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LOCAL GOVERNMENT SECTOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING AUTHORITY

SCARCE AND CRITICAL SKILLS GUIDE

2016

TABLE OF CONTENTS1. Introduction 42. Key Policy Drivers 53. Definitions 74. Sector profile 85. Skills needs for the Local Government sector 96. An overview of the LGSETA Scarce and Critical Skills 2015/16 107. Overview of LGSETA Skills Needs 2015/16 128. The LGSETA Pivotal List 139. Provincial Office contact details 18

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1. INTRODUCTION

A skilled and capable workforce is central to local government’s ability to meet its constitutional mandate and live up to its developmental local government vision. The Local Government Sector Education and Training Authority (LGSETA) has a significant mandate to facilitate skills development within the local government sector, in accordance with the National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS) III. The purpose of the Sector Skills Plan is to analyse the skills demand and supply within the sector and to determine skills development priorities for the sector over this period and beyond.

The significance and contribution of the local government sector’s workforce in the development of South Africa cannot be understated. It is this workforce that is tasked to deliver services, sustainably and equitably to people living in South Africa, on a daily basis.

The LGSETA is expected to play a significant role in facilitating access to skills development and training to develop a skilled and capable local government workforce. In addition, it will develop potential new entrants through its various interventions that talk to the objectives outlined in several policy documents that are in place and in anticipation of the new National Skills Development Strategy.

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2. KEY POLICY DRIVERS

There are several policies that have been identified as key policy drivers for the LGSETA. The first policy is the 1998 White Paper on Local Government which was significant in that it articulated the shift towards a developmental local government. The LGSETA needs to ensure that the skills development programmes that it funds, enable municipalities to deliver on their IDPs as well as long-term strategic documents. The second important policy driver for the LGSETA is the Local Government Turnaround Strategy (LGTAS) that was adopted by Cabinet in 2009. The LGTAS was designed to strengthen the ability of municipalities to perform their functions as enshrined in the constitution. While the specific interventions did not specifically highlight strengthening skills development, it can be implied that the LGSETA will be expected to play a significant role to facilitate access to skills development and training to develop a skilled and capable local government workforce that effectively implements the intended LGTAS interventions. The National Skills Development Strategy III (NSDS III) is the third key policy driver for the LGSETA and in this update, reporting on the progress to date against the seven key developmental and transformative imperatives that include race, class, gender, geography, age, disability, and the HIV and AIDS pandemic is presented.

In terms of the National Development Plan 2030 (NDP 2030), particularly, Areas 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 presented in Chapter 13 are of importance for the LGSETA. It is in these areas that the LGSETA will have a direct impact towards skills development through funding innovative skills development interventions. Another important policy driver is the government’s adoption of the 18 Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPs). The LGSETA is contributing towards the SIPs intervention through funding artisan development in a number of areas that have been identified as important for the intervention, as well as funding skills development for various occupations in the professional category.

The Youth Empowerment Accord has six commitments that includes education and training; access to work exposure; increase the number of young people employed in the public service; youth target set-asides; youth entrepreneurship and youth co-operatives; and to develop private sector youth absorption programmes.

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The LGSETA will support government’s drive to empower the youth by facilitating access to skills development opportunities and learning programmes that include learnerships, internships, workplace integrated learning, and bursaries. In addition, the new LGSETA SMME and Cooperative Strategy is expected to further provide guidance on how the LGSETA should better facilitate skills development for SMMEs and Cooperatives providing services for the sector.

The White Paper on Post-School Education and Training, released in 2013, aims to establish a vision for the type of post-school education and training system that the Department of Higher Education and Training desires by 2030. In addition, the LGSETA will ensure that appropriate priority is placed on supporting the development of the required skills to support the spatial transformation as outlined in the Integrated Urban Development Framework. The LGSETA will also support the Back-to-Basics framework released in September 2014 and to contribute to the achievement of the vision of the revised Capacity Building Framework for Local Government: 2012-2016 that highlights the importance of continuing to build capacity for municipalities to deliver on their mandate.

