ABSTRACT
The apartheid legacy is important in understanding why the national qualifications framework (NQF) took on significance in South Africa, and also, in understanding the persisting problems of the South African education system. The idea of an NQF emerged in negotiations between trade unions and business about industrial training during the transition to democracy in South Africa. Industry, labour, and the apartheid state all agreed that the low levels of education and skills of the workforce in South Africa were hampering the development of the economy as well as preventing individuals from rising to higher levels in the workforce. The South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) Act was the first education and training legislation of the new Parliament elected in the first democratic elections in South Africa. Mukora argues that the post-Fordist model on which it was premised is not applicable to the South African economy.
