| Abstract: | Human resources development has thus far been largely ignored by progressive South African organizations. However, recent developments indicate a growing awareness of the importance of human resources to the postapartheid reconstruction process. In June 1990 the State amended the Manpower Training Act to allow black trade union representation on industrial training boards for the first time. This placed COSATU in a very difficult position. It could now be represented on and influence these boards, but had no firm policy on industrial training issues. This article assesses some of the policy positions on human resources which have been developed by COSATU, the ANC and COSATU-affiliated economists. Many of these formulations are strongly influenced by arguments originating in the global phenomenon known as 'postfordism', which refers to the dramatic reorganization of worldwide capitalism since the late 1970s. Postfordism involves a fundamental reshaping of the relationship between the education and training systems and the economies of many countries. The first section of the article describes the key features of the global transition from fordism to postfordism. The second involves a critical assessment of the usefulness of the fordist/postfordist analysis to South Africa. The last section reviews the human resource policies which have emerged from COSATU. Ref. |
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