Good progress has been made in the call centre, or business process outsourcing sector, as it employs several thousands of people and offers them relatively “decent” employment, says trade and industry minister Rob Davies.
The minister addressed a Parliamentary media conference yesterday, ahead of presenting the Industrial Policy Action Plan, or IPAP2, to the trade and industry committee.
Davies outlined government's ideas to stimulate the economy and create more than 2.477 million jobs within 10 years. This policy will be effective from the beginning of the next financial year, in April.
Economic development minister Ebrahim Patel, and science and technology minister Naledi Pandor appeared with Davies.
Call centres, or business process services, fall into one of the three key clusters identified within the programme of action that have been devised for government's cross-cutting interventions. This cluster also includes other interventions identified in the first IPAP, in 2007/8, such as automotive and components, plastics, chemicals and clothing, and textiles.
The first of the other two clusters incorporates metals fabrication, and capital and transport equipment. The third cluster is focused on sectors where the country has the potential to develop long-term advanced capabilities, such as nuclear technology and advanced materials.
The first IPAP was presented in the 2007/8 financial year and the key difference between it and IPAP2, and other plans, is the monitoring phase, whereby key projects will be assessed and, if necessary, modified or dropped, Patel said.
Davies also said the call centre sector had proved it could deliver on jobs and he had been impressed by the training offered by companies.
“We are also encouraging investors to spread their investments in this sector to other parts of the country so as to minimise risk,” he said.
Sipho Zungu, CEO of Business Process Enabling SA: Western Cape (formerly Calling the Cape), the organisation that promotes call centre investment in the province, said more than 27 000 people are now employed by the industry.
He noted that the rate of employment had dropped in the 2007/8 year to 29% from previous years, as the base continued to increase.
“We are still seeing quite a lot of interest in investing here by US and UK investors. Their main issue is the cost of telecommunications and not the rand exchange rate or the labour laws.”
Zungu has since stated he will leave the organisation at the end of the month.
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