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3. DEFINITIONS

Scarce Skills refer to those occupations in which there is a scarcity of qualified and experienced people, currently or anticipated in the future, either (a) because such skilled people are not available or (b) they are available but do not meet employment criteria. This scarcity can arise from one or a combination of the following, grouped as relative or absolute:

a) Absolute scarcity: suitably skilled people are not available, for example:

• A new or emerging occupation, i.e. there are few, if any, people in the country with the requisite skills (qualification and experience) and education and training providers have yet to develop learning programmes to meet the skills requirements.

• Firms, sectors and even the country are unable to implement planned growth strategies and experiencing productivity, service delivery and quality problems directly attributable to a lack of skilled people.

• Replacement demand would reflect an absolute scarcity where there are no people enrolled or engaged in the process of acquiring the skills that need to be replaced.

b) Relative scarcity: suitably skilled people available but do not meet other employment criteria, for example:

• Geographical locations, i.e. people are unwilling to work outside of urban areas.

• Equity considerations, i.e. there are few if any candidates with the requisite skills (qualifications and experience) from specific groups available to meet the skills requirements of firms and enterprises.

• Replacement demand would reflect a relative scarcity if there are people in education and training (formal and work-place) who are in the process of acquiring the necessary skills (qualification and experience) but where the lead time will mean that they are not available in the short term to meet replacement demand.

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Skills are defined as “the necessary competencies that can be expertly applied in a particular context for a defined purpose” can either be linked to an occupation (skills shortage) or a gap in the skills profile within an occupation, i.e. a “top-up skills” requirement.

Critical Skills refers to specific key or generic and “top up” skills within an occupation.

Occupation refers to a set of jobs or specialisations whose main tasks are characterised by such a high degree of similarity that they can be grouped together for the purposes of the classification.

4. SECTOR PROFILE

The total number of Workplace Skills Plans (WSP) and Annual Training Reports (ATR) submitted in 2015 was 278 and this was done using the new LGSETA online WSP and ATR submission platform. Based on the WSP and ATR data for 2015 and trends from Statistics South Africa’s annual non-financial census it is estimated that the sector employed approximately 275 0001 people in 2014/15. The employee profile within the sector shows that the majority of employees are employed in the elementary category across all municipality categories, with local municipalities employing the highest number continued. The second highest category of employment was in the clerical and administrative workers category with metropolitan municipalities having almost double the number of such employees compared to local municipalities.

The development of critical skills in the sector is supported by the LGSETA through a combined approach of bursaries and internships, with mentoring and administration provided by the relevant professional bodies active in the sector. In support of the strategy to professionalise local government, bursaries have been offered to municipal employees who wish to study part time, allowing for professional registration in scarce skill programmes.

1 This figure might be revised in the next SSP update if additional information from Annual Reports of municipalities and entities and/or Statistics SA or National Treasury if available by the next submission

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In the local government sector, the recognition of prior learning (RPL) is focused on assisting current municipal employees who have the requisite skills and practical experience to meet the qualifications criteria introduced and required by regulations, which are aimed at improving the quality of service in municipalities. About 580 employees being assessed for RPL between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2015.

5. SKILLS NEEDS FOR THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT SECTOR

Significant progress has been made in the delivery of services and this is evident in the performance management information available that indicates the extent to which municipalities provide these services. In addition to dealing with the complexities of legislatively driven changes, local authorities have to work on eradicating service delivery backlogs inherited partly from the apartheid era, and partly generated by increasingly higher rates of urbanisation. However, the variability in terms of access to services is a concern.

In identifying the skills development needs for the future, this SSP update focuses on the NDP 2030 as the guiding framework. The NDP 2030 places significant emphasis on the importance of spatial transformation. It further calls for the development of a capable and developmental state through skills development. In addition, the call for all spheres of government to encourage active citizenry is also important given the importance of participatory governance for local government. All of these issues and others fall within the ambit of LGSETA’s strategic focus areas in terms of skills development.

Technology will have an impact on the future structure and form of local government and this will directly have an impact on the type of skills required to meet the service delivery expectations and needs of citizens. A concept that is gaining momentum the world over, and has begun to appear in strategic plans of many municipalities in South Africa, is that of ‘smart cities’. While the role of technology in this concept is important, the smart city concept is broader than just the use of technology. The smart city concept has six pillars – smart economy, smart people, smart mobility, smart governance, smart environment and smart living.

