W&RSETA Newsletter May 2020

WHOLESAY May 2020 Newsletter

COVID-19 response measures for the W&R Sector OUR VALUES › Accountability › Agility › Integrity and Trustworthiness › Mutual Respect › Quality Services

PLAY YOUR PART TO REDUCE THE COVID-19 LOCKDOWN RISK TO LEVEL 1

• Stay home • Wear a mask in public • Keep the social distance • Practice good hygiene

Message from the Editor-in-Chief

LET US CHOOSE TO SEE LIGHT AT THE END OF THIS TUNNEL South Africa could not have been ready for the past two months that have presented unprecedented challenges as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Life and business as we know it have not been the same and it seems we need to prepare to live with this new reality. The past few months have seen thousands of people lose jobs; millions go hungry as the virus continues to rear its ugly head infecting thousands and almost six hundred people succumbing to the coronavirus. The lockdown was moved from level 5 to level 4 in line with the risk-adjusted strategy which has been greatly welcomed as it has allowed for more businesses to reopen resulting in more people having returned to work. Government, led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, has been hard at work developing and implementing plans to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on companies, workers and the most vulnerable members of our society.

part in curbing and managing the spread of COVID-19. You have placed the health and safety of customers and employees above the prosperity of your businesses. The measures that are required to implement such as provision of personal protective equipment and products and maintaining social distancing have not come without a cost.

On the SETA front, we continue to move with agility to respond to the ever-changing environment to ensure that our stakeholders are shielded from the full impact of the virus. Our efforts started with a review of our 2020/2021 Annual Performance Plan to reprioritise targets. This was also necessary in order to address the projected revenue loss of about R650 million as a result May 2020 Newsletter

Editorial Team

Martha Shingange – Editor-in-Chief Rhulani Mavunda - Editor Desmond Mashao – Production Coordinator

of the SDL payment holiday and expected job losses due to companies closing down. Details on some of these initiatives are on page 3.

On 31 May 2020, we closed submissions for the 2020/2021 Annexure II in line with the extended due date. We are grateful for the commitment that our stakeholders have demonstrated towards meeting this deadline under challenging circumstances.

A key development as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the expediting of e-learning across all sectors.

This is a great opportunity for our sector to move with digital developments. We are in the process of introducing online learning for the theory component of learning programmes and we are exploring the possibility of virtual simulations for the practical part. As Winston Churchill once said, “never waste a good crisis”.

As we start the month of June, dedicated to celebrating the youth of our country, we recognise the young people who are

We applaud our wholesalers and retailers for playing your

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W&RSETA COVID-19 Measures................................... 3 W&RSETA’s Response to COVID-19 on Skills ................ 5 New Board of the W&RSETA........................................ 6 Invitation: 2020/2021 Online SSP............................... 7

participating in our various programmes, past and present.

We are encouraged by the number of young people who are contributing to the economic growth of South Africa through entrepreneurship. Happy Youth Month to the young people of South Africa.

Until next month, Stay healthy and safe.

Yours in skills development,

Martha

Manager: Marketing and Communications

YOUTHMONTH

W&RSETA COVID-19 MEASURES The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted on the operations of various businesses, including the W&RSETA. From 27 March 2020, the SETA has been operating remotely when the national lockdown was implemented.

In an effort to minimise the impact of the lockdown on stakeholders, the W&RSETA has implemented various measures to address the several processes. These measures have been communicated to stakeholders through direct email and the W&RSETA website and include the following:

Delivery of learning Training is allowed during the lockdown only through online platforms in line with the directive from the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO). Stakeholders are encouraged to provide catch-up plans that include the use of online learning to align the period of the programmes with the initial period of contracts.

Extension of programmes All contracts that were due to expire on 31 March 2020 have been extended by six months to 30 September 2020.

Payment of invoices The W&RSETA will continue to pay compliant invoices during the lockdown. The SETA will prioritise payments based on the regulations and directives from government which include learner stipends, bursary allowances and expenses related to small businesses.

Payment of learner stipends Companies that are running W&RSETA programmes can submit claims for learner stipends to be paid during the lockdown. Employers that have applied to the UIF for the COVID-19 Temporary Employee/Employer Relief Scheme (C19 TERS) must pay the full amount received from the UIF to the learners. It should be noted that companies cannot claim

Signing of grant claim forms

from both the W&RSETA and UIF for stipends.

Companies are requested to attach electronic signatures of duly authorised officials on grant claim forms for submission

May 2020 Newsletter

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to the W&RSETA in the event that a physical signature cannot be obtained. The W&RSETA will also consider authorisation email/s as the official signature where electronic signatures cannot be created. The SETA will proceed to pay compliant claims that are submitted with an electronic signature of authorisation email.

Office operations In line with the W&RSETA’s return to work plan, developed in line with the relevant government regulations, only a third of employees are operating from the SETA’s premises.

Stakeholders are requested to contact the SETA’s employees by telephone or email, and to not visit our offices until further notice in order to curb the spread of the virus.

TEMPORARY EMPLOYEE/EMPLOYER RELIEF SCHEME (TERS) FOR COVID-19 The W&RSETA reminds and encourages stakeholder companies to consider the COVID-19 Temporary Employee / Employer Relief Scheme (C19 TERS) that is aimed at addressing the impact of the novel Corona Virus on companies and workers.

The C19 TERS is a special benefit under the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) to assist companies that are in distress as a result of the national lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible companies must apply for the relief through the Department of Employment and Labour.

The W&RSETA guide on the Scheme can be accessed on www.wrseta.org.za

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May 2020 Newsletter

W&RSETA’S RESPONSE TO IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON SKILLS DEVELOPMENT IN THE WHOLESALE AND RETAIL SECTOR Government has implemented several measures as part of its strategy to provide relief to vulnerable individuals, workers and employers due to the COVID-19 national lockdown.

