sylvia hammond

Well I listened to our President Ramaphosa – and was disappointed that there was no mention of private SD providers, so I sent this email to the Deputy DG: Skills Department, DHET.

“Dear Zukile,
I am so disappointed that our President did not include private skills development providers in his announcement this evening.

I had a conversation…[Read more]

Thanks Retha – will post as soon as I hear anything.

Thank you Lynel.
I will check against my list sent – I have 2 responses from QCTO & personal acknowledgment from DHET DDG Mvalo.

Thank you Lynel.
I will check against my list sent – I have 2 responses from QCTO & personal acknowledgment from DHET DDG Mvalo.

Thank you John, & in trying to summarise & be succinct, the complexity becomes very clear – how almost each word requires further definition.

Thank you Nigel – I appreciate your input here because I know your area of expertise.

Your sentence:
“How can an employer comply with OHS Act obligations if the very people who can provide the necessary training are not operational?”
That sums it up very nicely – that is the dilemma.

I am happy to be proved wrong – but to me that again confirms…[Read more]

Thank you Ken

I am so concerned with anyone in your OHS area closing down.

Picture this – some months hence.

Dept Employment & Labour Inspector @ factory.

Why do you not have trained Safety Reps?
The Certificate of your First Aider has expired. Why is it not renewed?
Noone is trained – where is your firefighting & evacuation control…[Read more]

I have this very encouraging email from Vijayen Naidoo:

“As the QCTO we have recognized the informal sector
(convened a seminar on this in 2018 as well). In fact in our current context in the country some 80% of the economy is located in the informal sector.

The revised OQSF does make provision now for Skills programmes which will be managed…[Read more]

Thanks Colette – as soon as I hear anything I will post.
Stay safe.

Bernard – so good to hear from you.

I cannot tell you how many times I remember what you said to me about training bricklayers – that they don’t need to know about Pythagorus to make a right angle.

Anyway, thank you for the pica – wonderful. I will remember that now too.

And yes please distribute as widely as possible to pica rural…[Read more]

H Charles & Willemien
Thanks – your questions are spot on. I have been in regular communication with Cynthia the CEO of APPETD and Linda Ingram has also recently come into the discussion.

The point I have been making to Cynthia is that APPETD is not representative of the whole body of private providers. They have been serving their members only,…[Read more]

Thanks Laura, fully understand – we all deal with such pressures of communication.

Please watch out for the next discussion I am about to post on the:
National Plannning Commission Draft report on PSET – it has a skills section I want to discuss.

Thanks Willemien – I have copying a range of people I believe have the influence to make a difference, and I tweeted to both Minister Nzimande and Minister for Communications in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu.

I already have a response from the QCTO CEO Vijayen Naidoo.

Lynel,
We can only manage our own actions and how we respond.

I like your approach of what can we do to help – & that it is our area of expertise after all. Maybe you hit the nail on the head – that’s the key difference between the longterm curricula or university & HE colleges. We provide skills & knowledge as needed – not as part of a…[Read more]

Hi Kutloisiso – during the day I thought I should have added – it’s not just politics and the power plays – it’s the ideology.

People who know me well will confirm you don’t hear me promoting capitalism. But it’s what we have right now – so let’s do what we can to support SDPs to survive – for themselves, the people they employ – and all those…[Read more]

Thanks Henk – that is a very good point – and it’s not just the TVET – we all know of the other state activities – and not to forget that the private (listed) businesses are not angels either.

Hi Nigel,
Thank you – yes my feeling is that we have highly qualified experts in training and education, who have never worked in the corporate or business world, or run a successful business themselves.

It shows in the assumptions that underlie their policy decisions. There is no sense of understanding of particularly small business – which can…[Read more]