Few of you here today need to be persuaded that South Africa has a skills problem which we must urgently address if we want to meet our aim of growth, job creation and real, improvements in the quality of life of all our people.
People are our country's most important asset.
If all South Africans are going to play a meaningful role in economic and social development and improvements in their own lives, then they need to have the basic abilities to read and write, communicate and solve problems. But our people also need competence in skills demanded of our more complex, rapidly changing economy. In a world where workplace tasks are changing quickly, people's ability to adapt the skills they have to new demands and opportunities is fundamental to employment, income security and growth. But apartheid has left us the legacy of a highly divided skills profile, where only the few enjoy the benefits of high skills and high wages. The continued skills shortage among the majority of our people drives up wages of the few and aggravates the large differences between the haves and those trapped in the vice-grip of poverty.