nature of the support which the CHIETA is required to provide to workplaces in relation to skills development.
Figure 1-3 Subsectoral distribution of levy-paying organisations and levy-amounts paid: 2014/2015 Note: Percentage figures have been rounded off to get to 100% totals. Source: CHIETA’s source data system, extracted
Figure 1-4 shows that 48% of companies that paid levies to the CHIETA in 2014/2015 were located in Gauteng, followed by 26% in KwaZulu Natal and 17% in the West-ern Cape. The North-ern Cape had less than 1% of compa-nies. The companies in the Chemical Sec-tor are mostly located in urban areas.
Source: CHIETA source-data system, extracted June 2015.
The employers/entities in the sector include a few strategic state owned companies, for ex-ample:
The Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (NECSA) which, in terms of Section 13 of the Nuclear Energy Act, No. 46 of 1999, is mandated to undertake and promote re-search and development (R&D) in the field of nuclear energy and radiation sciences and technology and
34
0 4
11 9 9 8
17
6 1
16
2 3 9
4
40
13 9
4 0
05
1015202530354045
Pe
rce
nta
ge
% of levy-paying organisations % of total levies paid
Figure 1-4 Provincial distribution of levy-paying organisations 2014/2015 ; Note : Figures have been rounded off
Free State 2%
Gauteng 48%
Eastern Cape 4%
KwaZulu-Natal 26%
Mpumalanga 1%
Northern Cape 0%
North West 1%
Western Cape 17%
Limpopo 1%
14
PetroSA, the integrated oil company under the Central Energy Fund (CEF) which is in-volved in the exploration for oil and gas onshore and offshore in South Africa, as well as in the rest of Africa. It is also involved in the production of environmentally friendly pe-troleum fuels and petrochemical products from gas and condensate at its synfuels refin-ery outside Mossel Bay, and in the management of oil storage facilities.
These companies play key roles in government strategies to stimulate the local economy.
1.5 LABOUR MARKET PROFILE
1.5.1 Employment in the sector
The estimates of total em-ployment in the Chemical Sector in 2012 to 2015 are shown in Figure 1-5. The employment figures include all employees – those with permanent appointments as well as those on term con-tracts. Employment in 2012 was estimated at 156 078 and in 2013 at 156 548. In 2014 employment increased slightly to 157 992 and in 2015 it increased to 160
309. This means that employment in the sector grew by 2.7% over the total period.
Estimates of employment in each of the subsectors of the Chemical Sector are reported in Table 1-4. The Petroleum subsector employed the largest contingent of workers in the Chemical Sector, between 44 000 and 47 000 from 2012 to 2015.
The figures varied somewhat between 2012 and 2013. The difference in employment in the FMCG subsector (23 794 in 2012 and 15 099 in 2013) are easily explained. They are the re-sult of the correction of SIC codes of companies between the two WSP submissions. A num-ber of companies that had been allocated to the FMCG subsector in 2012 were re-allocated to other subsectors in the following year. Some of them moved to Speciality Chemicals. The differences between 2013 and 2014 were much less pronounced. Employment in this sub-sector shows the largest decline in numbers employment dropping from 15 025 in 2014 to 13 488 in 2015.
The Surface Coatings subsector employment also declined significantly over this period. The large decline in these subsectors’ figures can again be attributed to corrections in the SIC codes, which means that companies moved to other subsectors. Employment figures in the Base Chemicals subsector increased by more than a fifth (20%) of total subsector employ-ment between 2014 and 2015. Other subsectors that show growth in employment figures for this period include Petroleum, Pharmaceuticals and Speciality Chemicals.
Figure 1-5 Estimate of total employment in the Chemical Sector: 2012-2015 Source: CHIETA source-data system, June 2015
100 000110 000120 000130 000140 000150 000160 000
2012 2013 2014 2015
Number ofemployees
156 078 156 548 157 992 160 309
Nu
mb
er o
f e
mp
loye
es
15
Table 1-4 Employment per subsector: 2012-2015
Subsector
2012 2013 2014 2015
N % N % N % N %
Base Chemicals 22 446 14 20 816 13 20 662 13 25 189 16
Explosives 5 287 3 3 898 2 3 986 3 3 804 2
FMCG 23 794 15 15 099 10 15 025 10 13 488 8
Fertilisers 5 651 4 8 589 5 7 550 5 6 240 4
Glass 8 002 5 10 297 7 10 300 7 9 198 6
Petroleum 44 371 28 44 953 29 45 473 29 46 452 29
Pharmaceuticals 22 100 14 23 735 15 23 653 15 24 181 15
Speciality Chemicals 15 381 10 20 468 13 22 249 14 24 185 15
Surface Coatings 8 261 5 8 694 6 9 093 6 7 571 5
Other 786 1
Total 156 078 100 156 548 100 157 992 100 160 309 100 Source: CHIETA data system, June 2015 Note: CHIETA started collecting source data from employers in 2012, which might explain the shifts in statistics between 2012 and 2013.
1.5.2 Provincial distribution of employees
Table 1-5 Provincial distribution of employees: 2012 - 2015
The provincial distribution of employees ob-served over the period 2012 to 2015 can be seen in Table 1-5. In all four years, Gauteng was the province with the largest number of employees – 45% in 2012, 42% in 2013 and 41% in both 2014 and 2015. This was fol-lowed by KwaZulu-Natal. The proportion of people working in Mpumalanga increased from 9% in 2012 to 13% in 2013. It remained at 13% in 2014 and declined to 12% in 2015. The proportions of employees working in the Eastern Cape, Free State, Limpopo, Northern Cape and Western Cape are small and re-
mained more or less the same over the four-year period.
Province 2012 2013 2014 2015
%
Eastern Cape 8 7 7 7
Free State 6 6 7 6
Gauteng 45 42 41 41
KwaZulu-Natal 19 16 17 19
Limpopo 1 1 1 1
Mpumalanga 9 13 13 12
North West 1 2 2 2
Northern Cape 0 0 0 0
Western Cape 11 12 12 12
Total 100 100 100 100 Source: CHIETA source-data system, June 2015
16
1.5.3 Educational qualifications of employees
The qualifications of employ-ees in the Chemical Sector can be seen in Figure 1-6. In 2015 almost 40% of the em-ployees in the sector had post matric qualifications (NQF levels 5 held above while 46% hold qualifications at NQF Level 4. People with educational levels below NQF level 1 formed only 4% of the workforce in 2012 and 2013. In 2014 this figure dropped to 3% and to 2% in 2015.
1.5.4 Occupational distribution of employees Table 1-6 shows that the occupational distribution of employees stayed more or less the same over the four-year period from 2012 to 2015. In 2012, a fifth of employees in the Chemical Sector worked as plant and machine operators and assemblers, compared to 18% in 2013 and 2014, and 16% in 2015. About another fifth worked as technicians and associate professionals. In the first year of the review, 14% worked as professionals. This figure in-creased to 15% in the following year and in 2014 it remained at 15% before declining to 13% in 2015. The proportion of managers stayed more or less the same – 13% in 2012 and 2015, and 12% in 2013 and in 2014. Two per cent of workers were categorised as Learners in 2012 and 1% in 2013. The figure increased to 2% in 2014 and decreased again to 1% in 2015.
Table 1-6 Occupational composition of the Chemical Sector: 2012 – 2015
OFO Occupational group
2012 2013 2014 2015
N % N % N % N %
Managers 20 625 13 18 481 12 18 339 12 20 689 13
Professionals 21 172 14 23 381 15 23 238 15 21 144 13
Technicians and associate professionals 30 196 19 32 395 21 31 743 20 31 421 20
Clerical support workers 15 718 10 15 327 10 16 861 11 15 740 10
Service and sales workers 3 460 2 3 852 2 3 849 2 6 013 4
Skilled and related trades workers 10 172 7 9 037 6 10 262 7 12 626 8
Plant and machine opera-tors and assemblers 31 710 20 28 684 18 28 828 18 25 915 16
Elementary occupations 20 237 13 23 852 15 21 670 14 23 631 15
Learners 2 346 2 1 540 1 3 023 2 891 1
Unknown 441 0
2 240 1
Total 156 078 100 156 548 100 157 812 100 160 309 100 Source: CHIETA source-data system June 2015 Note: Percentage figures have been rounded off to get to 100% totals.
Figure 1-6 Educational qualifications of employees: 2012 – 2015 Source: CHIETA data system, June 2015.
0102030405060708090
100
2012 2013 2014 2015
Level 5 and above 46 42 43 38
Level 4 36 40 40 46
Level 3 5 5 5 6
Level 2 8 7 6 6
Level 1 2 2 3 2
Below Level 1 4 4 3 2
Pe
rcen
tage
17
1.5.5 Age, population group and gender distribution of employees
Table 1-7 shows the age distribution of workers in the Chemical Sector. In 2012, 34% of all workers were younger than 35. This figure increased to 37% in the following year and it re-mained 37% in 2014 and 2015. The workers between ages 36 to 54 constituted 52% of the workforce in 2012 and decreased by one percentage point in each of the following years. Eight per cent of employees were close to retirement (between 55 and 59) in 2012 com-pared to 7% in the following year. The figure returned to 8% in 2014 and 2015. Six per cent of workers were 60 years and older in 2012 compared to 5% per cent in the following three years. The average age of workers in 2012 was 41 and this figure dropped to 40 in 2013. It remained 40 in 2014 and 2015.
Table 1-7 Age distribution of workers in the Chemical Sector: 2012 – 2015
Age 2012 2013 2014 2015
N % N % N % N %
< 35 52 724 34 58 055 37 59 215 37 59 917 37
36-54 81 664 52 79 758 51 79 089 50 80 182 50
55-59 12 954 8 11 523 7 12 065 8 12 178 8
60+ 8 737 6 7 212 5 7 623 5 8 033 5
Total 156 078 100 156 548 100 157 992 100 160 309 100 Source: CHIETA source-data system June 2015 Note: Percentage figures have been rounded off to get to 100% totals.
Monitoring of the population group and gender distribution of employees in the Chemical Sector is important in order to keep track of the transformation that is tak-ing place in employment in the sector. The percentage of total employment that each population group constituted is shown in Fig-ure 1-7. The figure clearly indi-cates that the population group composition of the Chemical Sec-tor remained largely unchanged over the period 2012 to 2015. Af-rican workers constituted between 53% and 56% of the workforce, whites between 25% and 27%, coloureds 11% and Indians between 9% and 8%.
Figure 1-7 Population group composition of employees in the Chemical Sector: 2012 – 2015 Source: CHIETA data system June 2015
020406080
100
2012 2013 2014 2015
White 27 27 26 25
Indian 9 8 8 8
Coloured 11 11 11 11
African 53 54 54 56
Pe
rce
nta
ge
18
The gender distribution of em-ployees in the Chemical Sector is shown in Figure 1-8. In 2012 the sector employed 48 953 (31%) women. This figure in-creased to 49 329 (32%) in the following year. In 2014 the sec-tor employed 50 228 (32%) women and in 2015 the number was 53 838 (34%).
1.5.6 People with disabilities Table 1-8 shows a profile of disabled workers according to population group, gender and age. In total 0.7% of workers were listed as disabled in 2012, 2013 and 2015, while 0.8% of employees were listed as disabled in 2014. In terms of population group 51% of disabled workers were African in 2012. This figure increased to 56% in the following year and to 59% in 2014. In 2015, 46% of disabled workers were African. Males constituted 69% of disabled workers in 2012 compared to 59% in 2013, 61% in 2014 and 56% in 2015. Half (50%) of the disabled workers were between the ages of 35 and 54 in 2012 compared to 47% in the next two years and 45% in 2015. The group between the ages of 15 and 34 increased from 23% to 34% from 2012 to 2013. In 2014 the figure dropped to 31% and it remained the same in 2015.
Table 1-8 Disabled workers according to population group, gender and age: 2012-2015
Disabled workers
2012 2013 2014 2015
N % N % N % N %
Po
pu
lati
on
gr
ou
p
African 531 51 655 56 729 59 448 46
Coloured 167 16 120 10 138 11 138 14
Indian 69 7 77 7 76 6 83 8
White 277 27 317 27 302 24 304 31
Total 1 044 100 1 169 100 1 245 100 972 100
N % N % N % N %
Gen
der
Female 324 31 485 41 480 39 426 44
Male 720 69 684 59 764 61 546 56
Total 1 044 100 1 169 100 1 245 100 972 100
N % N % N % N %
Age
15-34 243 23 396 34 391 31 305 31
35-54 520 50 553 47 587 47 437 45
55-59 160 15 131 11 162 13 118 12
60+ 120 11 89 7 104 8 111 11
Total 1 044 100 1 169 100 1 245 100 972 100
Percentage of total employment 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.7 Source: CHIETA data system June 2015 Note: Percentage figures have been rounded off to get to 100% totals.
Figure 1-8 Gender composition of employees in the Chemical Sector:2012 – 2015 Source: CHIETA source-data system June 2015
0
20
40
60
80
100
2012 2013 2014 2015
Male 69 68 68 66
Female 31 32 32 34
Pe
rcen
tage
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1.6 CONCLUSIONS
The South African Chemical Sector plays a critical role in the South African economy. Not only does it contribute significantly to GDP, but it also produces inputs that are used in al-most all other economic sectors. The sector contracted severely during the 2008/2009 re-cession and although it recovered in the subsequent three years, growth has again been sti-fled in 2013 and 2014. The sector is highly dependent on imports, which makes it vulnerable to changes in world economic growth, competition from fast-growing chemical producers such as China and exchange rate fluctuations. At this stage the economic outlook for the next few years is dampened mainly because of an uncertain regulatory environment. The Petroleum subsector is in particular affected by uncertainty regarding legislation while the low crude oil prices are putting companies in this subsector under financial pressure. De-spite this negative situation, it is important for the Chemical Sector to retain a longer term, holistic perspective. The growth potential of the sector in South and Southern Africa is un-disputed. Skills development needs to continue in order to build the capacity and unlock the potential of the sector once the major stumbling blocks are out of the way.
The majority of the companies in the Chemicals Sector are classified as either micro or small. However, employment is concentrated in a small number of large companies. The high prevalence of micro and small companies in the sector has major implications for the nature of the support which the CHIETA is required to provide to workplaces in relation to skills development. The Petroleum Subsector is a particular challenge in relation to the size of its enterprises as it consists of a few very large firms and a number of small ones. The Chemical Sector employs approximately 160 000 people and only small increases in em-ployment were seen in the years 2012 to 2014. The slow growth in employment corre-sponds with the slow economic growth seen in the sector over the two year period. The pe-riod 2014 to 2015 shows a greater increase in employment in the sector.
More than a quarter of the workers are employed in the Petroleum Subsector. High concen-trations of employees across the different subsectors work in Gauteng, except for the Petro-leum Subsector; 31% of the employees in this subsector work in Mpumalanga. The Chemical Sector is dependent on high-level professional and technical skills and for this reason em-ployees in the sector are better educated than the total South African employed population. More than a third (38%) of them hold qualifications above NQF Level 4 compared to only 21% of all people employed in South Africa. The dependence of the sector on high-level skills makes it more susceptible to skills shortages because of the long lead-times in the training of high-level and specialised skills.
In terms of equity just over half (56%) of the employees are African. When compared to the employed population of South Africa it is clear that White and Indian people are relatively over-represented in the Chemical Sector. African women are particularly under-represented. That means that transformation remains an important objective for the sector.
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2. KEY SKILLS ISSUES
2.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter identifies factors that are driving change and influencing skills demands in the Chemical Sector. The Chemical Sector is a highly regulated sector and one of the key drivers of skills demands is the regulatory environment. Other factors that contribute the demand for skills are: the integration of the sector in the international market, technological devel-opments and innovation, health and safety requirements, environmental legislation and re-quirements, the need for transformation in the sector and the fact that some of the sector activities and developments take place off shore.
Government promotes a range of national plans that are aimed at the stimulation of eco-nomic and employment growth. The Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP), as well as other ini-tiatives of the departments of Trade and Industry and Science and Technology, is specifically aimed at parts of the Chemical Sector. The state-owned company Petro-SA’s plan to build a new oil refinery may also have a huge impact on the need for skills in the sector.
2.2 CHANGE DRIVERS
2.2.1 Regulatory environment
The Chemical Sector is, in general, a highly regulated environment – some of the subsectors more so than others. The regulations impacting on the sector span a whole array of areas including control over the country’s natural resources and energy supply; the handling of hazardous materials; occupational health and safety; control over medication; protection of patents and intellectual property rights and various others. Many of the regulations have a direct bearing on the types of skills that the sector can and may employ. Certain positions in organisations are, for example, reserved for registered professionals because they require high levels of skills and professional accountability. The sector is also reliant on highly skilled professionals who can interpret and apply regulatory requirements and who can ensure that the organisations in the sector meet all regulatory requirements.
