Deputy president launches skills project

The government will actively intervene to harness skilled labour with Monday’s launch in Pretoria of the Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition, or Jipsa. The lack of skilled people has been identified as one of the factors that constrain growth. According to the government information service, BuaNews, the high-level team led by Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka will identify urgent skills needs and advise on ways to tackle the challenges. Some of the urgent interventions identified are mentoring programmes and the overseas placement of trainees. Retirees or expatriate South Africans may also be brought back and new immigrants could be drawn in where necessary.