Overview

All employers need to appoint a Skills Development Facilitator (SDF) to become compliant with the provisions of the Skills Development Act.  The appointment of the Skills Development Facilitator is key, not only to the claiming of relevant grants, but also to ensure the smooth progression of the organization into this new world of training and qualification.
There is no requirement for the new Skills Development Facilitator to be accredited at the time of appointment.  It is expected that the individual should become qualified over an appropriate period of time, once the relevant standards have been issued by the South African Qualifications Authority and accredited by the new ETQA body – the South African Board of Personnel Practitioners (SABPP).  An employer may choose to appoint either an internal in-house Skills Development Facilitator, or make use of an external outsourced training and development professional.
It will be expected of the Skills Development Facilitator to:

  1. Assist the employer and employees in the development of a Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) and Annual Training Report (ATR)
  2. Submit the Workplace Skills Plan to the relevant SETA.
  3. Advise the employer on the implementation of the Workplace Skills Plan.
  4. Assist in establishing a training committee within a member company.
  5. Advise the employer on quality assurance requirements as set by the Service  SETA.
  6. Serve as a contact person between the employer and the Service SETA.

Many employers and organizations selling outsourced Skills Development Facilitation services are adopting “minimum investment” or “net return” approaches to the levy and grant system.  This approach emphasizes a low cost approach to becoming compliant in the expectation that a substantial portion of the levies will not be expended and will be returned to the employer.  There is consequently a perception that compliancy will allow employers to “get their money back”.
While the current interim system of levies and grants does tend to encourage this kind of thinking, employers must be aware that the interim system will soon be replaced with a permanent “expenditure based” system of levies and grants.  Under the new system employers can only expect to claim against actual expenditures on skills development.  In other words, first you pay the levy, then you pay for skills development, then you claim those expenditures back against your levies.
Following a “net returns” approach to “getting money back” is therefore a very short term and unproductive approach.  Employers should rather adopt the view that they have already made an investment in skills development and should therefore become active participants in the Service SETA, allowing them to reap the benefits of a well-trained and motivated workforce, which is the real intention of the Skills Development Act and the real purpose of the Sector Education and Training Authorities.