2.2.2 Global integration
The South African Chemicals Sector is in various ways integrated in and influenced by inter-national economic trends and markets. Many of the raw materials are imported, many companies export their products and a number of companies in the sector, specifically in the Pharmaceutical and Petroleum subsectors, are multi-nationals. In many respects the South African Chemicals Sector is bound to international quality, safety and environmental standards.
The fact that the sector is highly integrated in the global environment has many implica-tions:
The sector is much affected by foreign trade policies (local as well as those of trading partners);
The sector is sensitive to fluctuations in exchange rates;
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Multi-national companies have to adhere to accounting and administrative practices that satisfy the local legislative requirements, as well as those of their mother compa-nies and the countries where they are located. In some instances it even leads to com-panies keeping two accounting systems – one based on the South African Rand and an-other in US dollars or Euros. This in turn has an impact on the skills needed by those companies.
Staffing and human resources development are complex in the international environ-ment. International companies have to ensure that their employees are adequately equipped to implement international business strategies. They also have to overcome shortages of skilled managers and professionals, particularly in emerging markets and they need to train their staff to be sensitive to cultural differences in the workplace and marketplace.
South African operations of multi-nationals have to adhere to the training requirements and standards prescribed by their mother companies. In most instances programmes aimed at these requirements are not accredited in South Africa and for this reason the companies cannot claim any grants for this training.
The sector is dependent on advanced technological training that is not available locally. This training has to be procured at very high cost. (Stakeholder workshops, 2013.)
2.2.3 Technological development and innovation
Advanced technology is extremely important in the Chemical Sector and continuous im-provement, breakthrough and development in technology is one of the key rudiments of the sector. The use of advanced technology has an effect not only on the quality of the skills needed to operate or apply the technology, but also on the number of people employed. New technological developments usually require that the skills of current staff have to be upgraded or new people with the relevant skills have to be recruited (these skills may not always be readily available). In some instances advanced technology can replace workers in the sector. Companies in the Chemical Sector are mainly involved in research and develop-ment (R&D) in order to keep their competitive advantage (by developing new or better products, processes and technology) and to reduce their environmental impact. The sector’s dependence on R&D means that it is also dependent on highly skilled professionals and sci-entists – some of which are in short supply in South Africa.
2.2.4 Health and safety
Many of the substances used and produced by the Chemical Sector are potentially hazard-ous and if the correct preventative measures are not instituted and adhered to workers may be exposed to diseases or injuries such as chemical burns, asthma, allergies, irritant contact and allergic contact dermatitis, skin infections and injuries and skin and other cancers.
The South African Chemical Sector is committed to the continuous improvement of its health, safety and environmental (SHE) performance and is part of the international initia-tive called “Responsible Care”. This initiative is voluntary and is co-ordinated in South Africa by CAIA. Participating organisations commit themselves and their employees to the princi-ples and the code of practice of the initiative. They also measure different aspects of health, safety and environmental impact and report to CAIA on a number of indicators which, in turn allows for international comparisons (CAIA, 2012).
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From the statistics that is published annually by CAIA it is clear that the South African organ-isations that participate in the Responsible Care initiative fare quite well in terms of occupa-tional health and safety. There is currently no empirical information available on the per-formance of the total sector. Nevertheless, the importance of health and safety in the sector is undisputed and skills development initiatives and interventions should be shaped with this in mind.
2.2.5 Environmental legislation and regulations
The Chemical Sector is inevitably a contributor to different forms of pollution. The contain-ment of pollution and the responsible handling of chemical waste are also key elements of the functioning of the sector that impact on its skills needs and on its skills development in-terventions.
As mentioned in the previous section, the South African Chemical Sector is an active partici-pant in the international Responsible Care initiative. This initiative also encompasses envi-ronmental protection and companies that participate in this initiative strive to meet and go beyond legislative and regulatory compliance in terms of occupational health and safety en-vironmental impact. At this stage the South African industry compares favourably with in-ternational benchmarks (CAIA, 2014).
The petroleum industry faces several significant challenges pertaining to environmental im-pact. Reducing the level of harmful emissions from motor vehicles is a critical issue for the subsector. Efforts are being made to improve the quality of the liquid fuels in order to re-duce the environmental impact of the sector. The DoE aims to have new cleaner fuels standards introduced by July 2017. The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers (Naamsa) is supporting the DoE in this regard by endorsing the products of those oil compa-nies who are prepared to supply the cleaner fuel before 2017. Two of the country’s crude oil refineries have shown their intention to prepare for the implementation of the cleaner fuels specifications. This entails the modification and upgrading of existing facilities and the build-ing of new plants (Creamer Media, 2012).
Environmental legislation and regulations and the sector’s own efforts to comply with strat-egies to reduce the environmental impact of chemical production increase the need for skilled specialists across a variety of occupations who can design and implement technolo-gies, processes and practices aimed at reducing pollution and promoting a green economy.
2.2.6 Transformation imperatives
As indicated in Chapter 1 of this SSP, the Chemical Sector lags behind in terms of the em-ployment of Black people – especially in technical, professional and managerial positions. The Petroleum Subsector is the only subsector that is subject to a transformation charter: The Liquid Fuels Industry Charter (LFC). The implementation of this charter is overseen by the Department of Energy (DoE, 2011).
In the April 2015 CHIETA chamber meetings stakeholders emphasised the fact that recruit-ment in the Chemical Sector is very much influenced by employment equity targets and that the scarcity of skills reported in the sector is often the result of a scarcity of suitably quali-fied and experienced Black people. They also reported that transformation efforts drive up
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salaries and that the quality of in-service training is undermined by the fact that young Black recruits are lured away by higher salaries before they can develop a proper grounding in the industry.
2.2.7 Offshore operations
Some of the activities in the Chemical Sector entail the exploration and extraction of oil and gas at offshore sites. The offshore operations require skills sets that are unusual and very specific to offshore environments.
2.3 NATIONAL STRATEGIES AND PLANS
Various government policies and plans have been developed over the last five to ten years by different organs of state. Many of them overlap and some have been subsumed within others. The two goals that all of the policies and plans have in common are the stimulation of the South African economy and job creation.
While the National Development Plan (NDP) provides an overall vision and framework for most of the other policies and plans, the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) and the projects steered by the dti and some of the infrastructure projects have a direct bearing on the Chemical Sector.
2.3.1 IPAP II
The second Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP II) was released in February 2010. Since then the plan has been revised and updated every year with new or revised action programmes and milestones set for each year. While IPAP is mainly aimed at the growth of the sector, CHIETA’s skills development initiatives need to tie in and support the Plan.
IPAP II focuses on various industries of which the following belong to the Chemical Sector:
Oil and gas
The area of gas industrialisation is a new focus of IPAP and in 2015 it will start with a re-search intervention aimed at identifying the potential drivers of economic growth, employ-ment opportunities, skills development and ancillary issues which may arise from the up-, mid- and downstream petroleum and gas industries (Department of Trade and Industry, 2015, p. 124).
Pharmaceuticals and medical devices
The 2015 IPAP includes two interventions for this industry:
1) The development of an industrial strategy for the medical devices sector.
2) Optimising public sector procurement of medical consumables (pharmaceuticals and medical devices) (Ibid, p.110).
Cosmetics
Three IPAP interventions are planned for 2015.
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1) Support the creation of an “African Story” through leveraging of unique local natural re-sources. This intervention will take the form of a campaign to differentiate South African ethnic hair care, sun protection products and bio-diversity products based on credibly ‘Afri-can’ claims with regard to the uniqueness and ‘exoticism’ of ingredients.
2) Increase investment and upgrade capital equipment and processes in order to upgrade the competitiveness of contract packers and their ability to meet new standards and re-quirements demanded by the personal care sector.
3) Aerosol manufacturing cluster. IPAP aims to identify systemic constraints which impede the growth of the industry and to resolve and/or ameliorate such impediments in collabora-tion with industry stakeholders and to actively work on locational economies of scale that will result in employment creation. (Ibid, p. 112)
Project Ketlaphela
Ketlaphela is a Government initiative that also formed part of IPAP and that is aimed at de-veloping local capacity to manufacture antiretrovirals (ARVs) that can be used in combating the effects of the HIV pandemic. The project was originally planned as a joint venture be-tween Ketlaphela Pelchem, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and Lonza, a lead-ing global player in pharmaceuticals. This was supposed to result in the establishment of the first pharmaceutical plant to manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients for antiretrovi-ral medicines in South Africa. It was envisaged that Ketlaphela would significantly reduce the country’s dependence on imported drugs and would provide a security of supply of pri-ority drugs and stable pricing with less sensitivity to exchange rate fluctuations. However, in 2013 Lonza withdrew from the project and so far no other investors could be found. The Government is continuing with the project, but according to a new model which entails sourcing and supplying ARVs (antiretrovirals) and other essential medicines at first. At the same time the Government will be building manufacturing capabilities. (Kahn, 2015)
2.3.2 Operation Phakisa
Operation Phakisa is an approach to delivery on national objectives adopted from the Ma-laysian Government. It is was announced by the President in 2014 and is a results-driven approach, involving setting clear plans and targets, on-going monitoring of progress and making these results public.
According to the Presidency of South Africa (n.d.): “The methodology consists of eight se-quential steps. It focusses on bringing key stakeholders from the public and private sectors, academia as well as civil society organisations together to collaborate in:
detailed problem analysis;
priority setting;
intervention planning; and
delivery
These collaboration sessions are called laboratories (labs). The results of the labs are de-tailed plans with ambitious targets as well as public commitment on the implementation of the plans by all stakeholders. The implementation of the plans are rigorously monitored and reported on. Implementation challenges are actively managed for effective and efficient
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resolution. Operation Phakisa is initially implemented in two sectors, the ocean economy
and health.”
The oceans economy lab has identified growing offshore oil and gas exploration as one of its objectives. However, how operation Phakisa will benefit oil and gas exploration is still un-clear. As mentioned in the previous chapter, exploration and investment in this area is seri-ously hampered by the pending legislative changes.
2.3.3 The National Infrastructure Plan and Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPS)
The Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission assessed the infrastructure gaps in the country through spatial mapping which analyses future population growth, projected economic growth and areas of the country not served by water, electricity, roads, sanitation and communication. Based on this work, a common national infrastructure plan has been develop with 18 Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPs) to support economic development and address service delivery in the poorest provinces.
The SIPs of most direct relevance to the Chemical Sector relate to the Energy SIPS aimed at addressing the energy mix of South Africa, with emphasis on sustainable energy and the South East Nodal development, which includes Project Mthombo.
Project Mthombo is a planned initiative of the state-owned Petro-SA to build a new world-class crude refinery in the Coega Industrial Development Zone2 in the Eastern Cape. It is en-visaged that the building of this new refinery will have a huge influence on the demand for skills. It is estimated that the refinery will provide up to 10 000 jobs during the three to four-year construction phase and 2 500 permanent jobs afterwards (Petro-SA, 2013). In addition there will be a challenge in terms of the provision of the required skills to run a refinery. Current supply already does not meet the demand for engineers and operators with the skills necessary to manage refineries (Mbendi, 2013) (Stakeholder Workshop, 2013).
According to PetroSA (n.d.), the company, together with Sinopec, have just completed the review of the project business case and a refinery capacity of 300 000 bbl/d has been ap-proved by both partners. The two companies, together with IDC are preparing for the next phase of the project – which is the feasibility studies where the business case will be devel-oped further. During feasibility the strategic partners will be firmed up; funding strategy confirmed; project timelines clarified; technology selected; project scope defined further; infrastructure studies conducted and more technical details will be provided concerning the project. After these studies the project will be able to progress sufficiently to take a decision to implement the FEED phase of the project.
Furthermore, the DHET, which is responsible for skills development to support the SIPS, has made estimates of the skills that will be required for the SIPS projects and have indicated to the SETAs which skills they regard as “scarce”. SETAs will contribute to the development of
2 The Coega Industrial Development Zone is one of the industrial development zones (IDZs) designated by the Minister of
Trade and Industry in terms of the Manufacturing Development Act 187 of 1993. It is defined by the Department of Trade and Industry as "a purpose-built industrial estate linked to an international seaport or airport that leverages fixed direct investments in value-added and export-oriented manufacturing industries". The intention with IDZs is to promote the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector and to encourage the use of locally available resources to encourage exports.
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those skills. The DHET has also instituted new structures called “Occupational Teams”. These teams will consist of industry experts that will advise the education sector on the exact skills needed by industry.
2.3.4 Strategies aimed at energy provision
The provision of energy is of critical importance for the South African economy and Gov-ernment has been grappling with this issue over the past decade. Various strategies and plans to improve energy provision and to reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuel have seen the light. Of particular importance to the Chemical Sector are the strategies and plans related to the development of biofuels, nuclear energy and other renewable energy resources.
In 2007 the Biofuels Strategy was accepted by Parliament. The strategy aimed to achieve a 2% penetration level of biofuels (i.e. 400 million litres per annum) in the national liquid fuel supply by 2012. However, despite the impetus provided by the Final Biofuels Strategy and great energy and investment from the private sector, the South African biofuels industry has not yet taken off- possibly due to the persistence of the view that biofuels projects are unat-tractive because of the relatively low cost of crude oil (Gilder and Mamkeli, 2014).
As part of the implementation of the Biofuels Strategy the Regulations regarding the Man-datory Blending of Biofuels with Petrol and Diesel were promulgated in terms of the Petro-leum Products Act 120 of 1997. The mandatory Blending Regulations commence on 1 Octo-ber 2015 and will require the blending of biofuels with petroleum in the manufacturing of petrol and diesel (Ibid).
The Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2010-30 is a national electricity plan that was promul-gated in March 2011. The IRP is a “living plan” and it is revised by the Department of Energy (DoE) on a regular basis. An update was completed and published in 2014. Planning for en-ergy supply involves the Chemical Sector on several fronts. The overall aim is to reduce the country’s dependence on electricity produced from coal and to develop a mixed supply in-cluding gas, nuclear, solar and wind. Within this broad aim there is substantial opportunity for new private sector development in energy generation. The increased focus on and allo-cation of resources to green and renewable energy also offers a number of new opportuni-ties for the Chemical Sector. These include nanotechnology, photo-catalysts and the glass components of solar energy installations. At the same time Government is also continuing with plans to strengthen the country’s nuclear power generation capabilities. These initia-tives will in future require specialised scientific and engineering skills.
2.3.5 The White Paper for Post School Education And Training
The White Paper for Post-School Education and Training was approved by Cabinet on 20 November 2013. The White Paper spells out Government’s direction with and objectives for the post-school education and training system. Areas that are specifically relevant to the SETAs are:
The TVET College system
The White Paper states that the DHET’s highest priority is to strengthen and expand the public FET colleges (now called Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Col-
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leges) to become attractive institutions of choice for school leavers. The aim is also to strengthen the curricula of the colleges and to better align them to the needs of the labour market. Another objective is to strengthen the relationships between employers and the colleges.
Universities and Universities of Technology
The White Paper states that the universities have embraced the concept of an integrated post school education system. It also states that universities should seek to expand their partnerships with employers in order to secure work experience opportunities for students – especially in fields where work experience is necessary for professional registration.
Linking education and the workplace
The White Paper emphasises the importance of learnerships and internships in non-artisan fields and the role that SETAs have to play in the promotion of these forms of learning. It also states that the roles of SETAs and the NSF will be clarified and simplified with the SETAs clearly focusing on the development of skills of people already working in enterprises and on a skills pipeline to such workplaces while the NSF will focus on national development strategies and priorities.
In terms of skills planning the White Paper proposes a central planning system which will be located in the DHET. SETAs will be required to supply sector-specific information to such a central planning system. CHIETA’s strategies objectives and plans are already to a large ex-tent aligned to the strategic direction given by the White Paper, and engagement will be held with CHIETA stakeholders and other relevant institutions and bodies to engage on where further improvements need to be made.
2.4 IMPLICATIONS FOR SKILLS PLANNING IN THE CHEMICAL SECTOR
Based on the analysis presented in the report so far, as well as the analysis of demand, sup-ply and skills shortages presented in Chapter 3, the CHIETA has identified the following key skills issues that are important for the Sector and for the CHIETA itself.
2.4.1 The need for a more robust and refined skills information and planning system
The analysis of the skills situation in the Chemical Sector clearly shows that the sector is de-pendent on high-level and specialised skills. These skills are developed over relatively long time periods and through a combination of efforts of the educational sector and employers. It is CHIETA’s responsibility to facilitate the long-term planning for skills in the sector. In or-der to fulfil this responsibility the following is needed:
Detailed information on occupations and specialisations within occupations. The CHIETA has over the last few years put much effort into the development of an oc-cupational dictionary. This information needs to be adapted as occupations change.
