The minister laid down the law regarding the Labour Activation Programme and said what he expects of service providers. Picture: Independent Newspapers
Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi has given a stark warning to service providers linked to the Labour Activation Programme (LAP), adding they will not be paid if their performance has not been checked.
“The department expects delivery, compliance with contractual obligations, professionalism, quality work, measurable outputs and impactful interventions,” Minister Nxesi said on Friday.
The minister made these warnings while delivering his keynote address at the LAP launch in Kimberley.
Nxesi said that the labour department has implemented several systems and processes to monitor the performance of LAP service providers.
Eight LAP service providers in the Northern Cape have pledged to provide training for around 23,000 young South Africans.
The training will focus on sectors including agriculture, construction, hospitality, security, energy, call centres, and new venture creations.
The department set aside a budget of R558 million to focus on the LAP training in the Northern Cape.
“We are currently implementing the recommendations of an independent review of the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) and the Compensation Fund, focusing on strengthening service delivery and innovation, and developing effective and efficient business processes and systems,” Nxesi added.
“This includes an established project management office to monitor projects, enforce contracts and evaluate outcomes,” Nxesi said.
In April, the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) said that it is extremely concerned about the R23 billion that is being used from the UIF to create schemes by Nxesi’s ministry.
Saftu said that the programme’s opportunities and promises are not sustainable.
“Instead of spending the money on projects that enrich the parasitic bourgeois without benefiting the contributing workers, the people on whose name the fund was initially created, the benefit pay-outs to workers must increase,” Saftu said in a statement.
The union said LAP was an “electioneering ploy” by the governing ANC, rather than an opportunity to create long-lasting jobs for unemployed South Africans.
“There is a possibility that these LAP programmes are being implemented now because Minister Nxesi and his cronies want to raise electioneering funds for the ruling party,” the union added.
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