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From a skills development perspective, it is evident that while a significant number of municipalities are providing computing skills programme to enable officials to work, the smart city approach goes beyond that. The smart city approach requires that municipalities meaningfully integrate technology across its entire service delivery value chain with a view of creating opportunities for providing sustainable services.

Thus, the extent to which officials are utilising technology at the scale that is envisioned by the smart city concept perhaps suggest that a different approach to technology-related training/skills development will be required in the future.

The commitment by the South African government to move towards a green economy and respond to the issues of climate change over the next few decades should not be taken lightly as this commitment has a significant impact on all sectors. It has been suggested that local government has the unique opportunity to lead the transition to a low carbon economy as it undertakes the mammoth task of spatial transformation. It is therefore important for the local government sector to begin/accelerate the upskilling or training of appropriate skills that it will need to support the expected transition. The interesting point that is made here is that, it is not that there will be the replacement of existing jobs with green jobs, but that rather, it is the content of jobs, the way work is done and worker skills that will change by incorporating elements of sustainability and green practices in job descriptions (Globe Foundation, 2010).

6. AN OVERVIEW OF THE LGSETA SCARCE AND CRITICAL SKILLS 2014/15

The following document the scarce and critical skills list for the year period 2014/15 reporting and financial period. The Organising Framework of Occupations (OFO codes) version 2013 is used as the primary category of analysis and is supplemented where appropriate with specialisations and alternative titles. The section gives a full list of the LGSETA Scarce and Critical Skills as reported during the 2015 WSP-ATR reporting period.

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Table1: LGSETA Scarce and Critical Skills

OFO Code Occupation Vacancies for 2014/15

121101 Chief Financial Officer 31

121104 Internal Audit Manager 34

121301 Policy and Planning Manager 40

121905 Project Manager 111

132301 Construction Project Manager 56

213306 Water Quality Technician 31

214201 Civil Engineer 150

214202 Civil Engineering Technologist 53

216401 Urban and Regional Planner 58

241101 Accountant (General) 149

242207 Compliance Officer (Risk Officer) 43

242211 Internal Auditor 82

311201 Civil Engineering Technician 261

311203 Town Planning Technician 47

313201 Water Plant Operator 212

312301 Building Construction Supervisor 133

325802 Paramedic 60

331301 Finance Clerk/Administrator 160

341110 Legal Advisor/Officer 42

341201 Community Development Worker 56

351302 GIS Specialist 40

541101 Fire Fighter 569

642601 Plumber (General) 117

671101 Electrician (General) 221

Furthermore, the list has been developed based on consultation with the sector to explain the vacancies being experienced within a certain municipality. The skills that have been identified, are those that meet some indicators of skills scarcity, such as slow recruitment processes, insufficient funding, inability to find suitably qualified candidates or inability for municipalities to attract suitably qualified candidates to the area, sector attractiveness, equity, training lead time and based on the analysis presented in chapters 1, 2 and

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3 of this document, are then identified as critical for the sector. In addition, the Auditor-General and National Treasury have indicated some of these occupations as key for service delivery, as well as for ensuring proper financial and administrative governance. It would appear that other SETAs have also indicated that Engineers fall in the category of scarce skills.

To this end, the list represents skills that might have relatively smaller shortages compared to others, but given the explanation for scarcity, are then rated as scarce skills. Feedback from consultation with stakeholders has also been used to further refine the list, given the lower new entrants or potential skills supply.

The new recruitment data reveals that the sector tends to recruit people who have worked elsewhere and who bring in skills with only 4 295 of new recruits in 2014/15 indicating that they had never worked before. Importantly, the sector does employ graduates as new employees within the sector, with 1 239 graduates entering the sector in 2014/15.

Importantly, the impact of skills shortages on municipalities manifests in the quality and extent to service delivery which could lead to greater levels of service delivery backlogs, governance and administration challenges that could result in finance and administration challenges, to name but a few.