Occupations and specialisations should be correctly reflected on the OFO. The DHET has not updated the OFO in the last year with the consequence that labour market information collected from employers does not reflect the situation to the level of detail and correctness required.
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Skills shortages should be monitored continuously and consistently with employers actively participating in the process.
Forward planning by employers in the sector.
More co-ordinated interaction between industry and the education and training sec-tor to ensure, among others, that the content of qualifications and learning pro-grammes is relevant and fit-for-purpose.
From the preceding part of this chapter it is clear that many of the South African Govern-ment’s policies and plans involve the Chemical Sector. Clearly there is much growth poten-tial in this sector. The availability of the necessary skills is a prerequisite for the unlocking of this potential and for this reason the support of Government priorities and plans is an im-portant factor in skills planning in the sector. However, there is in many areas uncertainty about the implementation of the policies and plans. These uncertainties complicate skills planning.
2.4.2 The provision of professionals and scientists
As mentioned above, the Chemical Sector is heavily reliant on qualified professionals and scientists. In many instances very specific specialisation are needed. These skills are general-ly in short supply and the Chemical Sector competes for them not only in the local but also in the international labour market. This drives up the cost of employment for companies in the sector. The need for high-level and specialised skills should also be seen within the con-text of the transformation needs of the sector. The sector will only be able to address its skills shortages and transform at the same time if larger numbers of Black graduates qualify in the fields of study that are relevant to the sector. However, the skills pipeline is severely constrained by the limited number of learners who have good pass marks in maths and sci-ence and the overall poor quality of the basic education system.
Graduates are not only needed at entry level. The sector also has a need for people with professional registration in various fields, but there is a notable shortage in engineering where ECSA registered professional engineers and engineers with the Government Certifi-cate of Competence are needed.
2.4.3 Improvement of the quality of the TVET college sector
The Chemical Sector’s involvement with the TVET college sector is not only prompted by the White Paper for Post School Education and Training and the DHET’s focus on this sector. TVET colleges have traditionally been a very important component in the supply of skills to the Chemical Sector, especially artisan skills. The overall state of these institutions is, how-ever, of great concern to the employers in the sector and to the CHIETA.
Over the last few years the CHIETA has developed several partnerships with TVET colleges and has contributed to the improvement and development of the colleges’ internal capacity. Most of this work was on a pilot basis. However, as indicated above, the development of specialised skills for the sector needs to be ongoing and sustainable. The capacitating of the TVET colleges on a larger scale remains a critical issue for the Chemical Sector. This includes mechanisms to ensure the relevance of curricula and work placement of students from the colleges.
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2.4.4 Recognition of prior learning (RPL) and articulation between qualifications
The discussion of skills issues above alluded to the need for a holistic view of the skills pipe-line in the Chemical Sector. An important, but neglected part of the skills pipeline is the pro-gression of employees who are already employed, not only through the ranks in their organ-isations, but also in terms of educational qualifications.
The sector is still battling with a common understanding of what RPL is and how it can be utilised to promote the career development of employees. The implementation of the Na-tional Qualifications Framework (NQF) and the articulation between qualifications awarded by different components of the education and training system are important issues that need to be addressed. This issue should also be seen within the context of the transfor-mation of the sector. The progression of Black people with industry experience through the formal educational system is one mechanism through which the transformation of the sec-tor can be supported.
2.5 CONCLUSIONS
In this chapter the most pertinent factors that are expected to impact on the demand for skills in the Chemical Sector have been identified. Most of these factors tend to increase the demand for high-level and specialised skills. The sector is highly regulated and organisations have to contend with a host of local (and in many cases international) legislative and regula-tory requirements. Regulations are also ever-changing and organisations have to keep up and remain compliant. The burden of regulatory compliance normally falls on the shoulders of managers and certain professionals. The Chemical Sector is integrated in the international market and is subject to international influences and requirements. At the same time the very nature of chemical production and handling forces the sector to focus on health and safety issues and on its environmental impact.
The South African Government is actively involved in the Chemical Sector. Through IPAP it attempts to stimulate economic and employment growth in some of the subsectors. It is also a player in the sector through various state-owned enterprises. If all the government initiatives bear fruit, the sector will certainly experience growth in employment. The actual effect of projects such as Ketlaphela and Mthombo will only become clear in the next few years. At the same time these projects are dependent on the availability of skills and the CHIETA, together with other role players need to ensure a steady flow of people with the right skills to take up positions in these new enterprises.
This chapter highlights four issues that are pertinent in the sector and that underpin the skills planning for the period covered by this SSP. The need for a more robust and refined skills information and planning system is highlighted. Such a system is needed for the long-term planning for the provision of professionals and scientists with the specialised skills needed for the sector (the second issue). The capacity of the TVET colleges and quality and relevance of their educational offerings is a third issue highlighted in this chapter. The need to focus on this part of the education and training sector stems from the critical role that the colleges play in the provision of artisan and other specialised skills to the sector. The last issue is RPL and the articulation between qualifications. The transformation of the Chemical Sector is a transversal theme that cuts across all the issues that the sector is grappling with.
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3. THE EXTENT OF SKILLS MISMATCHES
3.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter starts with an overview of the demand for skills in the Chemical Sector. It then explores the extent and nature of supply of skills to the sector and the state of education and training provision. This also highlights the supply-side constraints with which the sector has to deal.
An identification of skills gaps shows the extent of scarcities and mismatches experienced in the sectoral labour market.
3.2 EXTENT AND NATURE OF DEMAND
The demand side of the sectoral labour market is represented by the positions in the sector that are filled as well as those that are vacant. The total number of positions in the sector and the occupations in which those positions are available provide insight into the type of skills that the education and training sector needs to produce in order to maintain the skills base of the sector and to support growth of the sector. Vacancies that remain unfilled de-spite employers’ efforts to recruit people for those positions are indicative of skills shortag-es.
The purpose of this section is to provide an overview of the extent and nature of the de-mand for skills in the Chemical Sector. Through the WSP submission of the last four years the CHIETA has been collecting detailed information on the people employed in the sector. Although the four-year time series data provide very good information on the occupational composition of the sector, the time period is too short and employers’ reporting on occupa-tions according to OFO codes is not yet accurate and consistent enough to allow for a defini-tive analysis of demand trends at the detailed occupational level. Furthermore the WSP submissions include information on vacancies in occupations that employers regard as scarce skills occupations. They don’t, however, include information on all vacancies and there is also no other source of information on all vacancies in the sector. The analysis that follows is therefore somewhat limited because of data constraints.
3.2.1 Occupational employment trends
The skills requirements of the Chemical sector have changed gradually over the last few decades. While the demand for semi- and unskilled workers declined, the need for skilled and highly skilled workers increased (see Figure 3-2). The skills levels referred to in this graph cannot be directly equated to occupational categories or to educational levels as re-ferred to in the rest of this SSP. The graph reflects a time series that has been built up over more than four decades using different classification systems (as they have changed over time) and different data sources. The graph only illustrates a general trend.
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Figure 3-1 Skills composition of the Chemical Sector: 1970 to 2014 Source: Quantec
The broad occupational composition of the sector has been discussed in Chapter 1 (see Sec-tion 1.6.4). At the occupational group level of the OFO the composition has not changed significantly over the last four years.
If the occupational composition is considered at the detailed occupation level, the Chemical Sector employs people in 740 different occupations. The occupations with the largest num-bers of employees in each occupational group are listed in Table 3-1 below.
Table 3-1 Main occupations in each occupational group: 2015
Occupation Group Occupations
Managers Managing Director (11%), Operations Manager - Manufacturing (11%), Sales Manager (10%), Finance Manager (8%), Sales and Marketing Manager (7%), Supply and Distribution Manager (5%), Corporate General Manager (5%), Engi-neering Manager (4%), Quality Systems Manager (3%), Customer Service Man-ager (3%), Human Resource Manager (2%), Programme or Project Manager (2%), Director of Marketing (2%).
Professionals Sales Representative - Medical and Pharmaceutical Products (13%), Sales Rep-resentative - Industrial Products (11%), Marketing Practitioner (7%), Manage-ment Consultant (5%), Accountant - General (4%), Safety, Health, Environment and Quality - SHE&Q - Practitioner (4%), Human Resource Advisor (4%), Indus-trial Engineer (3%), Chemist (3%), Chemical Engineer (2%), Regulatory Affairs Officer (2%), Industrial Engineering Technologist (2%).
Technicians and Associate Professionals
Chemical Plant Controller (23%), Production Supervisor - Manufacturing (13%), Chemistry Technician (11%), Gas or Petroleum Controller (5%), Credit or Loans Officer (3%), Office Administrator (3%), Maintenance Planner (2%), Personal Assistant (2%), Chemical Sales Representative (2%), Ammunition Technician (2%), Purchasing Officer (2%), Miner (2%).
Clerical Support Workers General Clerk (24%), Production Coordinator (13%), Accounts Clerk (11%), Stock Clerk (10%), Dispatching and Receiving Clerk (9%), Program Administra-tor (5%), Receptionist - General (4%), Warehouse Administrator (4%), Enquiry Clerk (3%).
Service and Sales Workers Service Station Attendant (31%), Office Cashier (15%), Sales Clerk (13%), Sales Assistant - General (11%), Security Officer (7%), Special Forces Operator (4%), Caretaker (3%), Retail Supervisor (3%), Fire Fighter (2%).
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
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70
19
72
19
74
19
76
19
78
19
80
19
82
19
84
19
86
19
88
19
90
19
92
19
94
19
96
19
98
20
00
20
02
20
04
20
06
20
08
20
10
20
12
20
14
Pe
rce
nta
ge o
f e
mp
loym
en
t
Semi- and unskilled Skilled Highly skilled
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Occupation Group Occupations
Skilled Craft and Related Trades Workers
Fitter and Turner (20%), Metal Machinist (12%), Electrician (10%), Millwright (9%), Instrument Mechanician (8%), Mechanical Fitter (8%), Glazier (3%), Welder (2%), Coating Machine Operator (2%), Boiler Maker (2%), Quality Exam-iner (Manufactured Products) (2%).
Plant and Machine Operators and Assemblers
Chemical Production Machine Operator (37%), Delivery Driver (9%), Truck Driver - General (6%), Filling Line Operator (6%), Glass Production Machine Operator (5%), Tanker Driver (5%), Forklift Driver (5%), Packing Machine Oper-ator (4%), Mineral Processing Machine Operator (3%), Bulk Materials Handling Plant Operator (3%).
Elementary Occupations Chemical Plant Worker (19%), Mining Support Worker (15%), Packer - Non Per-ishable Products (11%), Commercial Cleaner (10%), Store Person (8%), Handy-person (4%), Domestic Cleaner (4%), Shelf Filler (4%), Surveyor's Assistant (2%), Electrical or Telecommunications Trades Assistant (2%).
Percentages refer to the percentage workers in the specific occupation group. Source: CHIETA data system, June 2015
At the end of March 2015 the Chemical Sector employed 11 398 people in 59 designated trades. The largest group of artisans was fitters and turners (2 530), followed by metal ma-chinists (1 481) and electricians (1 219).
At the same time there were about 19 107 employees in the Chemical Sector working in ‘green’ occupations. The largest occupational group was chemical plant controllers (7 230) people were working in this occupation) and 3 378 were chemistry technicians.
3.2.2 Hard-to-fill vacancies
Employers report, as part of their WSP submissions on occupations for which they have dif-ficulties finding suitable candidates and the number of vacancies that they find hard to fill. The total number of “hard-to-fill” vacancies reported in the period 2012 to 2015 can be seen in Table 3-2. The total number of vacancies reported is shown on the left side of the table. The number of professional vacancies dropped sharply in 2015. The number of skilled craft and related trades workers also declined in this year. At the same time there was an in-crease in the number of vacancies for technicians and associated professionals, clerical sup-port workers and plant and machine operators and assemblers.
On the right-hand side of the table the hard-to-fill vacancies are expressed as a percentage of the total number of positions in the occupational group. The percentage vacancies for managers dropped from 2.6% in 2014 to 0.7% in 2015 and vacancies for professionals dropped from 3.6% in 2014 to 1.3% in 2015. The vacancy rate for skilled craft and related trades workers (mostly artisans) remained relatively high at 5.4% in 2015.
The reasons for the shifts in vacancy numbers and vacancy rates in 2015 are not clear. This is an area that needs further investigation. A more in-depth analysis and consideration of hard-to-fill vacancies and the specific occupations in which they occur form part of the methodology used by the CHIETA to determine the skills mismatches or scarce skills in the sector. This is further discussed in Section 3.4.
33
Table 3-2 “Hard-to-fill” vacancies reported by employers: 2012 - 2015
Occupational category Number of vacancies Vacancies as % of positions*
2012 2013 2014 2015 2012 2013 2014 2015
Managers 166 251 491 148 0.8 1.3 2.6 0.7
Professionals 699 691 868 280 3.2 2.9 3.6 1.3
Technicians and associate pro-fessionals
182 412 380 557 0.6 1.3 1.2 1.7
Clerical support workers 76 52 103 381 0.5 0.3 0.6 2.4
Service and sales workers 17 37 30 84 0.5 1.0 0.8 1.4
Skilled craft and related trades workers
358 441 1 000 723 3.4 4.7 8.9 5.4
Plant and machine operators and assemblers
99 149 182 697 0.3 0.5 0.6 2.6
Elementary occupations 61 16 77 47 0.3 0.1 0.4 0.2
Total 1 658 2 049 3 131 2 917 1.1 1.3 1.9 1.8 Note: The total number of positions are taken as total employment plus the number of hard-to-fill vacancies reported. Source: CHIETA data system, June 2015
3.2.3 Wage trends
Figure 3-3 illustrates the level of-, and increase in real remuneration of employees in the Chemical Sector compared to that of employees in the total economy over the period 2004 to 2014. This information provides further evidence of the sector’s dependence on high-level skills and the overall increase in the level of skills required in the sector. The sharp in-crease in remuneration levels could be the result of a combination of factors including: the need for high-level and specialised skills that are worldwide in short supply and for which the sector has to compete in the international market; a premium that the sector has to pay for scarce Black managerial, professional and technical skills in order to meet employment equity targets and the successful bargaining power of the labour unions.
Figure 3-2 Average real remuneration per employee in the Chemical Sector and in the South African Economy: 2004 – 2014 Source: Quantec
3.2.4 Conditions of employment
The conditions of employment in the Chemical Sector are to some extent determined by the negotiations that take place in the National Bargaining Council for the Chemical Industry The
-
50 000
100 000
150 000
200 000
250 000
300 000
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Ave
rage
re
al a
nn
ual
re
mu
ne
rati
on
pe
r e
mp
loye
e (
R
20
10
pri
ces)
Chemical Sector Total Economy
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parties to the Council comprise of employer organisations in all nine subsectors and four trade unions. During the last few years, when many other sectors were severely affected by labour disputes and unrest, the Chemical Industry remained relatively stable and no indus-trial action took place in the sector (NBCCI, 2014).
An aspect of the conditions of employment in the Chemical Sector that needs to be high-lighted is the possibility of exposure to potentially dangerous substances (see Section 2.2.4). There is no evidence that this situation has an adverse effect on the sector’s ability to at-tract the right skills. However, health and safety remains an important and ever-present training priority for the sector.
3.2.5 The effect of migration on the sector
The fact that the Chemical Sector is largely affected by globalisation has been highlighted in Section 2.2.2. Although there is no statistical information available on migration trends, in the chamber discussions that preceded this SSP update, stakeholders from various subsec-tors reported that they lose highly skilled professional and technical skills to the interna-tional labour market. They also reported that the international demand for these skills drive up labour costs in the local market and contribute to the scarcity of certain skills. At the lower end of the market the opposite occurs. Companies are said to hire foreign nationals (some of whom are illegally in the country) at a much lower cost than what they would pay for South African workers.
3.3 EXTENT AND NATURE OF SUPPLY
3.3.1 Unemployed
People who are currently unemployed but were previously employed in the Chemical Sector must be considered part of the current supply of skills. The Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the fourth quarter of 2014 found 15 336 unemployed workers who had been ac-tively looking for work and who had previously worked in the Chemical Sector. It stands to reason that these workers are available for re-absorption into the sector. The extent to which they may need re-training is not known.
3.3.2 Current employees
The stock of skills available to the Chemical Sector includes the group of people that are cur-rently employed in addition to those that are currently unemployed but that are available for work. Chapter 1 of this SSP provided information on educational levels of the people cur-rently employed within the sector. As a result of the occupational composition of the Chem-ical Sector, almost half of the employees hold HET qualifications (NQF Levels 5 to 10), while just more than a third have qualifications at NQF Level 4. However, approximately 16% of the employees in the sector have not attained the NSC and as a result they may be con-strained in their career development.
