The Chemical Industries Education & Training Authority (Chieta) is positioning itself to become a leader in denting youth unemployment, says outgoing CEO Yershen Pillay.
“We are no longer in the business of skills development and training,” he told Business Times.
“We are now in the business of sustainable livelihoods. That means we are no longer training for the sake of training, but training for impact to create jobs, to create small businesses that are job creators, to support SMMEs in general.”
Addressing youth unemployment is a priority, since young people (those aged between 15 and 34) comprise 62% of the population and 3.5-million of them are not in employment, education or training, said Pillay.
“That is a catastrophe because these are young people who should be contributing to a productive economy.”
The chemicals industries Seta (sector education & training authority) is also involved in upskilling those who have been retrenched in the sector through a programme that creates job opportunities, he added.
Chieta started a R5m discretionary grant programme to help retrenched people get back on their feet. The project, run in collaboration with other recruitment companies, has so far helped 30 individuals, Pillay said.
Retrenched chemical industry workers either get reskilled to improve their chances of getting alternative employment, are helped to start a business or are helped to continue studying.
He said Chieta had set a target of helping 300 retrenched people next year and at least 1,000 by 2025.
“If the economy is only growing at 0.6%, where are the jobs going to come from? But now we have a retrenched workers' programme to equip someone with an NQF level 2 entrepreneurship qualification or provide them with funding to start their own enterprise, and in so doing, create jobs for others when the economy is not growing.”
In 2022/2023, Chieta generated R654m in revenue, up from R605m a year earlier. It trained 2,528 artisans and supported 49,652 learners.
To bring the internet to rural youth, the Seta is rolling out nine smart-skills centres, three of which have opened — in Sadhana Bay in the Western Cape, Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape and Babanango KwaZulu-Natal.
“Some of the assumptions we have made have been wrong. In South Africa, only 10% of households have a computer and just over 1% of rural households have access to the internet. We are talking about the fourth industrial revolution and only 1% of rural households have internet. South Africa has a massive digital divide.”
At the smart-skills centres, learners and unemployed rural youth are trained in digital skills, with free access to data and private internet training.
Chieta aims to train young people to take up opportunities in the hydrogen economy. Hydrogen could be the fuel of South Africa's future, given its potential to reduce greenhouse emissions by 70% and create 14,000 jobs between 2030 and 2040.
“We are falling behind the global curve when it comes to hydrogen. We are failing to accelerate the adoption of the hydrogen road map and hydrogen strategy as most projects are in pre-feasibility stages, and none of them are in bankability. While in countries like Japan there are hydrogen fuel stations that are operational, in South Africa we have none.”
Pillay noted that Sasol has a hydrogen plant in Vanderbijlpark, but South Africa is not producing at scale to grow its economy. Last year, Anglo American Platinum launched a hydrogen-powered haul truck, while last month, Angloplat, BMW South Africa and Sasol signed an agreement to bring hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles to South Africa.
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