7. OVERVIEW OF LGSETA SKILLS NEEDS 2014/15

The most important skills by OFO codes are represented in table 2 below, which identifies the ‘top ten’ skills list of the LGSETA by OFO code. The list has been derived using a quantifying scale as a measure of prioritisation.

Table 2: The LGSETA top ten skills needs

OFO Code OccupationVacancies

for 2014/15541101 Fire Fighter 569311201 Civil Engineering Technician 261671101 Electrician (General) 221313201 Water Plant Operator 212

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Table 2: The LGSETA top ten skills needs

OFO Code OccupationVacancies

for 2014/15331301 Finance Clerk/Administrator 160214201 Civil Engineer 150241101 Accountant (General) 149312301 Building Construction Supervisor 133

642601 Plumber (General) 117121905 Project Manager 111

The above list has been derived using a quantifying scale as a measure of prioritisation.

8. THE LGSETA PIVOTAL LIST

The meaning of PIVOTAL is aligned to the technical definition of the concept which is premised on the following key definitions:

• Professional – which are learning programmes that lead to designations that are registered by professional bodies;

• Vocational – which are Nated learning programmes and artisanal programmes that lead to a trade and/or the National Certificate Vocational (NCV);

• Technical – which are learning programmes that are occupationally-directed and registered by the SETA including apprenticeships, Learnerships and skills programmes; and

• Academic learning programmes which lead to academic qualifications such as certificates, Higher Certificates, Diplomas and Degrees.

Table 3 on the following page is the list of the LGSETA PIVOTAL list.

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Table 3: LGSETA PIVOTAL list

Occ

upat

ion

code

Occ

upat

ion

Spec

ialis

atio

n /

Alte

rnat

ive

titl

e

Inte

rven

tion

pl

anne

d by

the

SETA

NQ

F le

vel

NQ

F al

igne

d Y/

N

Qua

ntit

y ne

eded

Tim

efra

me

Qua

ntit

y to

be

supp

orte

d by

SET

A

0-10

0

101-

1000

1001

& A

bove

121101 Finance Manager

Account Systems Manager, Budgeting Manager, Chief Accountant, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Finance Director, Financial Administrator, Financial Controller, Foreign Exchange Manager, Internal Revenue Controller, Revenue Assessment Manager

Municipal Finance Management Development Programme (National Treasury Competency (MFMA) / National Certificate Local Government Accounting Certificate Learnership

6&7 Y 31 Short 31  31  

121104 Internal Audit Manager

Internal Audit Manager Municipal Finance Management Development Programme (National Treasury Competency (MFMA) / National Certificate Local Government Accounting Certificate Learnership

6&7 Y 34 Short 34 34  

121905 Project Manager

Project Director Learnership, Candidacy intervention 6&7 Y 111 Medium 111 111

132301 Construction Project

Manager

Building and Construction Manager, Construction Manager, Construction Site Manager, Construction Project Director, Property Development Manager, Technical/Infrastructure Manager

Certificate Planning and Development, Labour Intensive Construction, Infrastructure Asset Maintenance, Candidacy

6 Y 56 Medium 56   56  

214201 Civil Engineer

Biosystems Engineer, Construction Engineer, Environmental Engineer, GIS and Land Use Management Engineer, Geotechnics Engineer, Hydraulics Engineer, Site Design Engineer

Diploma/Certificate, Skills Programmes, Learnerships, Internships for Planning and Development

6&7 Y 150 Medium 150   150   

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Table 3: LGSETA PIVOTAL list

Occ

upat

ion

code

Occ

upat

ion

Spec

ialis

atio

n /

Alte

rnat

ive

titl

e

Inte

rven

tion

pl

anne

d by

the

SETA

NQ

F le

vel

NQ

F al

igne

d Y/

N

Qua

ntit

y ne

eded

Tim

efra

me

Qua

ntit

y to

be

supp

orte

d by

SET

A

0-10

0

101-

1000

1001

& A

bove

121101 Finance Manager

Account Systems Manager, Budgeting Manager, Chief Accountant, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Finance Director, Financial Administrator, Financial Controller, Foreign Exchange Manager, Internal Revenue Controller, Revenue Assessment Manager

