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Johannesburg -
A scheme seeking to train and re-skill retrenched workers was
launched by Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana on Friday.
The Training of the Unemployed Project had so far registered 774
trainees who were receiving tuition in fields such as plumbing,
boilermaking, welding, electrical and mechanics, he said in
Johannesburg.
"With over 900 000 people having lost their jobs due to the
recession, it is incumbent on us to find creative means of
mitigating the impact of the recession on workers," he said in a
statement.
"My department is fully involved in assisting in the overall
government strategy of softening the impact of the economic crisis
on the poor."
The project has seen 426 Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF)
beneficiaries get training to improve their skills in various
trades.
"The other 348 candidates are youth who are non-UIF
beneficiaries," Mdladlana said.
The UIF and other government entities contributed almost R50m to train the candidates. All those in the project are paid
a stipend of R2 100 a month. UIF beneficiaries get their UIF
benefits as well as the stipend.
Apart from the money contributed to train the workers, various
government departments had expressed an interest in offering the
candidates employment once they completed their training.
The qualifications the trainees would obtain at the end of their
course met qualification requirements of the Manufacturing,
Engineering and Related Services Education and Training Authority.
The project was started on October 1 2009 and due to be
completed on July 31 2011.
"This initiative clearly shows that the government is not paying
lip service to improving the skills of the unemployed. We are
committed to ensure that the skills of the workers are aligned with
the labour market demands."
The minister said the UIF would not deviate from its mandate of
ensuring benefit payments to people who had lost their jobs.
"Section 48 (i) and (iv) of the Unemployment Insurance Act 2001,
as amended, stipulates that the UIF Board must advise the minister
on the creation of schemes to alleviate the effects of
unemployment."
Therefore, training the unemployed was compliant with the law.
- Sapa