The Readiness of South African Public Sector Trainers to Implement Capacity Development with regard to the 2030 Agenda

The study described in this paper investigated the readiness of South African public sector training facilitators to implement capacity development regarding civil servants' knowledge of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The researchers aimed to ascertain if public sector training facilitators are aware of the 2030 Agenda. The reason for the selection of public sector training facilitators is that they are better positioned to create awareness of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through training sessions that infuse knowledge into the relevant curricula. Training facilitators carry referent power and if they do not fully understand the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, civil servants will find it difficult to appreciate its significance in terms of government policy. The study found that there is a need for knowledge about the SDGs and skills regarding their implementation in government departments and institutions because the deadline for attaining the SDGs is before 2030.|A mixed methods research approach was adopted whereby documents were analysed to gather qualitative data and questionnaires were employed to collect quantitative data. The study posited that there is a need for improved coordination for government officials to understand the implementation of Agenda 2030 in government programmes and government officials should be equipped with tools to monitor the implementation of the SDGs in various government projects. The study concluded that an understanding of the SDGs will influence government policies in terms of policy execution by 2030, which is the target set by the United Nations.