Maintaining the skills levels of the employees in the sector in the face of technological and other developments and changes plus providing for career development are mainly the re-sponsibility of employers or workplaces. Companies in the Chemical Sector are involved in a range of training and development initiatives that focus on developing the skills of their em-ployees. Such initiatives supplement, but also build on, the training that supplies new skills to the sector. The training and development of the current workforce forms a critical com-
35
ponent of skills supply. In the ATRs submitted to the CHIETA in respect of the 2013/2014 fi-nancial year, employers reported that 47% of employees in the Chemical Sector had re-ceived training in that year.
Skills formation for the Chemical Sector takes many forms and takes place in the formal ed-ucation system as well as in the workplace. The various components of the skills develop-ment system is illustrated in Figure 3-5. In the General Education and Training (GET) band the most important component is the General Education and Training Certificate (GETC) at NQF level 1 which signifies the first formal qualification that can be attained. In the TVET band potential entrants to the sector qualify with the National Senior Certificate (NSC), the National Certificate Vocational (NCV) and the N1 to N6 courses that lead to National Certifi-cates (also known as the NATED courses).
In the Higher Education and Training (HET) band people qualify with first degrees in a variety of study fields relevant to this sector. Post graduate qualifications are also an important fac-tor in the supply of skills to the sector because of its dependence on research and develop-ment capabilities. The sector does not only rely on the formal education system for the sup-ply of skills. A large amount of training takes place in the workplace through in-service train-ing and through learnerships, apprenticeships, internships and work experience pro-grammes that provide the practical experience needed for certain qualifications and for pro-fessional registration. This section analyses the output from and identifies the most perti-nent constraints experienced in each component of the system.
Figure 3-3 Components of the skills development system
3.3.3 General education and training
Only 3% of the current workforce of the Chemical Sector exited the education system with-out completing the general education and training phase and another 3% have only attained an NQF Level 1 qualification – which is the General Education and Training Certificate (GETC) or an equivalent qualification.
The CHIETA is the quality assurer of several industry-specific qualifications at NQF Level 1 that provide people without formal qualifications the opportunity to obtain a formal qualifi-cation. Most of these qualifications are offered as learnerships.
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a) NATED About 40% of the employees in the Chemical Sector work as Technicians and Associate Pro-fessionals, and Plant and Machine Operators. Some of the training and development for these occupations is available at public TVET colleges. TVET colleges usually offer pro-grammes that are more closely aligned to the work environment, and these programmes generally include workplace placements.
The table below shows the examination results in Engineering studies from N1 to N6 in 2013. At all levels the pass rates were only 50% or below.
Table 3-3 Examination results in Engineering at TVET colleges: 2013
Course
Engineering studies
Correctional Private State Total
N1 Enrolled N 938 3 809 27 764 32 511
Wrote exam N 876 3 717 26 775 31 368
Passed N 261 1 747 13 432 15 440
% 30 47 50 49
N2 Enrolled N 698 13 271 56 333 70 302
Wrote exam N 676 13 088 55 486 69 250
Passed N 196 4 546 25 850 30 592
% 29 35 47 44
N3 Enrolled N 548 24 861 42 028 67 437
Wrote exam N 524 24 587 41 201 66 312
Passed N 161 7 803 18 383 26 347
% 31 32 45 40
N4 Enrolled N 292 15 612 34 226 50 130
Wrote exam N 263 15 387 33 493 49 143
Passed N 135 6 361 18 165 24 661
% 51 41 54 50
N5 Enrolled N 156 8 990 26 250 35 396
Wrote exam N 151 8 868 25 755 34 774
Passed N 72 3 878 13 458 17 408
% 48 44 52 50
N6 Enrolled N 85 6 156 18 990 25 231
Wrote exam N 83 6 079 18 642 24 804
Passed N 29 2 621 8 611 11 261
% 35 43 46 45
Source: Department of Higher Education and Training, FETMIS.
b) NCV
The National Certificates (Vocational) (NC(V)) was introduced to replace the traditional Na-tional Certificates, and provides an alternative to the NSC. Although the NC(V) qualifications are to a large extent occupationally directed, they include more fundamental educational components such as languages and life orientation. The NC(V) also provides access to some higher education programmes.
The table below shows the examination results of selected NC(V) courses at public TVET col-leges in 2013. The overall pass rates are extremely low while large numbers of students who enrolled did not even write exams.
37
Table 3-4 Examination results of selected National Certificate (Vocational) courses at TVET colleges: 2013
NCV Level Course Enrolled Wrote exam Passed
N N N %
Level 1 Civil Engineering and Building Construction 8 404 5 821 1 319 23
Electrical Infrastructure Construction 14 075 9 964 2 275 23
Engineering and Related Design 13 892 9 824 2 420 25
Mechatronics 628 509 147 29
Level 2 Civil Engineering and Building Construction 3 355 2 891 579 20
Electrical Infrastructure Construction 5 254 4 712 1 226 26
Engineering and Related Design 5 938 4 983 938 19
Mechatronics 276 259 57 22
Level 3 Civil Engineering and Building Construction 1 740 1 510 398 26
Electrical Infrastructure Construction 2 958 2 689 778 29
Engineering and Related Design 2 839 2 539 593 23
Mechatronics 194 191 56 29
Source: Department of Higher Education and Training, FETMIS.
3.3.4 Higher education and training
Table 3-5 Number of national diplomas awarded in selected engineering fields: 2010-2013
The analysis of the supply of skills at HET level is based on in-formation obtained from the Department of Education’s Higher Education Manage-ment Information System (HEMIS). This discussion focuses only on the fields of study that are most relevant to the Chem-ical Sector. It also fo-cuses on the growth
in output over the four-year period from 2010 to 2013.
Table 3-5 reports the number of national diplomas awarded in selected engineering fields between 2010 and 2013. The field with the largest numbers of qualifiers was electrical, elec-tronics and communications engineering. Output in this field showed consistent growth at an average rate of 3.1% per year.
The national diplomas awarded in chemical engineering increased on average by 8.2% while the output in mechanical and mechatronic engineering and industrial engineering increased respectively by 15.2% and 17.1% per year.
CESM Category 2010 2011 2012 2013 AAG (%)
Chemical engineering 458 444 499 580 8.2
Electrical, Electronics & Com-munications engineering 1 403 1 460 1 372 1 536 3.1
Engineering mechanics 109 109 143 180 18.1
Materials engineering 6 12 17 16 36.2
Mechanical & Mechatronic engineering 578 711 793 883 15.2
Systems engineering 13 14 17 16 7.2
Polymer/Plastics engineering 7 5 8 2 -34.1
Industrial engineering 210 200 254 336 17.1
Manufacturing engineering 27 21 16 33 7.1
Source: Department of Higher Education and Training, HEMIS
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Table 3-6 shows the number of first de-grees awarded in spe-cific engineering fields between 2010 and 2013. The fields with the largest number of graduates were elec-trical, electronics and communications engi-neering, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering and indus-trial engineering. All these fields showed
substantial growth over the four-year period.
The number of national diplomas and first degrees awarded in the field of chemistry and pharmaceutical sci-ences can be seen in Table 3-7. The na-tional diplomas in chemistry declined slightly while the first degrees in chemistry and in pharmaceuti-cal science increased substantially over the period.
Output in the fields botany/plant biology, microbiological sciences and immunology, phar-macology and toxicology and biotechnology is shown in Table 3-8. The output figures in the-se fields are relatively small and vary from year to year.
Table 3-8 Number of national diplomas and first degrees awarded in selected fields in Life Sciences: 2010 - 2013
Category Qualification 2010 2011 2012 2013 AAG (%)
Botany/Plant Biology National diploma 5 0 2 9 26.0
Three-year degree 147 105 160 140 -1.7
Microbiological Sciences & Im-munology
National diploma 42 46 52 50 5.9
Three-year degree 212 226 260 226 2.1
Pharmacology & Toxicology National diploma 29 28 23 26 -3.1
Three-year degree 33 37 72 60 21.8
Biotechnology
National diploma 136 144 154 182 10.2
Three-year degree 103 94 68 76 -9.7
Four-year degree 212 226 60 26.0
Source: Department of Higher Education and Training, HEMIS.
Table 3-6 First degrees awarded in selected engineering fields: 2010 - 2013
CESM Category 2010 2011 2012 2013 AAG (%)
Chemical engineering 515 512 631 652 8.2
Electrical, Electronics & Communications engineering 884 849 921 1 073 6.7
Engineering mechanics 68 33 38 36 -19.2
Materials engineering 35 37 29 39 4.1
Mechanical & Mechatronic engineering 755 917 1 008 1 106 13.6
Systems engineering 60 69 64 88 13.9
Polymer/Plastics engineering 10 7 18 14 11.9
Industrial engineering 343 389 431 510 14.1
Manufacturing engineering 51 34 26 27 -19.1
Source: Department of Higher Education and Training, HEMIS
Table 3-7 Number of diplomas and first degrees awarded in Chemistry and Pharmaceu-tical Science: 2001-2013
Qualification 2010 2011 2012 2013
AAG
(%)
Chemistry: National diploma 450 422 372 421 -2.2
Chemistry: First 3-year degree 360 424 471 434 6.4
Pharmaceutical science: First 4-
year degree 466 508 561 687 13.8
Source: Department of Higher Education and Training, HEMIS
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Because of the sector’s heavy reliance on research and development, the postgraduate out-put from universities and universities of technology is also very important in the analysis of supply. The HEMIS data shows that in the period 2010 to 2013 a total of 2 323 master’s de-grees were awarded in the engineering fields listed in Tables 3-5 and 3-6. From 2010 to 2013 the number of master’s degrees awarded every year has grown on average by 8.5%. Over the same period a total of 354 doctoral degrees were awarded in these fields of study with the total number of doctoral degrees increasing by 4.5% per year.
3.3.5 Workplace learning
Learning programmes that have workplace components are a very important part of the supply of skills to the Chemical Sector. These programmes are also seen as a critical compo-nent of skills formation in NSDS III – to the extent that the funding regulations have been drastically changed in favour of PIVOTAL programmes.
a) Learnerships Learnerships are highly formalised learning programmes that lead to qualifications that are registered on the NQF. Learnership contracts are registered with SETAs and the numbers of registered learners can therefore be tracked.
The number of learners enrolled in the Chemical Sector in the financial years 2009/10 to 2013/14 can be seen in Figure 3-4. The enrolment figures declined from 2009/10 to 2011/12. The figures showed a marked increase again in the last two financial years. The number of learners who were certificated increased slightly over the period. Although many of the learnerships are multi-year learnerships and the enrolment and achievement figures cannot be compared directly, the overall picture suggests that the completion rate on learnerships can be improved.
Source: CHIETA annual reports 2009/10 to 2013/14. Figure 3-4 Learnership enrolments and achievements: 2009/10 to 2013/14
b) Apprenticeships and trade tests There are currently different routes available for learners who want to become artisans:
An apprenticeship under the mentorship of a qualified artisan.
A learnership or a series of learnerships.
2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14
Enrolled 4172 3113 2494 2941 4094
Certificated 1584 1783 1587 1744 2621
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
4500
40
A learning programme that includes prescribed work experience, such as an intern-ship, after completion of the knowledge and practical components.
The accumulation of knowledge and experience over a minimum period of time while doing the work of an artisan that allows the learners too apply for recognition of prior learning (RPL).
All these routes end in a trade test which the learner must pass in order to qualify as an arti-san.
Over the four-year period from 2010/11 to 2013/14 a total of 5 529 apprentices were en-rolled in the sector and 1 767 successfully completed their trade tests. The majority of the apprentices are still in the system as the apprenticeships are multi-year learning pro-grammes.
Table 3-9 Number of learners enrolled on and completed apprenticeships: 2010/11 to 2013/14
Unemployed Employed Total
Enrolled Certificated Enrolled Certificated Enrolled Certificated
2010/11 127 87 121 181 248 268
2011/12 1 008 143 730 186 1 738 329
2012/13 1 008 252 650 167 1 658 419
2013/14 1 046 272 839 479 1 885 751
Total 3 189 754 2 340 1 013 5 529 1 767 Source: CHIETA annual reports 2009/10 to 2013/14.
c) Internships The term “internship” is often used loosely to refer to workplace training that differs in for-mat and duration. In most instance internships don’t lead to formal qualifications and they are not always formally reported. For this reason there is not reliable information available on the number of interns that receive training in and for the sector.
d) Workplace experience programmes Workplace experience programmes are programmes that provide students enrolled for the National Certificates offered by the public TVET colleges and students enrolled at universi-ties of technology with the necessary work experience to complete their qualifications. The term also includes the workplace experience required for professional registration in certain professions, for example the candidate programmes for engineers, technologists and tech-nicians.
At this stage there is no time series data available on the number of students who graduate on the National Diploma (i.e. after completion of the workplace component of their stud-ies). Engineers who want to register as professional engineers with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) have to complete a candidate programme of at least three years. Dur-ing this period they have to be registered as candidate engineers with ECSA and they have to acquire a set of competencies through work experience as specified by ECSA.
e) In-service training The vast majority of training interventions sponsored by employers are short courses – some of which are accredited because they lead to unit standards that are registered on the NQF, but the majority are non-accredited. According to the Annual Training Reports submit-ted for the 2014/15 financial year, employers in the Chemical Sector spent almost R500 mil-
41
lion on non-accredited occupational directed programmes, accredited skills programmes and other short courses.
3.3.6 Supply problems experienced in the sector
a) Career guidance
Career guidance is of critical importance to ensure a steady flow of learners into the Chemi-cal Sector and specifically into the occupations where there are current or potential future shortages. South Africa faces many challenges in relation to the delivery of career guidance. An aspect of career guidance that poses particular challenges is guiding learners towards learnerships. Learnerships can only be entered once the learner has gained access to a workplace. At this stage there is no central source of information on learnership positions available to potential learners and learners generally struggle to find work placements.
b) The quality of education at school level
The quality of school education in South Africa, and in particular the low standard of Maths and Science teaching is one of the most important supply-side constraints facing the Chemi-cal Sector (Viewpoints of stakeholders in the CHIETA Chambers, 2015). At the root of the supply of skills to the Chemical Sector lies the quality of mathematics and science education at school level and the number of learners who pass the NSC with the required marks in these two subjects and with the ability to master post-school studies in chemical-related fields. Over the period 2008 to 2011 the number of learners who passed grade 12 with at least 40% for maths dropped by almost ten per cent and those with at least 40% in physical science dropped by almost two per cent (Department of Basic Education, 2013). Although there was improvement in 2012 and 2013 it is very likely that the effect of this drop will have an effect on the graduate output of the higher education system in the next few years. It will also have an effect on the skills situation in the sector as many of the study fields that lead to occupations in which skills shortages are experienced require grade 12 maths and science.
c) The TVET college sector
The public TVET colleges play a crucial role in the training of artisans and some of the other technical personnel for the Chemical Sector. At present, the range of NC(V) qualifications relevant to the Chemical Sector is limited, and for this reason the Sector relies to a large ex-tent on the old National Certificates (also referred to as the NATED courses). Anecdotal evi-dence also indicates that employers understand and prefer the old qualifications over the new ones and that learners qualifying with NC(V) qualifications experience greater difficulty to find employment. However, according to a report made to Parliament’s Higher Education and Training Portfolio Committee by the Department of Higher Education and Training, 100% of all bursary funding is allocated to NC(V) studies. This severely constrains the op-tions available to learners who are dependent on financial aid, should they wish to pursue studies in fields relevant to the Chemical Sector.
