The Mining Qualifications Authority (MQA) is expecting another clean audit for the 2023/24 financial year ending March 31 next year, after having received unqualified audit outcomes with no material findings from the Auditor-General for the 2021/22 and 2022/23 financial years.

In the 2020/21 financial year, the MQA received an unqualified audit outcome as well, but with findings.

The MQA has a mandate to execute skills development in the mining and minerals sector, for which it receives financial resources primarily from skills development levies, governed by the Skills Development Levies Act.

Speaking at the 2023 Annual Consultative Conference and Inaugural Mining Skills Lekgotla in Boksburg on November 23, MQA board chairperson David Msiza reported that 44 indicators had been achieved out of the 46, equating to 97% of the performance targets having been reached for the year.

He also noted that the MQA had recorded a total spend of R1.15-billion on discretionary grants from a budget of R1.1-billion, resulting in a total percentage achievement of 103%.

“When you look at 2022/21, we actually closed with a surplus, so the surpluses kept on accumulating. We are not in the business of making surpluses. We need to make sure that the resources that we have, we actually get to spend them. So, as they accumulate for 2023, we've got a deficit. So that deficit actually reduced the surpluses that that we had,” MQA CFO Lebogang Matlala explained.

Msiza added that the MQA continues to measure the impact of its work through tracer studies of the programmes it delivers. During the 2022/23 financial year, a total of three programmes were traced.

In addition, a total of 3 972 employees completed Occupational Health and Safety Representatives and other MQA-approved skills programmes. The total number of learners that completed an artisan programme amounted to 670. Additionally, a total of 137 employees successfully completed the management and executive development programme.

In terms of mine community, youth, and small-scale mining support, beneficiaries that completed the MQA’s Mine Community Development Programme amounted to 3 515, while a total of 283 beneficiaries were trained through the Small-Scale Mining Support Project.

Moreover, 3 505 beneficiaries completed the MQA’s Youth Development Programme. In terms of learnerships, 903 learners completed various learnership programmes, while 930 learners completed internships in the year under review. Unemployed learners across various disciplines were awarded 1 585 bursaries.

In addition, the MQA's Historically Disadvantaged South Africans (HDSA) Lecture Support Programme has led to the creation of employment for HDSA lecturers within higher education institutions focusing on mining and minerals sector-related qualifications.

“What we are focused on is impact. It is no longer only about numbers. Yes, numbers are important, because numbers see how many lives we have touched out there in terms of the resources that we have. But in terms of services delivery, what impact have we made? What changes have we brought into the lives of these people. As a result, we are now focused on that,” Msiza said.