With the national spotlight firmly focused on job creation there has been unprecedented interest this year in the upcoming Skills and Training Summit and its Achiever Awards ceremony - a leader in the field in South Africa.

While economists say the lack of skills is the greatest challenge to economic growth, delegates from all over the country will converge on the CSIR Convention Centre in Pretoria on 9-10 March to listen to expert speakers, to share experiences and seek solutions.

Max Makhubalo, chairman of InterSeta, the newly unified voice of the Sector Education Training Authorities, will speak on the role of the SETAs.

"SETAs need to correct the misconception that they are in competition with each other. In fact there are very many instances where they work together for the good of us all," he said recently.

Other speakers include Vusi Mabena, Skills Development Adviser at the Chamber of Mines and Chairperson of the Subcommittee on Education and Training at BUSA, Adam Habib, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Johannesburg, Charlotte Mokoena, CEO, Telkom Management Services will be talking on Public Private Partnerships to Accelerate ICT Skills Development in South Africa using JIPSA as a case study, President of the institute of People Management, and Mthunzi Mdwaba, CEO of Torque IT and vice-president of Business Unity South Africa.

Interest in the Summit has also been stirred by the new Green Collar  Award which has just been announced and  is being introduced for the  first time at the Summit.

"The Achiever Awards lead the way in this country in recognising and honouring companies, organisations -- and government departments -- who have implemented creative and innovative skills development and training programmes for their employees.

Such programmes are playing key role in transformation and change "said awards coordinator Tanitha Jolly.

"Now, for the first time on the African continent, we are introducing the Green Collar Award to honour those who are actively developing new approaches to green skills training and green job opportunities."

For more information on the event please contact Cape Media Corporation – Events Division – Tanitha  Jolly  – 021 681 7000  or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it