The low throughput rates on the NATED courses cited earlier in this chapter is another rea-son for concern. These courses provide in many instances the theoretical components of artisan training programmes and the high failure rates inhibit the production of sufficient numbers of artisans. Private TVET colleges are marked by uneven quality among providers, which poses many challenges to the organisations responsible for quality assurance. Many colleges suffer from similar problems as those experienced in the public colleges. The DHET
42
(2011) explains that the college sector is viewed as small and weak and unable to absorb significantly large numbers of students or to attain acceptable levels of throughput. The col-lege sector is hampered by insufficient and unequally distributed resources, inadequate in-frastructure, insufficient student financial aid, inadequate caliber of staff and poor govern-ance, administration and intra-institutional relations.
d) The Higher Education Sector
The output from the higher education sector has increased substantially in the last number of years. The growth in engineering graduates is particularly encouraging. However, it is im-portant that the higher education sector should remain in touch with the needs of industry. In several of the CHIETA chamber workshops that preceded this SSP stakeholders voiced the opinion that there is not enough interaction between the higher education institutions and industry and that curricula are not sufficiently aligned to industry needs and requirements.
e) Infrastructure development
A need for infrastructure development in learning institutions has been recognized by the CHIETA to better the results in the quality of learners for the labour market. The develop-ment has been disproportionate favoring urban areas and those institutions that generate enough income to reinvest over and above their running cost. These learning institutions that are lacking behind infrastructure development consequently have a negative impact on learners’ up-to-date and sector relevant learning experiences and qualification. The NDP has noted the need for infrastructure development in schools as well as addressing the disad-vantaged rural institutions that need considerable attention. The CHIETA in partnership with the National Skills Fund will be looking more closely at infrastructure development for the TVET, UoTs and Universities.
f) Work integrated learning
Work integrated learning, in the context of this SSP refers to formal learning programmes with work experience components. This includes qualifications that contain periods of workplace experience in the curriculum (for example the NATED courses and most of the qualifications offered by universities of technology), internships and workplace experience required before graduates can register as professionals, learnerships and apprenticeships. The most pressing challenge with regard to work integrated learning is obtaining access to workplaces. The DHET (2012) estimated that approximately 65% of students at TVET colleg-es are unable to find workplace experience which is required to complete N diplomas. That means that these students cannot complete their qualifications. The lack of workplace placements is a complex issue that will only be resolved through a multi-pronged approach whereby employers are educated about the need for, advantages of and the requirements of workplace placements; whereby they are incentivized to take on learners and learner placements become institutionalised in workplaces and whereby strong linkages are built between educational institutions and workplaces.
g) Transition between education and the labour market
The majority of new entrants to the labour market find it difficult to obtain first entry. One of the reasons is that more often than not employers prefer people who have some work experience to those without prior exposure to the work environment. Work integrated learning is one of the mechanisms designed to facilitate the transition from school or post school education into the labour market. However, as mentioned above, South Africa faces
43
many challenges in this regard. Besides these there is also a need to assist new entrants to obtain a first job. Stakeholders pointed out that the transition between education and fur-ther learning opportunities and the labour market is an even more serious challenge for learners from special schools who complete their schooling with a practical grade 12 certifi-cate. For them there is no clear route into the sector or into training programmes that are relevant to the sector.
h) Lack of articulation
The vertical, lateral and diagonal movement of learners through the formal education and training system remains a challenge. A lack of articulation between qualifications limits learners’ access to training programmes, their progression through learning pathways and, ultimately their mobility in the labour market. The largest stumbling blocks seem to be the lack of articulation between the old SGB qualifications (which are in the process of being replaced by QCTO qualifications) and the higher education qualifications; the NCV and NAT-ED courses and higher education qualifications; and between the qualifications conferred by the universities of technology and those conferred by the universities.
i) Professional registration and Government Certificates of Competency (GCC)
The professional registration of engineers is currently not compulsory. However, for many engineering positions in the Chemical Sector professional registration is a prerequisite be-cause of health and safety or other legislative requirements. The supply of professionally registered engineers is hampered by the fact that a large percentage of engineering gradu-ates enter the labour market and continue working without entering or completing the can-didate phase of the learning pathway towards professional registration.
Engineers who want to register as professional engineers with ECSA have to complete a candidate programme of at least three years. During this period they have to be registered as candidate engineers with ECSA and they have to acquire a set of competencies through work experience as specified by ECSA. In the 2012/2013 financial year only 406 engineers completed their candidate programmes and registered as professional engineers and only 178 registered as technologists (ECSA, 2013). If this is compared to the number of graduates who qualified with four-year engineering degrees three years earlier (HEMIS, 2009) then it seems as if only 14% of graduates actually registered. Of the 7 016 candidate engineers on ECSA’s register at the end of the 2012/2013 financial year 1 459 (21%) had been registered as candidates for four to five years and another 1 824 (26%) had been registered for six years or longer (ECSA, 2013).
There are multiple reasons for this situation including a lack of suitable work placements and mentorship. In some instances engineers are also required to obtain the Government Certificate of Competency (GCC). However, the pass rates of the exams that lead to this cer-tificate are notoriously low. One of the factors contributing to the low pass rates is a short-age of training providers who can prepare candidates for the exams.
3.4 IDENTIFICATION OF SCARCE SKILLS AND SKILLS GAPS
3.4.1 Scarce skills
For the CHIETA it is important to monitor mismatches in the sectoral labour market on a continuous basis. One way of doing so is to communicate with employers about their expe-riences with recruitment and finding the skills that they require. The annual mandatory
44
grant applications provide the SETA with the opportunity to obtain this kind of information from employers across the whole sector in a systematic and consistent manner. For this rea-son the grant applications include a table regarding scarce skills that employers need to fill in.
Scarce skills identification methodology 3.4.1.1
In the scarce-skills table employers first name the occupation in which they experience scar-city, they then select from two possible descriptions the one that best describes the scarcity they experience– i.e. “relative scarce skill” (referring to a situation where people who are available in the labour market do not meet other employment criteria of the company such as employment equity considerations or cannot be attracted due to the geographical loca-tion of the company); and “absolute scarce skill” (where people are generally in short supply in the labour market). For all the occupations in which scarcity is experienced employers al-so have to indicate how many vacancies were available at the time they completed the mandatory grant application (also known as the workplace skills plan (WSP).
In the WSPs submitted in March 2015 28% of the employers reported that they experienced skills shortages in the sense that they could not find suitable people to fill positions in their organisations. As explained in Section 3.2.2 the total number of vacancies reported was 2 917; this equates to 1.8 % of the total number of positions in the sector. Employers identi-fied a total of 112 occupations in which they experienced scarcity. However, the overall im-pression is that the Chemical Sector is not experiencing major skills shortages, but that scar-city is being experienced more at the specialisation level within key occupations. The majori-ty of the occupations were identified by only a few employers and in many of them the va-cancy rates were quite low. In order to prioritise the skills that are in short supply in the sec-tor a shortened list of scarce skills occupations was developed. This list can be seen in Table 3-10.
This list was selected by applying the following criteria: more than 2 employers identified it as a scarce skill, more than 5 vacancies existed in the sector, and the vacancies comprise more than 2% of employment in the occupation. The table provides information on the total number of people employed in each occupation, the number of employers who identified it as a scarce skill, the number of vacancies reported by employers and vacancies as percent-age of the total number of positions in the occupation. The table also indicates whether or not the particular occupation was identified as a scarce skill in 2014, whether it is a scarce skill on the SIPS list, whether it was funded through CHIETA discretionary grants in the pre-vious financial year and whether it occurs on the National Scarce Skills list published by the DHET in May 2014.
The occupations on the list have been ranked according to a weighting system that takes into consideration the vacancy rate, whether employers have motivated for funding for training in or for that occupation in the previous two financial years, whether the occupa-tion appears on the SIPS scarce skills list, whether it occurs on the national scarce skills list and whether it is a cross-sectoral scarce skill in the Chemical Sector.
45
Table 3-10 List of scarce skills in the Chemical Sector: 2015 U
nit
Gro
up
Co
de
Occ
up
atio
n C
od
e
OFO Occupation Name
NQ
F Le
vel
Nu
mb
er
of
Org
anis
atio
ns
Tota
l We
igh
ted
Vac
anci
es
Nu
mb
er
of
pe
op
le e
mp
loye
d i
n t
he
occ
up
atio
n a
cro
ss t
he
se
cto
r
Tota
l Po
siti
on
s (V
acan
cie
s +
Em
-
plo
yed
)
Vac
ancy
Rat
e (
%)
SIP
S
Nat
ion
al S
carc
e S
kills
Lis
t 2
01
4
DG
Fu
nd
ed
in 2
01
3-1
4
DG
Fu
nd
ed
in 2
01
4-1
5
CH
IETA
20
14
Sca
rce
Ski
lls S
ub
mis
-
sio
ns
6512 651202 Welder 2-4 2 163 312 476 34.3 YES YES YES YES YES
6712 671202 Millwright 2-4 7 26 1125 1150 2.2 YES YES YES YES YES
2145 214501 Chemical Engineer 8-10 12 33 468 501 6.7 YES YES YES YES YES
2144 214401 Mechanical Engineer 7-9 5 11 247 258 4.4 YES YES YES YES YES
6711 671101 Electrician 2-4 8 33 1219 1252 2.7 YES YES YES YES YES
1219 121905 Programme or Project Manager 5-7 3 10 480 490 2.0 YES YES YES YES YES
6426 642607 Pipe Fitter 2-4 3 327 18 345 94.7 YES NO NO NO YES
5411 541101 Fire Fighter 2-4 6 49 150 198 24.6 YES NO YES YES YES
3118 311801 Draughtsperson 2-4 3 10 162 172 5.7 YES YES NO NO YES
3339 333905 Supply Chain Practitioner 6-7 6 16 603 619 2.5 YES NO YES YES YES
2131 213110 Medical Scientist 7-10 2 7 241 248 2.8 NO YES YES YES YES
3121 312101 Production / Operations Supervisor (Mining) 4-6 2 8 379 387 2.1 YES NO YES YES YES
1223 122301 Research and Development Manager 7-10 4 6 265 270 2.0 NO YES NO YES YES
2113 211301 Chemist 7-8 11 37 580 617 5.9 NO NO YES YES YES
3116 311601 Chemical Engineering Technician 6-7 9 16 70 85 18.4 NO NO YES YES YES
2433 243301 Sales Representative / Salesman (Industrial Products) 4-6 13 52 2229 2282 2.3 NO NO YES YES YES
7344 734402 Forklift Driver 2 8 54 1241 1295 4.2 NO NO YES YES YES
7342 734201 Earthmoving Plant Operator (General) 2 3 33 285 318 10.4 YES NO NO NO YES
46
Un
it G
rou
p C
od
e
Occ
up
atio
n C
od
e
OFO Occupation Name
NQ
F Le
vel
Nu
mb
er
of
Org
anis
atio
ns
Tota
l We
igh
ted
Vac
anci
es
Nu
mb
er
of
pe
op
le e
mp
loye
d i
n t
he
occ
up
atio
n a
cro
ss t
he
se
cto
r
Tota
l Po
siti
on
s (V
acan
cie
s +
Em
-
plo
yed
)
Vac
ancy
Rat
e (
%)
SIP
S
Nat
ion
al S
carc
e S
kills
Lis
t 2
01
4
DG
Fu
nd
ed
in 2
01
3-1
4
DG
Fu
nd
ed
in 2
01
4-1
5
CH
IETA
20
14
Sca
rce
Ski
lls S
ub
mis
-
sio
ns
3139 313916 Manufacturing Production Technicians 6-7 2 140 62 202 69.2 NO NO YES YES NO
2263 226301 Environmental Health Officer 6 9 28 23 51 54.5 NO NO YES YES NO
6533 653303 Mechanical Fitter 2-4 5 36 981 1017 3.5 NO NO YES YES YES
6533 653306 Diesel Mechanic 2-4 4 15 202 217 7.1 NO NO YES YES YES
3213 321301 Pharmaceutical Technician 6 6 32 167 198 16.0 NO NO YES YES YES
1439 143905 Call or Contact Centre Manager 5-7 5 14 52 66 21.1 NO NO NO NO YES
1349 134902 Laboratory Manager 6-8 5 9 261 270 3.4 NO NO NO YES YES
3111 311102 Physical Science Technician 6 5 16 583 599 2.6 NO NO NO YES YES
4321 432101 Stock Clerk / Officer 2-4 2 51 1603 1654 3.1 NO NO YES NO YES
3139 313913 Chemical Waste Controller 4 2 22 9 31 70.5 NO NO NO NO NO
3322 332207 Chemical Sales Representative 5-6 8 39 734 774 5.1 NO NO NO NO YES
3257 325706 Ammunition Technician 5-7 5 121 700 821 14.7 NO NO NO NO YES Source: WSP submissions, March 2015 and 2014, CHIETA system DG Funding, SIPS list, DHET, Top 100 Scarce Skills. Note: The vacancy rates have been rounded off to the nearest whole number. The glaring outliers have not been removed from this table; the CHIETA will be doing further investigations to understand the nuances.
47
It must be noted that the scarce skills list does not represent the entire sector’s skills needs or priorities; neither engages holistically the nuances of scarcity or shortages. Thus the CHIETA does not only utilize the scarce skills identified in a particular year as the only basis for priority funding. To prioritise occupations for funding, the CHIETA factors guidance from the governance structure, research conducted for the SSP, which involves the analysis of sector skills demand through WSPs and discretionary grant applications, and scarce skills needs identified from strategic national development plans and initiatives.3
The scarce skills information submitted through the WSPs does not always reflect all the nu-ances of skills shortages. In some instances the scarcity pertains only to a particular speciali-sation in an occupation or to people with very specific specialised skills. The OFO, which is used for the submission of scarce skills information in the WSPs, does not distinguish be-tween true specialisations (i.e. additional or specific tasks that need to be performed in an occupation) and alternative titles used for that occupation. To better understand all the nu-ances of skills shortages, and to get a full understanding of scarcity and shortages from a chamber and regional perspective the CHIETA consults stakeholders widely through regional skills forums and chamber meetings. The quantitative scarce skills list should be read in con-junction with the qualitative information acquired from stakeholder engagements.
In the 2015 chamber consultative meetings stakeholders identified the following specific skills needs:
The Glass subsector needs glass makers and various technicians;
The Explosives and Fertilisers chamber identified the need for people with the nec-essary blasting qualifications in surface mining;
Most of the subsectors need engineering skills – professional engineers, technolo-gists and technicians and artisans as well scientists from various disciplines;
The Petroleum subsector needs petroleum geoscientists (who require knowledge of petroleum geology and petroleum geophysics), petrophysicist or petrophysical engi-neers, analyser technicians, risk-based engineers, corrosion engineers, reservoir en-gineers, petroleum engineers, refinery economists, pressurised equipment inspec-tors, lead control systems engineers/designers, occupational hygienists, offshore in-stallation managers, rotating equipment engineers, and mechanical engineers (with GCC – mines).
If shale gas exploration comes off the ground there will be a need for drilling engi-neers and geophysicists, geologists, geochemists, reservoir engineers, petrophysi-cists, production and completion engineers, economists and SHEQ consultants.
Scarcity is sometimes linked to a critical element of an occupation, for example the glass subsector reported that a selected number of glaziers also need to be qualified scaffolders as in the execution of their jobs they work extensively on and with scaffolding and need to take responsibility for their own safety and for that of their co-workers.
The fact that many engineers do not complete their candidate programmes and do not reg-ister as professional engineers, leads to shortages in positions that require professional reg-istration. Similarly there is a shortage of engineers with the government certificate of com-petency.
3 Refer to Annexure A containing the CHIETA PIVOTAL/PRIORITY Occupations Matrix
48
The reporting of scarce skills against OFO codes does not always suffice to signal the type of skills that the educational system needs to produce. Due to the technical nature of certain occupations, qualified engineers, pharmacists or medical doctors are appointed – even though the occupational names do not reflect the fact that qualified professionals are re-quired. For example, in many instances the sales occupations in the Chemical Sector require high levels of technical knowledge and employers may appoint professionally qualified peo-ple in these occupations.
Another aspect of skills shortages that needs to be borne in mind is the need to replace people who retire. In certain occupations advanced industry skills are required and people who retire are replaced from the ranks of other occupations. In occupations such as the reg-istered trades, artisans who retire have to be replaced by people who have passed the rele-vant trade tests. That means that the number of people who pass the trade tests each year should at least be equal to the number who are about to retire (that is if the sector wants to provide for its own needs and doesn’t want to rely on other sectors to train artisans). How-ever, in most of the registered trades there are already shortages and for this reason the number of new qualifiers have to exceed the number of people who are about to retire.
3.4.2 Skills gaps (general and cross-cutting skills needs)
The CHIETA does not only have a responsibility to intervene in the supply of skills to ensure that current skills shortages are addressed. The SETA also needs to attend to a number of cross-cutting and general skills – many of which involve large portions of the existing work-force. These skills needs include the following.
a) Core chemical skills including specialist/contextual knowledge
Information received from the sector on scarce skills indicates that in many of the main scarce skills areas, there is a high level of specialist or contextual skills and knowledge re-quired. Skills shortages cannot be overcome by simply increasing the number of graduates in the relevant fields of study. Specialised knowledge is obtained through workplace experi-ence and through advanced training programmes that are aimed at those areas of speciali-sation. In many instances these specialised courses are only available in the international arena and can only be accessed through courses that are offered abroad or through e-learning and other forms of distance education.
Each subsector employs a small number of specialists in a given field relevant to that specific subsector. For example Glass Architects are architects who have specialised in the technicalities of glass. Flavourists (employed in the FMCG Subsector) are specialists who are able to discern flavours in food, perfumes etcetera. Engineers specialising in explosives is another example.
