The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) on Wednesday said that one of the most important element of its mandate for the upcoming elections, to be held on April 22, would be skills development.

ACDP deputy president Jo-Ann Downs stated that businesses and the private sector needed to get involved in skills development. “The biggest idea is that we must partner much more with business in terms of skills development.”

Downs noted that the ACDP was suggesting tax incentives or subsidies to companies that would do training. “Any business that employs unskilled people will not get a revenue stream from those people for at least three or four year's worth of training.”

She added that government would also have to set up education facilities specifically aimed at training government employees. Downs noted that it was imperative that skilled workers had to be employed in municipalities to ensure that government was effective.

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