KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli. | KZN Government
Durban — In a bid to foster economic growth and weed out incompetence in the KwaZulu-Natal government, Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli convened the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) in Durban on Tuesday.
The gathering of key stakeholders in the province focused on developing a capable workforce equipped for the demands of a competitive global economy.
Ntuli described the meeting as a “critical forum” that brought together leaders from the private sector, academia, labour and civil society.
He said the initiative was designed to ensure that the province’s workforce could contribute effectively to sustainable economic growth and development.
KZN is the second largest contributor to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) after Gauteng.
Addressing the meeting, Ntuli emphasised the need to identify the skills gap affecting the province’s economy.
“We must reshape the education and training system to better equip our workforce with the skills needed for the competitive 21st-century global economy,” he said.
Formed in 2010 and under the national chairmanship of the deputy president of the country, the HRDC is tasked with addressing the core challenges that hinder economic advancement in the country, including in KZN, a province facing a rising unemployment rate and grinding poverty.
Ntuli said among the challenges the province faced was the misalignment between human resource development and the provincial economy’s needs.
The HRDC’s mandate also includes championing educational programmes, focusing on early childhood development, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) and vocational training.
Provincial secretary of Cosatu, Edwin Mkhize, the first deputy chairperson representing labour, highlighted the need for a “skills revolution” to ensure that skills development initiatives are tied closely to economic growth.
“We must prioritise the allocation of resources to build the human capital of KwaZulu-Natal,” said Mkhize.
Among the innovative strategies discussed at the meeting were providing specialised remedial education and skills development programmes for autistic children and those with other disabilities.
This initiative aims to nurture children’s development from the prenatal stage until adulthood.
Technical training, academic excellence, and vocational opportunities were identified as critical areas for development, particularly in agriculture which is poised to reach rural communities effectively.
Clive Manci, the second deputy chairperson representing business, called for bolstered skills development in the maritime sector, emphasising its potential for growth and industrialisation akin to that of developed countries.
The meeting concluded with a call for a strategic planning dialogue that aligns with the provincial government’s seventh administration’s goals led by the Government of Provincial unity.
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