Since the inception of democracy, various policies and strategies of the South African Government have identified the development of adequate human resources to meet the development needs of the country as a key strategic priority. The Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) identified human resource development (HRD) as one of the five core programmes to drive the implementation of reconstruction and development in South Africa:

In accordance with the Human Resource Development Council of South Africa the Northern Cape Province has an important role to play in establishing a Northern Cape Provincial Human Resource Development Council (NC HRDC).

The scope and importance of the HRD for South Africa’s development agenda dictates that its success depends on the full contribution of all social partners. While government has a significant role to play in terms of its mandate and the public resources it holds in trust, it cannot perform this role optimally without substantive input and participation from civil society, organized labour, organized business and other stakeholders. More importantly, HRD policies have a significant role to play in addressing and lowering the levels of poverty, unemployment and inequality.

In view of the above, the Northern Cape Province has established a Provincial Council which is a multi-sectorial advisory body comprising of major stakeholders and chaired by the Premier or her delegate responsible to address the human resource needs peculiar to province.

The purpose of this council is

• To provide a medium in the province for constant dialogue and consensus - building among stakeholders on all matters related to human resource development
• Identify skills bottlenecks and recommending appropriate solutions to unblock such bottlenecks
• To mobilise senior leadership in organised business, government, organised labour, civil society and professional bodies, the education and training and science technology institutions to address the provincial HRD priorities in a coordinated and targeted way.

The Northern Cape HRD Council will be launched by the Premier of the Northern Cape Ms Sylvia Lucas on;

Date: 06 March 2014
Venue: Mittah Seperepere Convention Centre,
Time: 10h00

Released by the Office of the Premier, contact person: Ms. M. Tlaletsi – (053) 802 5013