Meeting the targets outlined in this Charter requires a concerted and coordinated effort involving different role players in government (Departments of Labour & Water Affairs and Forestry), statutory bodies (Forest Education and Training Authority - FIETA and the South African Qualifications Authority - SAQA), industry and labour in addressing the bottlenecks in the delivery of accredited skills. This includes steps to ensure the effective utilisation of available skills development and training resources.
To this end:
| (a) | Government, industry and labour, through FIETA and its Forestry, Paper and Pulp and Timber Chambers, jointly undertake to develop and implement a Sector Skills Plan for the Forest Sector that: |
| a. | Includes targets and timelines to: |
| • | Strengthen the national framework for skills development. |
| • | Strengthen sector capacity for skills development delivery. |
| • | Promote skills development opportunities for youth, women and new entrants in the Forest Sector. |
| • | Empower beneficiaries of the land reform process to sustainably develop and manage forest enterprises. |
| b. | Is based on a clearly defined transformation and growth strategy for the Forest Sector. |
| c. | Links with the various provincial government's Provincial Growth and Development Strategies (PGDS) and National Skills Fund (NSF) funded projects supporting the PGDS. |
| d. | Presents programmes and mechanisms through which enterprises can spend the additional skills development spend provided for in this Charter. |
| e. | Identify specific skills development projects for which business plans will be developed and submitted to the NSF for funding |
This measure will be operational within one year of the signing of the Charter.
| (b) | Government, through DWAF, undertakes to fully participate as a contributing stakeholder in all FIETA activities. This measure will be operational within six months of the effective date of the Charter. |
| (c) | Government through the Department of Labour undertakes to ensure that when the 2005-2010 National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS) is updated, special attention is given to skills development requirements to support B-BBEE sector targets for the South African economy. |
