Abstract
The emergency of new technologies has affected the workplace environment, and the skills needed to perform certain tasks. Both the public and private sectors are actively adapting by skilling, upskilling, and reskilling their workforce to prepare them for the changes brought about by new technologies in the 4IR. This study aimed to investigate how the Media, Information, And Communication Technologies Sector Education and Training Authority (MICT SETA), supports this process through its skills planning. It considers how they responded to the changes brought about by new technologies in the workplace and how they are determining what skills sets are required. This is because MICT SETA is the government agency responsible for responding to these shifts based on the Skills Development Act of 1998. This study uses a qualitative research methodology and in particular the case study approach as the research design. The data analysed was collected through a search for relevant documents including planning documents and annual reports of the MICT SETA, and key informant interviews with purposively selected participants from the MICT SETA head office. The researcher purposively selected the participants and the documents. The findings revealed the skill plans and their execution and/or implementation of this. Specifically, the findings demonstrate that the main strategy MICT SETA uses is delivering training through skills development and reskilling of the workforce, the creation of learnerships for filling the critical skills gap within the sector and working in partnership with Technical Vocational Education and Training colleges and universities as well as Small, Micro and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs). Though I encountered challenges in accessing participants, I was able to access relevant documentary sources to address the study’s objectives. Although the MICT SETA is driving appropriate programmes for upskilling and reskilling for the realities brought about by technological changes, recommendations emerging from the study include better evaluation of skills training providers, conducting evaluations of skills training outcomes with employers and participants