The number of people needed in these occupations is usually very small but these people are key to the businesses within those industries. The Chemical Sector needs to ensure a sufficient supply of these skills as they are critical to operations in companies – even though they are not listed as scarce skills.
b) Management and leadership development
The supply of competent managers is a key aspect of skills development in any industry. The Chemical Sector employs a range of managers in specialised technical fields. These manag-ers are mostly sourced from the ranks of experienced professionals in the sector. Technically skilled people therefore need to develop additional managerial skills. A few managerial posi-
49
tions are included in the list of scarce skills provided in Section 3.5. Management develop-ment should, however, not only focus on these occupations, but should provide for a steady flow of new management talent available to the sector. The managers in the sector are gen-erally the oldest occupational category and their replacement demand is higher than that of other occupational groups.
The need for soft skills training for high level science and technical professionals has emerged as a skills need in the sector. The transition from a scientist to a leader of scientists requires soft skills training and sometimes specialised management training that available management and leadership development programmes do not cover. Management devel-opment is also needed to improve the race and gender equity profile of managers in the sector.
c) Professional skills needs
Professional skills are crucial to the Chemical Sector. Stakeholders continuously complain about the disjunction between the types of skills being produced particularly by the higher education institutions and the needs of the workplace. The CHIETA continues to build on the partnerships already established with HEIs to understand this better and to explore ways of overcoming some of the problems experienced. The focus of the work is in areas where there are likely to be immediate shortages because of the imminent retirement of experi-enced professionals, as well as in areas or fields of study that are relevant to and can con-tribute to environmental protection. The supply of professionals is particularly important for the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries which are likely to experience rapid expansion if the IPAP projects come to fruition and for the Petroleum subsector which stands to grow as a result of shale gas exploration and extraction and the building of the new oil refinery.
d) Environment
Apart from general attitudes and an environmental orientation that needs to be cultivated in the sector, specific skills also need to be developed to assist the sector in its quest for en-vironmentally responsible operations. The need for environmental consideration is not lim-ited to the Chemical Sector and the CHIETA. All sectors of the economy and all SETAs have to take environmental issues in consideration. To assist SETAs in this regard, the Depart-ment of Environmental Affairs compiled an enabling document as an input into SSP process-es. The following key points are relevant to the Chemical Sector:
Many subsectors of the Chemical Sector make use of non-renewable natural resources. En-suring sustainable availability and consumption of natural resources should be a key consid-eration to the sector. Specific skills are needed to manage access and consumption. Strate-gic planning skills are needed to optimise the utilisation of extracted resources.
Diminishing fresh water supplies have led to increasing pressure on large-scale water users in the chemicals, plastics and pharmaceutical sectors. More stringent regulatory limits on the discharge of organic compounds make compliance more difficult and costly to achieve with conventional treatment processes. Skills related to water treatment and conservation is therefore very important to this sector.
Another area of specialisation relevant to several of the professions employed in the Chemi-cal Sector is the development of cleaner production processes, including the reduction of air pollution. The South African Government has committed itself to drastically reduce carbon emissions. The chemical industry’s goals in this regard are to reduce its own emissions by
50
improving its processes and to encourage the use of chemical products that create a net re-duction of carbon emissions along the value chain.
Recycling also forms part of the improvement of the sector’s performance in terms of envi-ronmental impact. Recycling is an area where the chemical industry needs to engage with communities and it provides opportunities for outreach programmes and for skills develop-ment (and even enterprise development) in poor communities. One example of recycling of chemical products is the recycling of glass.
The Glass Subsector is engaged in the recycling of cullet (recycled glass). Recycling of cullet benefits the environment in that it supplements raw material, saves energy through lower melting temperatures, conserves landfill space thus benefitting the lifespan of sites and re-duces litter. At the same time recycling projects help with job creation. The skills needs in this area pertain specifically to micro and informal businesses. Glass collectors need to be trained to prepare the cullet in the right format and size before offering it for sale. Various other areas still need to be explored, for example the recycling or use of left-over paint.
e) Health and safety
Occupational health and safety remains a key priority for the sector. This includes health and safety as a cross cutting skills need in all occupations as well as in relation to specialist occupations and roles. A relatively large proportion (31%) of environmental and occupa-tional health inspectors are likely to retire in the next five years and as this is a critical occu-pation in the Chemical Sector, specific attention needs to be given to the training of a large enough group of people to feed into this occupation.
A major need for the Chemical Sector is hazardous materials handling, and ammonia han-dling in the fertilisers and explosives subsector and transportation of hazardous materials by truck drivers.
f) Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)
RPL forms an important part of artisan training and for this reason it remains a need in the sector.
g) Foundational learning
Employees who do not yet have qualifications at NQF Level 1 or who have qualifications at Levels 1 to 3 – need to have access to programmes which will enable them to complete foundational learning. Stakeholders emphasised the need for more foundational learning programmes in the sector. This includes the National Senior Certificate for Adults (NASCA), also known as the ‘second chance matric’, Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET), Foun-dational Learning Competence (FLC) and relevant bridging programmes.
3.4.3 The impact of shortages on firms
At this stage the CHIETA doesn’t have empirical information on the impact of skills shortages on firms in the sector. It was mentioned earlier in this SSP that shortages, and especially shortages of highly skilled Black people are driving up labour costs in the sector and they are stifling the transformation of the sector. Future Government initiatives may also be stifled by skills shortages. It is for this reason that the CHIETA has to retain a long-term and holistic view of the total skills pipeline and ensure a constant flow of skills (at all levels and in all the relevant disciplines) to the sector.
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3.5 CONCLUSIONS
The analysis presented in this chapter and in previous chapters highlights the fact that, al-though employment the Chemical Sector is not currently growing very rapidly, there are var-ious Government initiated projects and plans in place that may stimulate the growth of the sector and increase the demand for skills. There is, however, still some uncertainty about the timelines and the real effect that these initiatives will have on the skills demand in the sector. Overall the skills levels of the sector are rising and the skills demands tend to shift towards higher level skills. This trend as well as the competition from the local and interna-tional labour markets and the shortage of highly skilled Black people drives up wages in the sector.
The CHIETA takes a holistic view of the skills development pipeline and in this chapter the key elements of the pipeline have been identified and analysed. At the GET level the supply of skills to the pipeline is constrained by the poor quality of school education and the rela-tively low numbers of learners who exit the system with maths and science. These deficien-cies in the system have a ripple effect on the throughput rates in the post school education system. They also put an additional strain on the post school education and training system because of the bridging and other extra inputs required to help students through their courses. The TVET college system is very important to the Chemical Sector. However, throughput rates in this system are notoriously low and industry view the system as weak and not properly aligned to industry needs and requirements.
Over the last few years the output of the higher education sector has been growing strongly in fields of study that are most relevant to this sector. It is especially in the engineering field that the growth figures are high. However, various factors still lead to a disjuncture between the demand for engineering skills and the supply thereof. One is a lack of alignment be-tween industry requirements and the curricula of the higher education institutions. Another is the fact that engineers qualify and start working without completing their candidacy train-ing and registration with ECSA. Employers in the sector identify and report skills shortages to the CHIETA on a regular basis. Most of the shortages experienced in the sector are for professional engineers and scientists, as well as artisans, whose training takes several years. It is therefore necessary that the CHIETA takes a long-term view in terms of its skills devel-opment initiatives and interventions.
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4. SECTOR PARTNERSHIPS
4.1 INTRODUCTION
A partnership can be defined as an arrangement where parties, in the SETAs case stake-holders, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The NSDS III refers to part-nerships as being a collective responsibility between stakeholders - government, business, trade unions, constituency bodies SETAs, public bodies, employers, trade and professional bodies, public and private training providers, community-based organisations, cooperatives and NGOs, and that partnerships are critical to achieving the aspirations of a higher eco-nomic growth and development, higher productivity and a skilled and capable workforce to support a skills revolution in our country. Further to that, it alludes that a partnership re-quires that we improve the linkages between universities, colleges, SETAs and employers, particularly at a national and local level. This includes promoting training to meet the needs of both public and private sector employers and increased university research collaboration with industry. Partnerships should also be extended to building international links as well as supporting the role of community partnerships in planning and delivering local employment and skills support services.
The CHIETA has fully embraced this partnership approach and seen the value in the imple-mentation of skills development projects and interventions utilising this partnership ap-proach. The success of the CHIETA can be largely contributed to functioning and successful partnerships across the skills development value chain.4 Traditionally, partnerships have been viewed mainly as comprising of funding from the SETAs, however, the CHIETA research and analysis (Sub-Sector SSP 2013 workshop) and stakeholder inputs have alluded to a more collaborative process in skills development.
4.2 THE CHIETA PARTNERSHIP MODEL
The CHIETA utilizes a structured approach that provides a way to leverage the unique skills and expertise of each stakeholder. Stakeholders with shared interests and mutual benefits are brought together to achieve alignment. The CHIETA acts as the coordinator, funder, and facilitator in the process. The advantage of the model is that it leads to correct identification of supply side and demand side needs for fit for purpose projects and project outcomes. The role played by the CHIETA’s constitutional structures and stakeholders in the skills planning process and scarce skills identification forms part of the successful partnership model for skills planning. CHIETA’ s governance structures, inclusive of stakeholder constituencies, are central to skills planning, including the development and finalisation of the SSP Update, Strategic Plan and Annual Performance Plan.
4.3 EXISTING PARTNERSHIPS
4.3.1 The state of existing partnerships in the CHIETA
The CHIETA has partnerships with stakeholders across the skills development value chain. A few successful projects implemented utilising this approach is singled out for purposes of
4 The CHIETA counts signed Memorandum of Agreements with 37 TVETs, UoTs and Universities.
53
this chapter. Partnerships that depict linkages with other SETAs, programme delivery part-nerships, and industry –institution partnerships are reported on. For the 2015/ 16 skills de-velopment year the SETA has existing Memorandum of Agreements for skills development interventions and implementations with 6 Universities in the Eastern Cape, Free State , Gauteng, Limpopo and Western Cape.
Support at university level is mainly in research and in graduate and post graduate funding. The CHIETA is also establishing relationships with the new universities in the Northern Cape, Gauteng and Mpumalanga. Partnerships currently exist with 7 Universities of Technologies (UoTs) in the Free State, Gauteng, Kwa-Zulu Natal and the Western Cape. The support of-fered includes undergraduate and graduate support, customised capacity building of exist-ing sector employees and stakeholders and work integrated learning. The CHIETA has a presence in all the 9 provinces in South Africa with partnerships with 25 TVET colleges. TVETs in provinces with the most employment in the sector are accredited as trade test cen-tres and all offer the CHIETA approved learning programmes.
4.3.2 Industry Institution Partnership
Industry role players came together to find solutions to the scarce and critical skills of coded welders in South Africa. The aim was to find ways to reduce costs associated with the train-ing and employment of coded welders and to curb the influx of a large contingent of foreign national workers coming into South Africa as coded welders.
The CHIETA was invited by the industry to respond to identified skills needs. Industry allud-ed to a need for a part qualification to respond to the identified scarcity and criticality of coded welders in the sector. To respond to the needs the CHIETA set up a committee that included companies, training providers, and the government. The committee developed an industry led skills programme for single and coded welders based on unit standards from existing CHIETA accredited learnerships. The CHIETA then acted as a quality assurer and provided funding for the project through Hydra Arch at the training provider. The pro-gramme was designed and developed in a coordinated partnership through the committee called the Technical Artisan Committee.
The CHIETA partnership approach was adopted by the government in the implementation of SIP 1 in Lephalale TVET College and for the Medupi power station. `The success of the pro-ject can be attributed to the commitment of employers. Another successful industry institu-tion project has been the CHIETA, Sasol and Flavius Mareka TVET college partnership in Sa-solburg in the Free State. The aim of the partnership project was to provide training oppor-tunities to learners in the College. Learnerships have been supported so that these learners can obtain an industry-related occupational qualification combined with improving their ed-ucational qualifications.
The learners had a combined learning approach of theory and workplace, assisted through bursaries in Chemical Operations and Welding learnerships that are registered on the Na-tional Qualification Framework (NQF). Some of the benefits of the partnership include the upskilling of TVET College lecturers; career guidance for unemployed youth, training for the world of work. The initiative is aligned to the NSDS III, the National Skills Accord, the White Paper for Post School Education and Training, and the National Development Plan. The Fla-
54
vius Mareka project has been a flagship industry institution partnership project, and is being used as a blueprint in the rolling out of similar partnership projects in other regions.
Industry involvement and partnership has again been at the forefront of the project’s suc-cess. Sasol’s support of the college during the programme, as well as their training staff who worked closely with the college staff for both training and assessment, ensured the sustain-ability of the project.
4.3.3 Linkages with other SETAs
The CHIETA partnered with the University of the Witwatersrand’s School of Education’s Cen-tre for Researching Education and Labour (REAL) and MerSETA in a strategic SETA-university research partnership project to implement new masters, doctoral and post-doctoral pro-gramme under the title of Sectors, Skills and Economic Evolution in South Africa. This cross-sectoral collaboration promotes partnerships for both sectoral and national interests. This project is strategically aligned to CHIETA’s priorities and plans. Such partnerships are in di-rect support of CHIETA’s SSP, strategic plan and Annual Performance Plan, and support uni-versities that offer innovative relevant programmes that contribute to building a credible institutional mechanism for skills planning for relevance. Furthermore the programme is well aligned to the changing skills planning environment envisaged in the White Paper for Post School Education and Training
CHIETA’s support of this initiative positions the SETA well in relation to NSDS IV and beyond, with the understanding that University possesses the necessary education, labour market and industrial policy expertise required by the two SETAs to generate sufficient knowledge about the manufacturing and chemicals sectors required for strategic planning purposes in the SETA and to train future officials for the SETA skills planning system. The REAL post-graduate education and training programme seeks to develop a number of highly skilled people with a number of expert skills in formulating industrial policy and defining skills de-velopment strategies for key sectors of the economy. The project prioritises the following sectors:
Advanced manufacturing for Nuclear, advanced materials and aerospace;
The green economy, renewable energy and bio-fuels;
Mining and technology innovation;
Agriculture and agro-processing;
Chemicals and the fluoro-chemical sub-sector, plastics, pharmaceuticals;
Metals fabrication, capital and transport equipment sectors, ‘fleet’ procurement;
Automotive products and components, and medium and heavy commercial vehicles;
Clothing, textiles, footwear and leather;
Forestry, paper, pulp and furniture as chemical processes;
Cultural industries
The research skills to be developed include:
Expertise of priority sectors in the national economy;
Strong planning skills in drafting medium to long-term growth strategies for key sec-tors of the economy;
Through their research, the ability to understand the importance of ‘partnerships’ between education and training institutions and industry players in the development of THE economy.
55
A total of up to 8 sectoral dissertations produced over a period of two and three years will provide an important source of strategic intelligence for the SETAs and nationally for skills planning community, and contribute to future Sector Skills Plans. In addition the chemical related sectoral studies will provide valuable TVET information on “firm-level learning’’.
4.3.4 Outputs of partnerships
CHIETA has achieved and exceeded on all ten strategic programme baseline targets. All tar-gets in terms of the 2014/15 Service Level Agreement between the Governing Board and DHET were exceeded and demonstrated the value add of CHIETA as a business partner to Government and Industry. All fifty three (53)-performance indicators/targets as per the ap-proved APP 2014/15 were achieved or exceeded. 34 (61%) performance indicators out of the 53 were exceeded. Important features of the CHIETA 2014/15 organisational perfor-mance report are:
A total of 26 217 learners (employed and unemployed) were supported by CHIETA in 2014/15.
From the total learners participated 12 891 (49%) were employed and 13 326 (51%) unemployed learners.
A total number of 7892 (36%) learners was certified From the total learners that participated 23 633 (90%) were forthcoming from desig-
nated groups From the total learners participated 9180 (35 %) were female learners. From the total learners participated 20147 (77 %) were youth (≤ 35 years). From the total number of learners who participated 267 (1%) were disabled learners. From the total number of unemployed learners participated 11 185 (87 %) were
forthcoming from rural areas. With regard to rural learners CHIETA has a strong footprint in KZN, Gauteng, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Free State, Limpopo and Mpumalanga. CHIETA recognised the fact that different methodology exists to classi-fy rural learners. In the CHIETA context learner records were assessed taking cogni-sance of the municipal nodal districts which is indicative of rural areas and distin-guishing in our view between urban and these nodal areas.
CHIETA skills development interventions was done across 5334 local municipality dis-tricts of which 2202 (41%) are rural nodal districts. This further illustrates how the CHIETA pursued its developmental initiatives with a transformational agenda in mind. These focal areas sought to explore and impact on transformational issues and possibilities in the recognition of the National Agenda for Socio Economic Transfor-mation of our country.
