Rand Mutual Assurance (RMA) has concluded a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Insurance Sector Education and Training Authority (INSETA) and the Mining Qualifications Authority (MQA) to establish a strategic partnership that will enable the parties to collaborate on identified projects.

This collaboration will enable the INSETA and the MQA to fulfil their statutory mandates and obligations by delivering services to their constituencies while also enabling the RMA to expand its social insurance mandate and programmes in line with its strategic objectives. 

Speaking at the signing of the MoU, RMA CEO Mandla Shezi emphasised the importance of collaboration among the entities.

“At RMA, partnerships are a strategic driver that enables us to deliver on our social and commercial aspirations. This MoU will help open doors for many who are not active participants in our economy and are often marginalised.

“We view this cooperation through the eyes of the worker, the everyday hero. This is about empowering them and their families. This will be achieved by positive interventions such as support for career growth, and the re-skilling and upskilling of current and former workers, including persons with disabilities,” Shezi said. 

“This MoU marks a pivotal moment in our collective journey to transform the skills landscape across sectors. At the INSETA, we recognise that meaningful collaboration is key to unlocking inclusive economic participation.

“Through this partnership with the RMA and the MQA, we are creating pathways for the upskilling and empowerment of workers – particularly those who have been historically marginalised – and strengthening the insurance sector’s role in driving social and economic impact,” says INSETA CEO Gugu Mkhize.

Under the MoU, collaboration between the parties will constitute the facilitation and regular sharing of information on matters of mutual benefit and the possible rolling out of impact activities.

This includes funding of learning programmes such as learnerships, internships or graduate programmes, bursaries, skills programmes and entrepreneurship programmes; championing programmes such as black broker development and support for small, medium-sized and microenterprises; and implementing programmes such as women in leadership and leadership programmes that include international immersion in line with the goal of transforming the insurance sector.

It also includes conducting impact assessments to evaluate the effectiveness of training from the perspectives of the INSETA, the MQA and the RMA. This also involves the creation of credit-bearing skills programmes such as occupational health and safety qualifications and promoting technical skills development and advancing career progression initiatives.

The parties describe this partnership as a demonstration of the three entities' commitment to investing in the future of South Africa and promoting sustainable development.

The parties will explore vital areas of collaboration, with the MQA and the INSETA prepared to lead the advancement of skills development in support of the work carried out by the RMA.

MQA CEO Dr Thabo Mashongoane welcomed the opportunity to work with the two entities, indicating that this crucial partnership will greatly assist in supporting the RMA’s efforts to rehabilitate mineworkers, create a sustainable livelihood for them and expand the mining and minerals sector.

Through this collaboration, the parties note that mine employees soon to be retrenched and former mineworkers, including people with disabilities and unemployed youth, will acquire reskilling opportunities in various areas that will allow them to secure employment.

In order to fill the unemployment gap, research studies will be conducted to determine the areas of lack and identify possible skills opportunities in line with the disability perspective, social labour plans, economic reconstruction and recovery plan, as well as other industry-specific imperatives.