The skills training levy in South Africa: skilling the workforce or just another tax?

Report

In 1998, the Skills Development Act was implemented in South Africa. Its purpose was to encourage employers to provide skills training for employees through the use of a levy system linked to a company's payroll. Ten years on, the system is burdened with bureaucracy. Whilst there is evidence of increased skills training, it varies greatly within and between sectors. In particular, it would seem that many small- to medium-sized enterprises do not have the human resources to comply with the criteria to receive and administer the funds, adding the one percent skills training levy to their tax burden.

Authors: James, S

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: ESRC Centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance (SKOPE)
• Series: SKOPE Issues Paper
• Place of publication: http://www.skope.ox.ac.uk/publications
• Publication date: 2009-01-01
• Edition: Publisher's version
• Paper number: 19, May 2009
• Language: English
• Keywords: South Africa; skills
• Subjects: Education