Labour Minister meets Saldanah Bay fishing community

Image courtesy of stonn/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The minister held a two-day summit with the fishing community over the weekend.

The summit was a platform for Minister Oliphant to engage with the community of Saldanha Bay at a Youth and Workers' Summit on Friday and Saturday respectively.

The minister said it was important for the department to stay in touch with its stakeholders, as they were vital partners in job creation.

"Our focus as a department, taking the cue from the President, is to offer a full suite of vocational services such as vocational counselling, registration of work seekers on the database and registration of job opportunities, including placement of young people in employment.

"We are aware that government alone is not in the position to create jobs. In fact, our role is to create an enabling environment that will lead to job creation. In the work that we have been doing, we have collaborated with a number of private sector companies, who share our commitment," she said.

The minister on Friday was joined by senior officials from Labour's Public Employment Services (PES) unit and key stakeholders, including the Industrial Development Zone (IDZ) partner.

The IDZ project encourages employment opportunities that will be linked to the department's Employment Services South Africa (ESSA) system. During 2013, the department went on a road-show in the West Coast community to register work-seekers, who will possibly benefit from the Saldanah Bay IDZ initiative.

On Saturday, the focus shifted to discussions of employment, sectoral determinations and compliance within the workplace. The Workers' Summit, led by the Inspection and Enforcement Services Unit (IES), placed specific emphasis on the hospitality, agricultural and fishing industries.

The Workers' Summit was preceded by an inspection blitz in the West Coast, which focused on the three sectors represented on the day.