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OVERVIEW OF THE SECTOR SKILLS PLAN (SSP)
The Mining Qualifications Authority (MQA) was established by the mine Health and Safety Act of 1996, and was registered as a Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) in terms of the Skills Development Act of 1998. All SETAs are required to prepare a Sector Skills Plan (SSP) for their respective sectors. In 2004 the MQA prepared a Sector Skills plan for the Mining and Minerals Sector (MMS) for the period 2005 to March 2010. This SSP is updated annually.
The original SSP was developed through a broad based consultative process. The consultation started with a number of research processes in which information was collected on training priorities, skills needs and problems experienced in specific subcomponents of the MMS. The preparation of this SSP document furthermore involved a series of workshops with stakeholders in the industry. In the preparation of the SSP achievements that resulted from the previous SSP as well as the weaknesses and lessons learned were taken into consideration and new processes were developed. The current update was done by updating some of the information including the scarce skills within the MMS. One of the important sourcese of data was the Workplace Skills Plans (WSP) and Annual Training Reports (ATR). consisted of a version of all statistical information. The updated SSP was adopted by the MQA Board.
The Sector Skills Plan (SSP) has been prepared in accordance with the guidelines included in the draft National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS) III for the period 2011 to 2016, as well as the DHET Guide to the Process and Timeframes for Developing Sector Skills Plans and the NSDS III (23 June 2010).
The main purpose of this SSP is to guide and inform skills development initiatives in the sector. It is the result of, not only thorough research process, but also of extensive stakeholder consultation.