15 363 (59%) of learners has undergone training by public providers and 10 854 (41%) of learners has undergone training with private providers
The 2014/15 CHIETA performance reflects the great success of the CHIETA partnerships across the skills development value chain. However, areas of improvement in the existing partnerships with institutions were noted, as highlighted by stakeholders and identified through research, such as the need for more synergy between companies and institutions.
The role of industry in partnerships is critical and more involvement and commitment by employers is needed and is being encouraged and supported. Leaders in industry must take the lead in addressing the perceived shortcoming of institutions skills development as this as well is a stakeholder’s concern and not only the institution’s. The quality of delivery at insti-
56
tutions is of particular focus and interest to the stakeholders, and one of the ways of im-proving on this, is by bringing lecturers to workplaces during school holidays and not after hours to gain practical work experience where possible, or to experience the dynamics of a live workplace and the pressures thereof, so as to understand what industry is all about. Such interventions are important for effective functioning of institutions and improved qual-ity.
4.3.5 Stakeholder participation in skills planning
The CHIETA’s Accounting Authority sets strategic direction for the CHIETA and provides ef-fective leadership to ensure that the CHIETA implements the goals of the NSDS and the Per-formance Agreement with the Minister. The Accounting Authority’s Governance and Strate-gy Committee oversees the skills planning and reporting processes. Its responsibilities in-clude overseeing the CHIETA Sector Skills Planning process and research agenda to inform and guide the sector on relevant scarce and critical skills for the chemical industry; oversee-ing the strategic planning of the CHIETA in terms of their strategic focal areas and industry needs; and overseeing organisational performance and monitoring of deliverables against the SSP, Strategic Plan and Annual Performance Plan. The Governance and Strategy Com-mittee is also advised by the Research and Skills Planning Committee and the five CHIETA Chambers comprising of stakeholders from the 9 sub-sectors of the chemical industry.
The Research and Skills Planning Committee is made up of 5 Chamber Chairpersons and is headed by a representative from the Department of Energy. This structure integrates the work of the Chambers and its functions are to:
• Advise and endorse the CHIETA’s research agenda and oversee relevant research projects undertaken by CHIETA in respect of the CHIETA SSP;
• Advise the CHIETA on scarce occupations/skills and critical skills for the chemical sec-tor;
• Support and advise the CHIETA on Qualifications Framework/Matrix and priority are-as for development;
• Receive and discuss reports from the Chambers on skills needs and priorities within the sector;
• Monitor the implementation of the Sector Skills Plan and • Review and make recommendations on the SSP process to Governance and Strategy
Committee and seek Board mandates on SSP through the Governance and Strategy Committee.
The Chambers consist of employers, trade unions, government departments (dti and De-partment of Energy) and critical interest groups. The Chambers meet quarterly to carry out their mandate.
The role of the Chambers is to:
• Consult with the 9 sub-sectors of the Chemical Sector in areas of skills needs for planning purposes. The objective of such consultation is to compile the SSP for the sector that takes into consideration areas of skills demand including core or priority skills needs, skills supply, scarce and critical skills and what needs to be included in each of the 5 Chamber Skills Plans for the CHIETA’ s strategic plan;
• Facilitate and participate in the development of the SSP to obtain the above infor-mation;
57
• Develop and submit a Chamber Skills Plan, Qualifications Framework/Matrix aligned to the OFO and contributing towards a critical/scarce skills list for the relevant sub-sector(s);
• Monitor the implementation of the Chamber Skills Plan in support of the SSP; • Identify and assist where possible with relevant research projects undertaken by the
CHIETA in support of the SSP; and • Review and make recommendations of the SSP process to the Governance structures
via the Research and Skills Planning Committee.
To ensure that voices of stakeholders are heard both in focussed ways as above, and at the broader level, CHIETA convenes quarterly Regional Skills Forums (RSFs) in Gauteng (for Gauteng and the inland provinces), KZN, Eastern Cape and Western Cape (inclusive of Northern Cape). The Regional Skills Forums engage with a broader range of stakeholders (employers, trade unions, private and public providers, critical interest groups, government including at provincial level) on a range of skills development issues and needs.
Furthermore, issues that arise from a range of additional deliberate interventions are also considered, such as from CHIETA participation in various provincial forums for skills devel-opment as well as national forums for government initiatives, engagements with public TVETs and HETs as well as CHIETA’s private providers, employers and trade union forums and forums to support particular projects that impact on the SSP Updates Feedback re-ceived from the Department of Higher Education and Training and peers in the SETA Goods Cluster are also considered and addressed wherever possible.
4.4 NEW PARTNERSHIPS
In 2011 CHIETA had set as one of its main strategic objectives, strengthening and expanding of partnerships- this in response to the goals of NSDS 3. Over the last few years, CHIETA has enjoyed great success in this regard. New partnerships that innovatively advance the skills development mandates, take forward the objectives of the national skills development strategy, and enrich the post school education and training sector were and continue to be prioritised. Of great importance are Industry institutional partnerships, to ensure support of government strategies and plans for the benefit of the economy for employers and workers and the development of the country.
4.4.1 Partnerships with new University and TVET College
CHIETA is in the process of establishing partnerships with Sol Plaatjie University and the Northern Cape Rural TVET College for training of artisans in the Northern Cape Province. CHIETA is currently mobilising potential host companies who will provide workplace training for the training of artisans in this project.
4.4.2 Provincial and local government partnerships
Partnerships that forge collaboration with provinces and local government on Institutional delivery models have also been initiated, such as the West Coast Corridor Development that includes skills development support for the Saldanha Bay IDZ, the Coega IDZ and the Dube Trade Port. CHIETA has also participated in initiatives in Mpumalanga with the Mpumalanga Premier’s Office in the project aimed at developing skills to rejuvenate distressed communi-ties, and support small business and co-operatives as a catalyst for job creation and im-proved quality of life. CHIETA has been nominated and serves on the Mpumalanga Prov-
58
ince’s Mining Indaba, which culminates in an institutional delivery framework for the prov-ince in the skills development work-stream.
4.4.3 Operation Phakisa
Collaboration on relevant government national strategies and plans are also underway. Support for Operation Phakisa in the Maritime Industry & Health is in progress with the CHIETA being part of the Oil and Gas, and Maritime working group currently busy with charting out a road map for skills needed for growing the oceans economy. Support to Op-eration Phakisa is envisioned at including undersea explorations, providing artisanal skills for the maintenance of equipment, the training of engineers, OHS related interventions. CHIETA is already contributing to the identified six industry areas and to critical skills needed for off shore oil and gas exploration.
4.4.4 Partnership with the Department of Energy and NECSA
Partnership with the Department of Energy and NECSA on the development of skills related to the Nuclear Build Programme, including of the ‘nuclearisation’ of existing skills to meet the skills needs requirements in this regard. High level meetings have been held were the skills needs for the programme were presented and possible areas of support and collabora-tion engaged on and more are planned with the leadership of NECSA and the DoE.
4.5 CONCLUSIONS
The partnership approach in the CHIETA has been in use for a number of years, and has led to successful implementation of a number of innovative and pragmatic skills development programmes. Over the years the CHIETA partnership model and approach has continuously been improved on and expanded.
Sector partnerships are key and vital to skills development, and fundamental to effective implementation and maximum impact based on experience. Going forward the CHIETA is planning to continue to forge meaningful partnerships with relevant stakeholders across the skills development value chain. Existing successful partnerships are to be expanded and deepened.
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5. SKILLS PRIORITY ACTIONS
5.1 KEY FINDINGS OF THIS SSP
The profile of the Chemical Sector, as described in Chapter 1 of this SSP, clearly highlights
the sector’s dependence on highly skilled human resources in the main. Furthermore, the
sector’s growth is closely linked to the availability of the skills as well as its R&D capability.
Many of the skills that are in short supply in the sector require people with advanced higher
education qualifications as well as specialised, sector-specific training and work experience.
It is therefore very important for the SETA to develop a clear understanding of the areas of
specialisation necessary in each of the subsectors, to monitor skills demand in these areas
and to work with industry and education institutions to ensure a sufficient supply of people
in areas of specialisation, and to fund such areas of need when it comes to skills training.
This must be done while simultaneously focusing on the transformational needs of the sec-
tor.
The chemical sector uses in many instances sophisticated and expensive equipment and at
the same time it works with hazardous substances. The operation and maintenance of
plants and equipment is critically important and as a consequence the sector depends on
technical skills – especially those of artisans and engineers. In many instances generic train-
ing in a particular trade is not sufficient and additional sector-specific training is needed. The
development of many of the occupations in the sector (especially artisans and certain cate-
gories of technicians and professionals) require workplace experience. The provision of op-
portunities to gain workplace experience remains a key imperative for the sector. CHIETA
has over the NSDS 3 period invested increasingly more grant funding to incentivise work in-
tegrated learning for graduates and students and had fruitful meetings with employers and
obtained their support, and also put into place work placement grants to promote employ-
ment creation.
The need for specialised skills has led to employers and industry organisations taking greater
responsibility for skills development. In some instances they have developed not only high
levels of understanding of their own needs but also mechanisms to address those needs –
some in collaboration with the education and training sector. Credit needs to also be given
to CHIETA’s electronic skillogical platform on which employers interact with CHIETA by
providing real time credible workforce data such as biographical of all workers and their job
related information, skills needs, qualification details, training needs etc. In addition, some
of the education and training institutions have long-standing relationships with industry
while CHIETA is in the process of supporting others to also enhance such engagements. Both
CHIETA and firms have found that skills development interventions in the Chemical Sector
can only be relevant and sustainable if they are planned and executed in a collaborative
manner and through partnerships.
60
There are currently a plethora of Government strategies and interventions that exert an in-fluence in the skills development environment. Some of them are marginally relevant while others are directly aimed at the Chemical Sector. However, from the analysis presented in earlier chapters it is clear that Government is a key role player in the sector and that the growth of the sector depends to a large extent on the success with which Government strategies (such as …) will be implemented. The successful implementation of these strate-gies are however dependent on the provision of the necessary skills. While there are already examples of new developments as a result of collaborations with Government (and especial-ly the dti) and other stakeholders in the sector, support for Government strategies that aim to stimulate the growth of the Chemical Sector remains a strategic imperative for the sector, also to create linkages with the Industrial Policy Action Plan, the vision of the NDP, the White Paper, etc.
5.2 SKILLS PRIORITIES FOR THE SECTOR
Based on the analysis presented in this SSP, the CHIETA has identified five strategic priorities
that will guide its interventions over the next five years. The actions under each strategic
and skills priority area are outlined below. These priorities are:
• Enhancing the skills of the existing workforce of the Chemical Sector (also by way of promoting skills through specialization to fill identified skills gaps also through skills programs);
• Supporting skills development of new entrants to the Chemical Sector; • Responding to changing sectoral needs and priorities; • Strengthening and expanding strategic partnerships to maximise sustainability and
impact of skills development interventions and • Supporting national imperatives in relation to skills development, with emphasis on
the Chemical Sector. Ensuring that industry is the key partner when it comes to project planning and exe-
cution
Priority 1: Enhancing the skills of the existing workforce of the Chemical Sector
The development of the current workforce is the first priority area on which the CHIETA will focus. Intervention in this area is, however, dependent on a thorough understanding of the sectoral labour market, the skills required by industry and the current skills levels of the la-bour force. The further development and maintenance of a labour market intelligence sys-tem (including an integrated data management system and relevant research and analyses) is extremely strong in CHIETA, and we have available highly credible and valid data for plan-ning purposes. Our data is obtained from the Human Resource data of chemical companies. Continuous improvement from 2011 to date has yielded excellent information, and the aligning of WSP data with Pivotal Training planning by companies has assisted both CHIETA and its companies to work with confidence to plan skills training interventions, and allocat-ing the available funding appropriately. This will continue. An important component of the intelligence system is the updating and improvement of the CHIETA Occupations Handbook. The Handbook includes detailed occupational profiles and
61
profiles of specialisations within occupations and learning pathways. The on-going im-provements to the occupational profiling process are set to culminate in a Chemical Sector qualifications framework. The SETA will also continue with research on existing skills and skills gaps of the workforce (A skills survey to be conducted with individual workers at firms). The enhancement and expansion of CHIETA’s management information system to store comprehensive skills development information remains critical. A new development is the monitoring and evaluation on-line tool that tracks delivery and payments CHIETA and its stakeholders recognize that upskilling of the existing workforce requires bet-
ter utilisation of workplace based skills development and increased access to occupational
learning programmes at the entry, intermediate and high level. The CHIETA’s focus will be
on the continuous improvement of the quality of learning and to enhance learners’ pro-
spects of gainful and sustained employment, also by way of incentivising interventions such
as relevant skills programs that offer top-up skills where needed.
Programmes include ABET, bridging programmes or foundational learning for workers re-
quiring it, apprenticeships, trade related and non-trade related learnerships, skills pro-
grammes, and various professional programmes. Strong emphasis is placed on Recognition
of Prior Learning (RPL) to accelerate the career advancement of the existing workforce, and
offering gap training programs for RPL learners where this need is identified. In both artisan
and non-artisan learning programmes, health and safety is key.
The CHIETA will continue to strengthen the role of skills development committees in skills
planning and reporting and continue to ensure that organised labour participation in these
processes is increased.
Priority 2: Supporting skills development of new entrants to the Chemical Sector
Like many other sectors, the Chemical Sector has access to a limited number of school leav-
ers who meet the requirements for further or higher education and training in engineering
and other technical disciplines. As a result CHIETA supports programmes to increase the
pool of school leavers with the required maths and science competencies. The programmes
also include educator development for maths and science as CHIETA disciplines require
maths and science.
The CHIETA has made bursaries available for learners to study in relevant chemical disci-
plines at tertiary institutions; the partnership with the National Student Financial Aid
Scheme (NSFAS) for bursary support was not successful and was plagued by inefficiencies
from NSFAS. To continue to service this important skills development intervention, the
CHIETA has reverted to offering bursaries to deserving learners at higher and further institu-
tions of learning as well as offering bursaries through our companies in the sector. The ben-
efit of the latter option is that companies then commit to taking such learners through all
the way, including offering them workplace training opportunities, and creating opportuni-
ties for employment for many such learners.
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Deepening and expanding career development and support opportunities through partner-
ing with government and other professional or industry associations is important to CHIETA
to ensure a steady flow of learners into the Chemicals Sector and specifically into occupa-
tions where there are current or anticipated skills shortages. To enhance the flow of new
skills into the sector, to address youth unemployment and to expand the opportunities for
greater employment and empowerment of youth in the economy, CHIETA will continue
supporting placement of learners and graduates in workplaces, either as part of their in-
service training requirements or for post qualification work experience.
The CHIETA will continue to respond to the White Paper in this regard by supporting Work-Integrated Learning (WIL), which integrates theory and workplace learning to develop priori-ty/core, and/or scarce and critical skills for the industry, making a positive contribution to-gether with industry as key partners. Focused partnerships with TVET’s that promote indus-try collaboration, supporting WIL, skills development related to SIPS, rural and youth devel-opment will be prioritised.
The roll-out of the very successful and CHIETA , Industry, and TVET flagship partnership pro-grammes at the Flavius Mareka TVET, Gert Sibade TVET and Coastal College where firms of-fer induction and workplace components and take the role of guest lecturers, while Colleges offer the knowledge component of the occupational training courses have raised the bar and have led to industry having confidence in the training offered by TVET institutions, and the making of working models for national consideration. The CHIETA will support the im-plementation of the National Senior Certificate for Adults (NASCA) primarily for employed learners.
Priority 3: Responding to changing sectoral needs and priorities
Through credible research and skills planning processes, CHIETA has been identifying chang-
ing sectoral needs and priorities; the ever-changing work environment requires adaptation
and responsiveness. These adaptations often entail changes in the skills sets required in
specific occupations or even the creation of new occupations. The growing concern over the
impact of businesses on the natural environment is, for example, leading to changes in the
skills sets required in occupations as well as the establishment of new occupations. Techno-
logical changes also lead to changing skills needs.
Although the question of whether Government will permit hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to
go ahead waits to be seen, in anticipation of possible fracking, CHIETA has identified the
need to establish whether sufficient skills will be available for the various phases of fracking,
particularly drilling and engineering skills as well as specialist skills related to fracking. The
CHIETA will also focus on skills development that will ensure surrounding communities ben-
efit from fracking and assist with monitoring below-ground activity and emissions, and par-
ticipate in similar initiatives that communities are best placed to support. The CHIETA will
work with industry players, with institutions and other stakeholders to identify other needs
and respond accordingly.