Municipal Finance Management Development Programme (National Treasury Competency (MFMA) / National Certificate Local Government Accounting Certificate Learnership

6&7 Y 31 Short 31  31  

121104 Internal Audit Manager

Internal Audit Manager Municipal Finance Management Development Programme (National Treasury Competency (MFMA) / National Certificate Local Government Accounting Certificate Learnership

6&7 Y 34 Short 34 34  

121905 Project Manager

Project Director Learnership, Candidacy intervention 6&7 Y 111 Medium 111 111

132301 Construction Project

Manager

Building and Construction Manager, Construction Manager, Construction Site Manager, Construction Project Director, Property Development Manager, Technical/Infrastructure Manager

Certificate Planning and Development, Labour Intensive Construction, Infrastructure Asset Maintenance, Candidacy

6 Y 56 Medium 56   56  

214201 Civil Engineer

Biosystems Engineer, Construction Engineer, Environmental Engineer, GIS and Land Use Management Engineer, Geotechnics Engineer, Hydraulics Engineer, Site Design Engineer

Diploma/Certificate, Skills Programmes, Learnerships, Internships for Planning and Development

6&7 Y 150 Medium 150   150   

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Table 3: LGSETA PIVOTAL list

Occ

upat

ion

code

Occ

upat

ion

Spec

ialis

atio

n /

Alte

rnat

ive

titl

e

Inte

rven

tion

pl

anne

d by

the

SETA

NQ

F le

vel

NQ

F al

igne

d Y/

N

Qua

ntit

y ne

eded

Tim

efra

me

Qua

ntit

y to

be

supp

orte

d by

SET

A

0-10

0

101-

1000

1001

& A

bove

216401 Urban and Regional Planner

Community/Country/District Planner, Environmental Consent Planner, Land Use Planner, Natural Resource Management Consultant, Officer/Planner, Town Planner, Traffic and Transport Planner

Degree, Diplomas (30) Learnerships

6&7 Y 58 Medium 58  58    

241101 Accountant Bank Accountant, Debtors Manager National Certificate Local Government Accounting Certificate/Advanced Accounting Learnership

6&7 Y 149 Medium 149 149

313201 Water Plant Operator

Sewerage Plant Operator, Waste Water Plant Operator, Water Treatment Plant Operator, Waterworks Plant Operator

Learnerships, RPL, Skills Programmes 4 Y 212 Short 212    212  

331301 Finance Clerk

Finance Administrator National Certificate Local Government Accounting Certificate Learnership

4&5 Y 158 Medium 160 160

642601 Plumber (General)

Fire Hydrant Repairman, Fire Services Plumber, Maintenance Plumber, Plumbing Contractor, Sanitary Plumber, Sprinkler Plumber, Water Plumber

Apprenticeships, Learnerships 4 &5 Y 117 Medium

to long 117    117  

671101 Electrician (General)

Appliance Mechanician, Armature Winder, Coil Winder, Electrical Contractor, Electrical Fitter, Electrical Mechanic, Heavy Coil Winder, Motor Winder, Railway Signal Electrician

Apprenticeships, Learnerships 4&5 Y 221 Medium

to long 221    221  

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Table 3: LGSETA PIVOTAL list

Occ

upat

ion

code

Occ

upat

ion

Spec

ialis

atio

n /

Alte

rnat

ive

titl

e

Inte

rven

tion

pl

anne

d by

the

SETA

NQ

F le

vel

NQ

F al

igne

d Y/

N

Qua

ntit

y ne

eded

Tim

efra

me

Qua

ntit

y to

be

supp

orte

d by

SET

A

0-10

0

101-

1000

1001

& A

bove

216401 Urban and Regional Planner

Community/Country/District Planner, Environmental Consent Planner, Land Use Planner, Natural Resource Management Consultant, Officer/Planner, Town Planner, Traffic and Transport Planner

Degree, Diplomas (30) Learnerships

6&7 Y 58 Medium 58  58    

241101 Accountant Bank Accountant, Debtors Manager National Certificate Local Government Accounting Certificate/Advanced Accounting Learnership

