Skills, Jobs and Young People

What this course is about

Jobs are the most frequent demand that communities make of mines, and the most frequent source of frustration. This course explains honestly how mine jobs and local hiring work, what Social and Labour Plans (SLPs) promise on skills, how young people can become work-ready, and how to build a livelihood that does not depend on one mine.

Who it is for

Young people in mine host and labour-sending communities, parents and youth workers, school and TVET staff, ward committees, and mine human resources and skills development staff.

What you will be able to do

1. Explain how mine jobs are created and filled, and why local hiring is contested.
2. Find and interpret the skills commitments in a mine's SLP.
3. Prepare a personal work-readiness plan, including safety rights.
4. Identify routes to enterprise and reskilling beyond a single mine.

Preview: the first two minutes

Module 1 · Introduction · 2 min

Animated scene (fictional, Pula). Outside the Kopano mine gate, 200 young people queue for 20 advertised posts. A rumour spreads on WhatsApp that the jobs were "already given to outsiders".

Modules

1. 

   Module 1 · 18 min

   How mine jobs and local hiring really work

   Explain how mine jobs are created and filled, and why local hiring is contested.

2. 

   Module 2 · 18 min

   Bursaries, learnerships and mentorship

   Find and interpret the skills commitments in a mine's SLP.

3. 

   Module 3 · 18 min

   Getting work-ready

   Prepare a personal work-readiness plan, including safety rights.

4. 

   Module 4 · 18 min

   Beyond the mine: enterprise and reskilling

   Identify routes to enterprise and reskilling beyond a single mine.

Go deeper

Optional, outside the 72 minutes.

• The nearest mine's approved SLP (human resources development section).
• Mining Qualifications Authority website (programmes and bursary information) [link to be confirmed].
• ISD CV and work-readiness guidance, shared at community training sessions.
• Mining School Course 5, Social and Labour Plans; Course 8, Life After Mining; Course 11, Doing Business with the Mine; Course 13, Rights, Safety and Dignity.

Sources

• https://polity.org.za/article/community-demands-put-pressure-on-mining-companies-2023-02-07
• https://www.acts.co.za/mineral-and-petroleum-resources/r527_46__contents_of_social_and_labour_plan
• https://webberwentzel.com:443/News/Pages/mprda-regulations-widen-the-obligation-to-consult.aspx
• https://lawlibrary.org.za/akn/za/act/1996/29/eng@1997-01-15
• https://www.icmm.com/en-gb/our-principles/mining-principles/mining-principles