Basic Entrepreneurial Skills Development (BESD)

Developing skills to boost employment.

Client: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Political executing agency: Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET).
Partner organisation: Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda).

Scenario

South Africa continues to face many challenges  since its first democratic election in 1994. The  policy of apartheid denied the majority of South  Africa’s population access to quality learning opportunities and skills development. As a result, a dichotomy was created within the economy, with    a formal and developed sector existing alongside an underdeveloped ‘second economy’. Consequently, South Africa is still experiencing large- scale unemployment, coupled with the lack of skills required to gain access to employment or self-employment opportunities that will enable people to become economically active and grow  the economy.

The South African Government has therefore prioritised skills development. This is reflected in three interrelated strategies: the National Skills Development Strategy III (2011–2016), the New Growth Path, and the Human Resource Development Strategy. The objective is to overcome the shortage of suitable, skilled labour, thereby contributing to higher levels of economic growth and employment and addressing inequality.

In 1995, the South African and German govern- ments agreed on Germany’s support for a com- pletely fresh start in transforming the fragmented skills-development system inherited from the apartheid era. The goal was to assist in building a demand-driven and labour market-focused system.

Project
Against this backdrop, in 1995, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH began to implement Germany’s con-  tribution to skills development in South Africa on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Eco- nomic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Since then, GIZ, in a strategic partnership with South African organisations, has been involved in designing the new skills-development system.

The Employment and Skills Development Ser- vices (ESDS) programme started in 2007. Its holistic approach focused on developing the capacities and capabilities of the local partner organisations, on designing a new skills-develop- ment system, implementing it, and improving its features of quality and quantity. The intervention strategy was characterised by politico-strategic support for the Department of Higher Education and Training and the Department of Trade and Industry. Support was provided to the South Af- rican Government for the establishment of the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SE- TAs), which have been set up as social partner- ship institutions between business and labour on an intermediate level. At implementation level, the capacity of organisations involved in skills development was increased.

Over an 18-year period, Germany, through ESDS and its predecessor programmes, supported the establishment of systems, structures  and processes needed to drive the skills revolu-  tion, such as the acts and regulations governing  this system. The programme also assisted with  the establishment of the National Qualifications  Framework (NQF) and with the review thereof,  which led to substantial changes in the skills de-  velopment system. This, in turn, resulted in the  amendment of the Skills Development Act and  the proclamation of the NQF Act.

ESDS formally ended in 2012, but was continued  as the Basic Entrepreneurial Skills Development  (BESD) programme to consolidate the results  achieved so far on a countrywide scale and to  develop and refine the approach further. BESD  aims at improving the prospects for sustainable  livelihoods for employed and self-employed  persons in the informal economy through skills  development. BESD promotes access to and  the quality of skills development for the informal  economy by advising the Department of Higher  Education and Training and the Small Enterprise Development Agency on the development  and implementation of relevant strategies and  concepts. The programme helps strengthen  the quality-assurance and service-provision capacities of both the National Skills Fund and the  Small Enterprise Development Agency and assists in building the capacity of training providers  to implement skills development for small- and  micro-enterprise owners in the informal economy  efficiently and effectively.

Impact
The quality of life of graduates from learnership programmes and apprenticeships (more than 360,000 learners have entered such training since 2001) has improved markedly in terms of income. Figures from independent surveys in the construction and metal industries confirm the positive picture, with approximately 76 per cent (construction industry) and 67 per cent (metal industry) of the graduates finding employment after their training.

Overall, the average learner groups in 2008/09 consisted of 81 per cent blacks, 53 per cent women and two per cent persons with disabilities. This means that the equity targets of the South African Government have almost been reached.

More than 80 per cent of small- and micro-enterprise owners who participated in BESD-supported training courses increased their turnover. More than 60 per cent of participating enterprises subsequently invested in new equipment and, on average, one new job was created for each participating enterprise.