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ONE of the major challenges that South Africa will need to overcome to become a competitive player in the global marketplace is the need to focus on improving and retaining those with the necessary skills sets.

So said East London Industrial Development Zone’s chief executive officer, Simphiwe Kondlo, at the Walter Sisulu University’s (WSU) business breakfast in East London last week.

“There are three main factors that international players look at before even considering investing in a country, that is the regulatory environment, the infrastructure platform and the human capital investment,” he said.

Focusing on human capital, Kondlo said many companies were not only assessing the diversity and depth of certain skill sets, but were also focusing on the attitudes and values of the work force.

“To make it as a global player, we need to be supportive of academic development and skills development,” he said.

One of the many challenges facing technical students in South Africa at the moment was lack of access to the private sector, which they needed to complete the required experiential learning component of their degree.

“There are many students who are currently sitting at home, having completed the academic aspects of their degree, but they are unable to begin work in the relevant sector because they have not been able to do any experiential training,” he said.

Kondlo said the onus rested on the business community to provide the opportunities to take students on board and train them. “We need to ensure that the skills do not become bottlenecked as they come out of the universities, just because of lack of access to on-site training.”

Referring to his own experiences, Kondlo also encouraged businesses that did offer students workplace training, to do so properly.

“Many students have left the industry because they have become disheartened ... having to fetch and carry without any real input (while on experiential training programmes)” he said.

Kondlo said South Africa currently has only three civil engineers for every 100 000 people, which was a far cry from the benchmark figure of 22 civil engineers for every 100 000 people.

WSU’s deputy vice-chancellor of planning, quality assurance and development, Professor Georgina Buijs, encouraged companies to make use of the various Sector Education and Training Authorities to assist them with accommodating students for their experiential training.

She said through the Seta programmes there was no need for companies to pay students during their training, as this was the reason the Setas and skills levies had been established.

“I do understand that, aside from the rands and cents, it costs companies your time and effort, but this is vital if we are to see South Africa grow,” she said.

Kondlo also pointed out that in manufacturing, quality was no longer the sole driving factor.

“We are seeing across the globe, a move towards companies that are able to commercialise products. Companies that have developed the skills in this regard are seeing their production double and the time needed to bring a product to market halved, while gaining better market share.”

Kondlo said that universities played a vital role here as well. “You can no longer have education for education’s sake. Rather business and tertiary institutions need to work together and interrogate ways ... (to commercialise) technology.

“We need to become activists in skills development if we are to become leaders in economic development,” he said. - By DERRICK SPIES, Business Reporter