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HSRC Annual Report 2016/17
It also established that firms in the services sector are more likely to employ youth than agriculture, mining, manufacturing
and the public sector. The study recommends that government incentives should target firms with a greater propensity
to employ younger people rather than those with high wage costs. Younger firms are also worth supporting for a similar
reason.
Agro-processing and Employment
Agro-processing is believed to offer considerable potential for employment creation in South Africa. This study sought
to evaluate the outcomes of a pulp and drying fruit factory, set up by the DST and the EU as a demonstration project in
Greater Tzaneen, Limpopo, to help create jobs and alleviate poverty in the community. The evaluation focused on the
effectiveness, relevance and sustainability of the intervention. The overall findings indicated some positive outcomes
with respect to employment and poverty. However, many of the benefits were temporary and the wages earned were
low. The seasonal nature of the operation was clearly a hindrance to it having a more sustained effect. Nevertheless,
the findings indicate that this type of intervention has the potential to make a meaningful contribution to reducing
poverty, unemployment and inequality.
Education and Skills Development (ESD)
“South Africa’s prospects for improved competitiveness and economic growth rely, to a great degree, on science
and technology. The government’s broad developmental mandate can ultimately be achieved only if
South Africa takes further steps on the road to becoming a knowledge-based economy, in which
science and technology, information, and learning move to the centre of economic activity.”
South Africa’s 10Year Innovation Plan, 2008
Profile of ESD
ESD’s research focuses on national priorities related to improved quality of basic education for all, and sustaining a skilled
and capable workforce to support an inclusive growth path. The programme strives to conceive, design and conduct
ethical research that ultimately enables better quality education, a more skilled workforce, participation in the workforce,
communities equipped with capabilities, and citizens freed from inequalities.
The programme delivers research expertise in the fields of education, skills development and public and science
relationships, focusing on projects that address national education and skills priorities; contribute to the development
of evidence which could inform relevant policies, including redress of inequalities; support efficient resource allocation
decisions; improve the quality of basic education; and explore ways to expand workforce participation.
The overarching aim of the programme is to contribute to the development of educated, skilled and capable South
Africans to promote human development and to support economic expansion that follows an inclusive and sustainable
economic growth path.
Research highlights
The Labour Market Intelligence Partnership (LMIP) and the Skills Supply and Demand in South Africa Report
Since 2012, the HSRC has worked with the DHET to analyse the skills needed to support inclusive economic growth and
determine how education and training institutions should respond to this demand for skills.
In the year under review, the team produced the LMIP Skills Supply and Demand in South Africa Report (http://www.
lmip.org.za/document/skills-supply-and-demand-south-africa). The main findings in the report relate to (i) the economy
and jobs; (ii) education and supply of skills; and (iii) where those with a tertiary qualification work. The study also yielded
information on the structural mismatch between labour demand and supply, as the economy and labour market show
a demand for high skilled workers, but there is a surplus of low-skilled workers. The economy must respond to the twin
challenges of participating in a globally competitive environment that requires a high skills base and a local context
that creates low-wage jobs to absorb the large numbers who are unemployed or in vulnerable jobs.