6&7 Y 149 Medium 149 149

313201 Water Plant Operator

Sewerage Plant Operator, Waste Water Plant Operator, Water Treatment Plant Operator, Waterworks Plant Operator

Learnerships, RPL, Skills Programmes 4 Y 212 Short 212    212  

331301 Finance Clerk

Finance Administrator National Certificate Local Government Accounting Certificate Learnership

4&5 Y 158 Medium 160 160

642601 Plumber (General)

Fire Hydrant Repairman, Fire Services Plumber, Maintenance Plumber, Plumbing Contractor, Sanitary Plumber, Sprinkler Plumber, Water Plumber

Apprenticeships, Learnerships 4 &5 Y 117 Medium

to long 117    117  

671101 Electrician (General)

Appliance Mechanician, Armature Winder, Coil Winder, Electrical Contractor, Electrical Fitter, Electrical Mechanic, Heavy Coil Winder, Motor Winder, Railway Signal Electrician

Apprenticeships, Learnerships 4&5 Y 221 Medium

to long 221    221  

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According to Chapter 14 – Schedule 4B of the South African Constitution, the general provisions of local government are as follows:

General provisions of local government

1 Air pollution

2 Building regulations

3 Child care facilities

4 Electricity and gas reticulation

5 Firefighting services

6 Local tourism

7 Municipal airports

8 Municipal planning

9 Municipal health services

10 Municipal public transport

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Municipal public works only in respect of the needs of munic-ipalities in the discharge of their responsibilities to administer functions specifically assigned to them under this Constitutional or any other law

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Pontoons, ferries, jetties, piers and harbours, excluding the regula-tion of international and national shipping and matters related thereto

13 Storm water management systems in built-up areas

14 Trading regulations

15Water and sanitation services limited to potable water supply systems and domestic waste-water and sewage disposal systems

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9. PROVINCIAL OFFICES CONTACT DETAILS

Head Office – Johannesburg

Tel: (011) 456 8579 www.lgseta.org.za

Fax: (011) 450 4948 info@lgseta.org.za

Physical Address: Postal Address:

1st Floor P.O Box 1964

47 Van Buuren Road Bedfordview

Bedfordview, 2007 2008

LGSETA Gauteng and North West (in Johannesburg)

Tel: (011) 456 8579 Fax: (011) 450 4948

Physical Address: Postal Address:

1st Floor P.O Box 1964

47 Van Buuren Road Bedfordview

Bedfordview, 2007 2008

LGSETA Western Cape

Tel: (021) 686 7081/2 Fax : (021) 686 7083

Physical Address: Postal Address:

2nd Floor, Forrest House P.O Box 24662

Belmont Office Park Landsdowne

Belmont Road 7725

Rondebosch, 7700

LGSETA KwaZulu-Natal

Tel: (031) 337 9085/9178 Fax: (031) 337 9281

Physical Address: Postal Address:

Office 2301, 3rd Floor P.O Box 3314

Embassy Building Durban

199 Anton Lembede 4001

Durban, 4000

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LGSETA Eastern Cape

Tel: (043) 726 2404 Fax: (043) 726 1775

Physical Address: Postal Address:

11 Tecoma Street P.O Box 7163

Berea East London

East London, 5201 5200

LGSETA Mpumalanga and Limpopo (in Pretoria)

Tel: (012) 341 3324/5/6 Fax: (012) 341 3327

Physical Address: Postal Address:

536 Francis Baard Street P.O Boxes 12192

Building Block A The Tramshed

3rd Floor, Arcadia Pretoria

LGSETA Free-State & Northern Cape

Tel: (051) 448 2481 Fax: (051) 448 2218

Physical Address: Postal Address:

74 President Reitz Street P.O Box 2448

Westdene Bloemfontein

9300 9301

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NOTES

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NOTES

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Physical Address 47 van Buuren Road

BedfordviewPostal Address P O Box 1964

Bedfordview

2008Telephone Number +27 (0) 11 456 8579Fax Number +27 (0) 11 450 4948E-mail Address info@lgseta.org.zaWebsite www.lgseta.org.za