• Support vulnerable sectors of the economy, particularly SMMEs, informal traders, cooperatives and NGOs. • Implement

reasonable

accommodation

measures

to

support the sector with COVID-19 regulations, including the provision of Personal Protective Equipment and through the C19 TERS. The revised 2020/21 APP will be communicated to stakeholders once approved.

These measures include tax relief, the release of disaster relief funds, emergency procurement, wage support through the

Following numerous suggestions, comments and concerns

UIF and funding for small businesses. One of the tax relief

from stakeholders, the W&RSETA has revised its implementation

measures that has been implemented is the four-month Skills

roadmap in line with the input from the sector. The roadmap

Development Levy contribution holiday for companies. This

has been revised as follows:

has resulted in a direct impact on the SETAs’ revenue. The

• Applications for funding will close on 30 June 2020 to

W&RSETA has projected a revenue reduction of 45% of its

allow for effective planning and allocation of funding. No

budgeted income of R1, 44 billion for the 2020/2021

extension requests will be considered.

financial year.

• The W&RSETA will implement new funding processes from 1 November 2020 to allow stakeholders and training

As a result of these developments, the W&RSETA has revised

providers access to funding opportunities aimed at

its 2020/2021 Annual Performance Plan (APP) to prioritise

addressing possible shortfalls on some programmes as a

initiatives that will respond to the impact of COVID-19 on

result of non-uptake by stakeholders.

the Wholesale and Retail Sector. The APP targets have been revised from 69 targets to 42.

• Allocated funding that is not utilised by stakeholders will be repurposed to prioritise COVID-19 interventions and support programmes.

The revised APP has prioritised the following key focus areas:

• Stakeholders are also encouraged to prioritise the

• Job retention for employees through re-skilling or multi-

implementation of 2019/20 contracts and to register

tasking of activities for possible changes in business processes.

• Increase the number of skills programmes to address the re-skilling and multi-skilling of employees to adapt to new

learners by no later than 30 June 2020.

• Stakeholders that may not meet the revised timelines are encouraged to rather focus on the implementation of current projects, i.e. PIVOTAL 2018/19 and PIVOTAL 2019/20.

business processes and COVID-19 requirements.

• Implement a project to train 600 graduates which will assist companies with the screening of customers and learners and health and hygiene management at wholesale and retail companies over a 12-month period.

• Increase the number of learners completing programmes.

• Assist vulnerable youth to gain access to opportunities for

›

education, training and employment.

May 2020 Newsletter

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NEW BOARD OF THE W&RSETA

The new Board of the W&RSETA assumed office on 1 April 2020 serving a 5-year tenure up to 31 March 2025. The following members have been appointed to the 15-member Board, with one seat yet to be filled.

Reginald Linda Sibiya, Chairperson

Nonkululeko Bogopa

Lerato Mokhitli

Ross Rayners

Margaret Bango

Zinhle Tyikwe

Zibele Sokabo

Sebe Rasebitse

David Makua

Lucas Ramatlhodi

Themba Mthembu

Mzimaseki Silimandlela

Vacant

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May 2020 Newsletter Thandeka Ntshangase

Sibusiso Busane

INVITATION: 2020/2021 ONLINE SECTOR SKILLS PLAN (SSP) ENGAGEMENT SESSIONS

Wholesale and retail employers are invited to participate in the 2020/2021 annual SSP engagement sessions.

The purpose of these sessions is to interact with stakeholders to solicit inputs on critical areas around skills development, economic and labour market to mitigate the impact of COVID-19.

It is important that stakeholders participate in this process to ensure that the W&RSETA develops and updates an SSP that reflects the skills priorities of the Wholesale and Retail Sector. This process will also enable the W&RSETA to allocate funding to key skills priorities in line with the Grant Regulations.

SSP Stakeholder Engagement The following are dates for the SSP engagements which will be facilitated by the W&RSETA: PROVINCE

PROPOSED DATE

03 June 2020

Gauteng

08 June 2020

KwaZulu-Natal

11 June 2020

Western Cape

19 June 2020

Eastern Cape

24 June 2020

Mpumalanga

29 June 2020

Free State

06 July 2020

Northern Cape

20 July 2020

North-West

22 July 2020

Limpopo

Sub-sector consultations Priority will be given to struggling sub-sectors as per economic performance and contribution to the sector. The sessions are as follows: SUB-SECTOR

PROPOSED DATE

Hardware

03 July 2020

General Dealers

06 July 2020 09 July 2020

The SSP key informant interviews set the tone, contribute to

Household Furniture and appliances

the development of the SSP engagement agenda and guide

Clothing

13 July 2020

the discussions. The interviews will be conducted as follows:

Pharmaceutical cosmetics and toiletries

16 July 2020

Fuel Retailers and motor trade

20 July 2020

Stakeholders are invited to the following sessions: Key informant interviews

PROVINCE

PROPOSED DATE

Eastern Cape

18 May 2020

KwaZulu-Natal

20 May 2020

Free State

22 May 2020

Gauteng

25 May 2020

Western Cape

27 May 2020

Please

confirm

your

attendance

to

tmnisi@wrseta.org.za and indicate the preferred platform for the consultation by selecting one of the following options: Zoom

Skype

Microsoft Teams

Google Meet

For enquiries, please contact Mr Mxolisi Maphakela on mmaphakela@wrseta.org.za May 2020 Newsletter

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Name of Province

Proposed date

Event

Midrand, Gauteng

4-5 March 2020

2020 Black Business Summit

49 Heystek Street Rustenburg 0299

You TA Tube

014 592 0483 Call Centre: 086 270 027 Web: www.wrseta.org.za