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Govt training plan 'crazy'

Johannesburg - The idea that retraining programmes can offer a solution to job losses is "crazy", says Prof Adam Habib, a political analyst at the University of Johannesburg.

Anyone who thinks a short course can suddenly prepare an unskilled manual labourer for a career as an ICT entrepreneur is way off beam, he told the annual LexisNexis Labour Law Conference on Friday.

"In the mainstream of economic ideas the solution for an unemployment crisis is always a freer labour market. The problem is, however, that 30 to 40% of people do not have the skills to fill positions."

This idea is now being augmented with plans for retraining which it is believed can solve the problem, Habib notes. "I think it is a crazy idea that fails to understand the true nature of the unemployment crisis."

Earlier this month President Jacob Zuma earmarked R2.4bn from the National Skills Fund and the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) for retraining retrenched workers.

The scheme, which will be implemented next month and ends in 2010, is aimed at making retrenched former workers of companies re-employable with new skills.

South Africa should focus, rather, on absorbing the unskilled and semi-skilled workers that it has, Habib proposes. "We must support those sectors that require low skills."

- Sake24.com

For more business news in Afrikaans, go to Sake24.com.

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