FP&M SETA tells of successes at AGM

The Fibre Processing and Manufacturing Sector Education and Training Authority (FP&M SETA) celebrated its many achievements over the 2022/2023 period alongside various stakeholders from across the 13 sub-sectors that the organisation serves during its end-of-year annual general meeting (AGM) at the Midrand Convention Centre on 30 November 2023.

The day’s theme was “Unleashing tomorrow’s skills – navigating the tech and innovation-driven future of the FP&M SETA”, as attendants recognised the organisation’s successes in the 4IR and innovation spaces.

The FP&M SETA was founded by the Minister of Higher Education and Training in 2011 to promote job creation and economic growth by coordinating the development and implementation of the sector’s training and education strategy. It also seeks to implement the objectives of the National Skills Development Plan, and to help the critical or scarce skills required to build the sector’s capacity, making it more economically sustainable and globally competitive.

“We are fortunate to have the support of government and industry partners who often speak our praises in rooms where we’re not present. The incredible work that the FP&M SETA does for disadvantaged people and communities across the country would not be possible without these key supporters,” said Dr Felleng Yende, CEO of the FP&M SETA.

“We have implemented a number of far-reaching and impactful collaborations with industry partners and other SETAs. Additionally, with support from each of these stakeholders, I am proud to say that the FP&M SETA has, for the eighth time in 10 years, achieved a clean, unqualified audit from the Auditor General, adding to our many other accomplishments this year.”

During the AGM, Dr Yende and her team officially released the SETA’s Annual Report 2022/2023. Some of the report’s highlights included that through the FP&M SETA’s various programmes, 3,269 learners had completed learnerships, and employers provided 2,808 learners with opportunities to register or complete work experience.

The SETA committed approximately R9.7 million to assist students’ progress or complete their studies at higher education institutions. Some 1,318 students benefitted from bursary grants. The organisation achieved a total revenue of R398.7 million for the year, surpassing the previous year’s R363.4 million.

The FP&M SETA also launched its online learning portal this year, allowing learners nationwide to benefit from the organisation’s training and upskilling offerings.

Learner and programme successes

The AGM honoured some of its outstanding programme participants from the last year. These included Thulubheke Ncanana, who participated in the WorldSkills competition with support from the FP&M SETA, where he contended in the Creative Arts and Fashion category against global competitors. Ncanana was also part of a one-year learnership programme with the SETA.

Likewise, Sicelo Nelson Dlamini participated in a one-year upskilling programme at the Richmond-Indaleni Community Skills Development Centre. Dlamini’s business aims to bring information on the world’s oceans and ocean life to rural communities in the country’s interior.

Further expanding its reach, the FP&M SETA initiated and continued a number of of learnership-focussed programmes that teach fibre processing and manufacturing skills to people in disadvantaged and often underserved communities. Additionally, the SETA introduced various 4IR concepts and tools such as drone technology, virtual reality, robotics, high-speed WiFi, 3D printers and more to the Richmond community through the expansion of the Indaleni Centre.

Additionally, the SETA funded 20 student’s participation in a furniture craftsmanship programme in Kwa-Zulu Natal and facilitated 25 students at a sewing and fashion design workshop in Cape Town. The SETA also upskilled 35 inmates at the Boksburg Correctional Services through a cabinet-making skills project, and partnered with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment to upskill 90 participants.

Finally, it funded a learnership programme with Mossop Leather for 15 learners; supported 20 learners’ skills development in coffin-making with the Phumelela Sisonke African Foundation; funded the Assured Vocational Skills Institute to provide NQF 1 qualifications to 25 unemployed youth in Mpumalanga; and funded 20 learners’ studies for a cabinet-making qualification with the Mpola Mpola Co-op.

“We are not only a skills development contributor. We are a catalyst for change – a SETA which uplifts South Africans who have been denied opportunities by providing them with the knowledge and tools to find employment or become employers themselves. We want our people to thrive and not just survive so they can go on to teach others to do the same,” concluded Dr Yende.