Premier’s Council on Skills showcases new Growth for Jobs strategy

The Western Cape Government’s (WCG) bold and ambitious Growth for Jobs strategy (G4J) was the focus of the Premier’s Council on Skills (PCS) gathering for 2023. The plan plots an audacious way toward impactful and ambitious economic growth.

“We know why South Africa is not achieving meaningful economic growth. It is evident all around us on a daily basis. Every time the lights go off and power blackouts grind on, we are reminded of just one significant reason why we are struggling to create jobs and grow our economy. While the WCG is doing everything it can to respond to the energy crisis through various measures, we also need to keep innovating and develop new ways to generate employment. These interventions must work in concert, with partnerships giving expression to our energy plan and G4J.”

The PCS examined one of the seven priority focus areas (PFAs) that make up G4J: PFA 7:  improved access to economic opportunities and employability. It speaks to creating the right environment and opening pathways to resilient, permanent employment. Skills development is a logical starting point. PFA 7 fleshes out how these pathways offer improved employability assets, chief among them skills. Premier Winde noted that as important as offering and creating economic opportunities is, so too is ensuring that our citizens have the required skills to thrive in the workplace, grow and pass on their skills to future generations.

The PCS was held against the backdrop of the Garden Route Skills Summit and Career Festival which has brought a number of Western Cape municipalities together to plot fresh approaches to skills development initiatives. “Loadshedding is a crisis, but it is also an opportunity; a chance to explore and develop skills that will help guide us out of this catastrophe towards the kind of future our G4J strategy envisions,” added the Premier.

“We need all hands-on deck to keep our municipalities in our province functional through continuous skills development. And we should be competitive among ourselves.” Memory Booysen, Garden Route District Mayor, told the PCS.

Western Cape Finance and Economic Opportunities Minister, Mireille Wenger, said, “G4J is our map to 2035. It is based on the very best data, countless hours of research, collaborations, calculations, discussions, and an immense depth of experience and it is our map to a future where we have worked together to build a trillion-rand jobs-rich, inclusive, sustainable, diverse, and resilient provincial economy. What sets ‘Growth for Jobs’ apart is that it has been worked on with the private sector, because our goal is to enable and grow the private sector.

She concluded, “Change requires a vision, a map, and it requires action towards it – so, yes, we can realise a better future for our country, and we must work toward it with determination. And we know what the Western Cape, and South Africa is capable of, if we enable the private sector’s success.”