The Prevailing Skills Crisis in South Africa

Abstract

This article examines the skills development strategy of the City of Cape Town, a metropolitan government located in the Western Cape Province in South Africa. The strategy is largely integrated in nature and embraces the principles of Strategic Human Resources Development – an approach essentially borrowed from the private sector. In developing societies such as South Africa, the primary criticism is that the peculiar challenges prevailing in these societies make importation of “developed world models” highly complex and problematic. More specifically, the implementation of private sector models is even more complex when applied in public sector institutions. Therefore, this article critically examines the skills strategy of the City, its key components, and challenges confronting successful implementation in an effort to understand whether the Strategy is viable and appropriate in addressing the skills crisis confronting many municipalities in South Africa. The methodology is primarily qualitative and relies on both primary and secondary data sources.