63
Priority 4: Strengthening and expanding strategic partnerships to maximise sustainability
and impact of skills development interventions
Partnerships with public and private institutions in support of building a sustainable post-
school sector are important. As indicated in previous chapters of this SSP, the CHIETA has a
range of relationships with public TVETs, UoTs and universities and companies. The SETA will
continue to play a central role in facilitating conversations and bringing relevant stakehold-
ers together to forge stronger cooperation around skills development priorities through a
structured well-coordinated skills development and partnership framework.
In addition to what has been said previously, CHIETA is promoting the growth of the public
TVET college system in various forms including giving programme approval to TVETs to offer
specific chemical sector qualifications and programmes, supporting infrastructure support
where possible and developing TVET lecturers. Partnerships and collaborations particularly
with industry are in place and with TVET colleges, artisan development remains a priority.
CHIETA plans to continue to strengthen and deepen the partnerships between industry and
relevant TVET colleges. The CHIETA participates and supports Operation Phakisa in the Mari-
time Industry & Health through the CHIETA pharmaceutical sub-sector. Advancing skills de-
velopment in maritime sector is aimed at growing the ocean economy and related sectors.
CHIETA is already contributing to the identified six industry areas and critical skills needed
for off shore oil and gas related activities.
Rolling out the flagship blue print CHIETA –Industry – TVET partnership project to other TVETs and communities remains an important focus are. One challenge that the role players have identified in this area, is the need for another partner, the DHET’s curriculum branch to participate with CHIETA and industry to understand what re-packaging of curricula to meet with industry standards looks like, what the needs are, and for DHET to guide such devel-opment processes. The reworking of curricula and implementation of training has been ef-fected in some of the CHIETA’s TVET Partnership projects. This has enjoyed great success as industry has committed to employ approximately 80% of the TVET Learners that benefit from the partnership projects described in Chapter 4.
Rural and community development is also a priority. Forging even closer collaboration with provinces and local government on Institutional delivery models are important.
Priority 5: Support national imperatives in relation to skills development, with emphasis
on the Chemical Sector
The CHIETA, within the ambit of its skills development mandate, is responsive to the medi-
um term priorities of government with dedicated projects, specifically in support of rural
development and the strengthening of the human resources and skills base of South Africa.
Additional interventions are aimed at supporting the strengthening of a developmental
state and job creation.
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The recently established partnership with Lephalale TVET College and Eskom Medupi Power Station and a range of other companies in support of SIP 1 in the training of coded welders, riggers, fitters and electricians and the partnerships with Mpumalanga Department of La-bour on the training of 200 unemployed youth in employability related occupations is an example of a real and meaningful support to national imperatives.
Coded welding training for out of school youth implemented also with youth that have a grade 9 certificate in Mpumalanga with Hydra Arc and Jomele training Centre are the first of their kind, and will, within a the space of less than a year produce high quality coded weld-ers that South Africa is desperately short of. By adding a further 9 months of training, dou-ble coded welders will be available.
Partnership with Square Kilometre Array (SKA)
SKA represents project number 16 of the SIPs. This Project is the largest science project funded by the Department of Science and Technology. The SKA is considered the biggest scientific endeavour to be undertaken by mankind in the next decade, and involves building the largest radio telescope at a site located closer to Carnarvon in the Northern Cape Prov-ince.
CHIETA is supporting SKA by facilitating a project between Durban University of Technology (DUT) and Central University of Technology (CUT) for placement of Work Integrated Learn-ing (WIL) students at SKA.
CHIETA has planned skills development partnerships on Operation Phakisa in the Maritime, Oil and Gas and in Health for the pharmaceutical subsector. Support to the Saldanha Bay IDZ, the Coega IDZ and the Dube trade port, the SIPS and the White Paper are all initiatives in support of national imperatives.
5.3 CONCLUSIONS
Based on the analysis across the 5 SSP Chapters, there is already a lot that the CHIETA has put in place not only to meet its skills and strategic priority needs but to support national strategies and plans relevant to the chemical sector. What has enabled successful skills de-velopment implementation has been collaboration and partnership with our employers and other stakeholders. Industry leading the way and identifying not only needs but critical are-as of support has shown commitment and integration.
Both industry and government are key role players in the sector and the growth of this eco-nomic sector depends largely on the success with which Government strategies are concep-tualized and implemented. Organized business is also an important partner for success.
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i
ANNEXURE A. CHIETA PIVOTAL/PRIORITY FUNDING MATRIX
CHIETA PIVOTAL/PRIORITY FUNDING MATRIX 2015/16
Organising Framework of Occupations
DG FUNDING FROM 2014-2016
SECTOR AND NATIONAL INDICA-TORS
SSP Identified Skills Areas O
ccu
pat
ion
G
rou
p
Occ
up
atio
n
Co
de
OFO Occupation Name
SECTOR DE-MAND AS-SESSMENT
2014-15
SECTOR DEMAND ASSESS-MENT
2015-16
Scarce Skills List
2015
CHIETA PRIORITY
Top 100
SIPS
Core chemical skills 3 313301 Chemical Plant Controller YES YES YES YES NO NO
Core chemical skills 6 671101 Electrician YES YES YES YES YES YES
Core chemical skills 2 214501 Chemical Engineer YES YES YES YES YES YES
Core chemical skills 6 651202 Welder YES YES YES YES YES YES
Core chemical skills 6 652302 Fitter and Turner YES YES YES YES YES YES
Core chemical skills 2 211301 Chemist YES YES YES YES NO NO
Core chemical skills 2 215101 Electrical Engineer YES YES YES YES YES YES
Core chemical skills 6 651302 Boiler Maker YES YES YES YES YES YES
Core chemical skills 6 672105 Instrument Mechanician YES YES YES YES YES NO
Core chemical skills 2 214401 Mechanical Engineer YES YES YES YES YES YES
Management and leadership devel-opment
1 132102 Operations Manager - Manufacturing YES YES YES YES NO NO
Core chemical skills 6 671202 Millwright YES YES YES YES YES YES
Professional skills needs 2 214201 Civil Engineer YES YES YES YES YES YES
Core chemical skills 2 214101 Industrial Engineer YES YES YES YES NO NO
Core chemical skills 3 332208 Pharmacy Sales Assistant YES YES NO YES NO NO
Core chemical skills 6 651203 Fitter-welder YES YES YES YES NO NO
ii
Core chemical skills 2 226202 Industrial Pharmacist YES YES YES YES YES NO
Core chemical skills 6 651501 Rigger YES YES NO YES YES YES
Management and leadership devel-opment
2 242210 Business Administrator YES YES NO YES NO NO
Management and leadership devel-opment
1 121901 Corporate General Manager YES YES NO YES YES NO
Core chemical skills 6 684202 Blaster YES YES YES YES NO NO
Core chemical skills 2 214502 Chemical Engineering Technologist YES YES YES YES YES YES
Technical skills 7 718304 Packaging Manufacturing Machine Minder YES YES NO YES NO NO
Technical skills 3 314101 Life Science Technician YES YES NO YES NO NO
Core chemical skills 3 311101 Chemistry Technician YES YES YES YES NO NO
Core chemical skills 2 213105 Biotechnologist NO YES YES YES NO NO
Technical skills 4 432101 Stock Clerk YES YES YES YES NO NO
Core chemical skills 3 321301 Pharmaceutical Technician YES NO YES YES NO NO
Professional skills needs 2 231101 University Lecturer YES NO NO YES NO NO
Technical skills 3 313201 Water Process Controller YES YES YES YES NO NO
Professional skills needs 2 242303 Human Resource Advisor YES YES NO YES NO NO
Professional skills needs 2 214901 Biomedical Engineer YES YES NO YES NO NO
Technical skills 3 334102 Office Administrator YES YES NO YES NO NO
Technical skills 3 332205 Manufacturers Representative NO YES NO YES NO NO
Core chemical skills 6 642607 Pipe Fitter NO YES YES YES NO YES
Environment 1 134901 Environmental Manager YES YES NO YES YES YES
Professional skills needs 2 243103 Marketing Practitioner YES YES YES YES NO NO
Core chemical skills 2 214104 Production Engineering Technologist YES YES YES YES NO NO
Core chemical skills 6 653303 Mechanical Fitter YES YES YES YES NO NO
Health and safety 2 226302 Safety, Health, Environment and Quality - SHE&Q - Practitioner
YES YES YES YES YES YES
Technical skills 6 652301 Metal Machinist YES YES NO YES NO NO
Core chemical skills 3 313401 Gas or Petroleum Controller NO YES YES YES NO NO
Management and leadership devel- 1 121905 Programme or Project Manager YES YES YES YES YES YES
iii
opment
Technical skills 4 422202 Outbound Contact Centre Consultant YES NO NO YES NO NO
Technical skills 7 732101 Delivery Driver YES YES NO YES NO NO
Professional skills needs 2 235101 Education or Training Advisor YES YES NO YES NO NO
Professional skills needs 2 242302 Skills Development Facilitator YES YES NO YES NO NO
Professional skills needs 2 241101 Accountant - General YES YES NO YES YES YES
Core chemical skills 2 211403 Materials Scientist YES YES NO YES NO NO
Professional skills needs 2 251101 ICT Systems Analyst NO YES NO YES YES NO
Core chemical skills 7 713101 Chemical Production Machine Operator NO YES YES YES NO NO
Professional skills needs 2 251201 Software Developer YES NO NO YES NO NO
Core chemical skills 3 311601 Chemical Engineering Technician NO YES YES YES NO NO
Technical skills 6 642603 Gas Practitioner YES YES NO YES NO NO
Management and leadership devel-opment
2 243203 Corporate Communication Manager NO YES NO YES NO NO
Professional skills needs 2 241107 Financial Accountant NO YES NO YES NO NO
Technical skills 6 653306 Diesel Mechanic YES YES YES YES NO NO
Technical skills 6 653101 Automotive Motor Mechanic NO YES NO YES YES YES
Professional skills needs 2 214202 Civil Engineering Technologist YES YES NO YES YES YES
Technical skills 3 333905 Supply Chain Practitioner YES YES YES YES NO YES
Health and safety 5 532901 First Aid Attendant YES YES NO YES NO NO
Technical skills 6 652201 Toolmaker YES YES YES YES YES NO
Core chemical skills 2 214902 Explosive Ordnance Engineer YES YES NO YES NO NO
Technical skills 7 734402 Forklift Driver YES YES YES YES NO NO
Technical skills 3 312102 Miner NO YES YES YES NO NO
Technical skills 5 811201 Commercial Cleaner YES YES NO YES NO NO
Technical skills 7 733208 Mobile Mining Equipment Operator YES NO NO YES NO NO
Professional skills needs 2 213202 Agricultural Scientist YES YES YES YES YES NO
Technical skills 8 833301 Freight Handler NO YES NO YES NO NO
Technical skills 5 514101 Hairdresser YES NO NO YES NO NO
iv
Technical skills 6 684305 Quality Examiner (Manufactured Products) YES NO NO YES NO NO
Technical skills 7 734209 Mobile Explosives Manufacturing Unit Opera-tor
YES NO NO YES NO NO
Management and leadership devel-opment
1 134903 Small Business Manager NO YES NO YES NO NO
Health and safety 6 684909 Survival Equipment Fitter NO YES NO YES NO NO
Technical skills 7 733201 Truck Driver - General YES YES YES YES NO YES
Technical skills 8 831301 Builder's Worker NO YES NO YES NO YES
Core chemical skills 2 213108 Microbiologist YES YES NO YES NO NO
Technical skills 5 541101 Fire Fighter YES YES YES YES NO YES
Technical skills 7 734301 Crane or Hoist Operator YES YES YES YES NO YES
Management and leadership devel-opment
1 121908 Quality Systems Manager YES YES YES YES YES YES
Professional skills needs 2 241301 Financial Investment Advisor YES YES NO YES YES NO
Technical skills 3 331301 Bookkeeper YES YES NO YES NO NO
Professional skills needs 2 215202 Electronics Engineering Technologist YES NO NO YES YES NO
Technical skills 3 313916 Manufacturing Production Technicians NO YES YES YES NO NO
Core chemical skills 2 263403 Organisational Psychologist YES YES NO YES NO NO
Technical skills 6 641303 Refractory Mason YES NO NO YES NO NO
Technical skills 4 432201 Production Coordinator YES YES YES YES NO NO
Technical skills 3 314201 Agricultural Technician NO YES NO YES NO NO
Professional skills needs 2 213205 Food and Beverage Scientist NO YES YES YES NO NO
Professional skills needs 2 243201 Communication Coordinator NO YES NO YES NO NO
Technical skills 3 332302 Purchasing Officer NO YES YES YES NO YES
Health and safety 2 226301 Environmental Health Officer YES NO YES YES NO NO
Professional skills needs 2 252201 Systems Administrator YES NO NO YES NO NO
Technical skills 3 311702 Metallurgical or Materials Technician NO YES NO YES NO YES
Technical skills 4 411101 General Clerk NO YES YES YES NO YES
Technical skills 4 441903 Program Administrator NO YES NO YES NO YES
Technical skills 6 671203 Mechatronics Technician NO YES NO YES YES NO
v
Health and safety 3 325705 Safety Inspector YES NO YES YES NO YES
Professional skills needs 2 242211 Internal Auditor YES YES NO YES NO NO
Professional skills needs 2 242208 Organisational Risk Manager YES YES NO YES NO NO
Core chemical skills 3 332207 Chemical Sales Representative NO YES YES YES NO NO
Technical skills 3 331201 Credit or Loans Officer YES YES NO YES NO NO
Technical skills 6 642601 Plumber YES NO NO YES YES YES
Management and leadership devel-opment
1 121902 Corporate Services Manager NO YES NO YES NO NO
Technical skills 7 718303 Filling Line Operator NO YES NO YES NO NO
Professional skills needs 2 263101 Economist NO YES YES YES NO NO
Professional skills needs 2 261101 Attorney NO YES NO YES NO NO
Health and safety 3 325301 Health Promotion Officer YES YES NO YES NO NO
Technical skills 4 431101 Accounts Clerk NO YES NO YES NO YES
Technical skills 6 672206 Communications Operator NO YES NO YES NO NO
Technical skills 7 718906 Bulk Materials Handling Plant Operator NO YES NO YES NO NO
Management and leadership devel-opment
2 242101 Management Consultant YES NO YES YES NO NO
Professional skills needs 2 212103 Statistician NO YES NO YES NO NO
Technical skills 4 432104 Warehouse Administrator YES NO NO YES NO NO
Technical skills 6 641902 Scaffolder NO YES NO YES NO YES
Management and leadership devel-opment
1 132402 Logistics Manager YES YES NO YES YES NO
Technical skills 6 643302 Chimney Cleaner NO YES NO YES NO NO
Professional skills needs 2 263401 Clinical Psychologist YES NO NO YES NO NO
Technical skills 4 431301 Payroll Clerk YES YES NO YES NO YES
Environment 3 325701 Environmental and Occupational Health In-spector
YES NO NO YES NO YES
Professional skills needs 2 216402 Transport Analyst YES NO NO YES NO NO
Professional skills needs 2 263504 Rehabilitation Counsellor YES NO NO YES NO NO
Technical skills 4 422501 Enquiry Clerk NO YES NO YES NO NO
vi
Management and leadership devel-opment
1 132104 Engineering Manager NO YES YES YES NO YES
Professional skills needs 2 261901 Adjudicator YES NO NO YES NO NO
Technical skills 8 831101 Mining Support Worker YES NO NO YES NO NO
Management and leadership devel-opment
1 143904 Security Services Manager NO YES NO YES NO NO
Professional skills needs 2 242403 Assessment Practitioner NO YES NO YES NO NO
Professional skills needs 2 235102 Education or Training Reviewer NO YES NO YES NO NO
Environment 2 213302 Environmental Scientist YES NO NO YES NO NO
Professional skills needs 2 241103 Tax Professional NO YES NO YES NO NO
Professional skills needs 2 265903 Public Speaker YES NO NO YES NO NO
Technical skills 3 311901 Forensic Technician NO YES NO YES NO NO
Technical skills 3 332201 Commercial Sales Representative NO YES NO YES NO NO
Management and leadership devel-opment
1 134902 Laboratory Manager NO YES YES YES NO NO
Technical skills 7 734204 Excavator Operator NO YES NO YES NO YES
Professional skills needs 2 242304 Industrial Relations Advisor YES NO NO YES NO NO
Core chemical skills
*Few more interventions not mapped to OFO Occupations yet due to no direct link
YES YES * YES * YES
Foundational learning YES YES * YES * YES
Health and safety YES YES * YES * YES
Management and leadership devel-opment YES YES * YES * YES
Professional skills needs YES YES * YES * YES
Technical Skills YES YES * YES * YES
Transformation imperatives YES YES * YES * YES
