A partnership has been forged that should lead to more youngsters acquiring much-needed engineering skills.
The municipality has entered into a partnership with Midmar, a local engineering company, and Western College to boost much-needed skills in the engineering sector.
A public-private partnership, it was months in the making with rigorous negotiations between the engineering company and the Randfontein-based further education training college. It was signed at the Kagiso Community Hall.
The joint venture is geared towards empowering local people, particularly unemployed graduates and would-be engineers. According to Midmar’s director, Zola Mbanguta, his company had wanted to invest in education.
“This initiative started in September [2007] and is part of our social responsibility as Midmar to the people of Mogale City. At Midmar there are certain skills that we require for people’s employment, and we could not do this alone. So we had to identify partners and the municipality is one of those through its Integrated Development Plans.
“So whatever we want to do must be within the municipality’s vision, programme and policies. Then we identified Western College, which offers basic education that leads to the skills we require,” Mbanguta said, adding that the aim was to increase the intake of students to 2 000 by 2009.
Midmar Engineering is based in the Chamdor industrial area. So far, some 13 students have enrolled at the company’s engineering school, with the help of Merseta. The students were selected from around Mogale City and have completed their N-courses at various institutions.
Merseta is the sector education and training authority, or seta, for the manufacturing, engineering and related services field, covering the metal and engineering, auto manufacturing, motor retail and components, new tyre and plastics industries.
Speaking at the signing of the partnership, Executive Mayor Koketso Calvin Seerane said youth development was high on his agenda.
“We are proud to announce that our municipality is the first [in the country] to have such a partnership. We are also grateful that our youth and community will be beneficiaries of this initiative. Youth development is one key issue on our agenda because young people were left to their own devices in the past, and that has to be corrected,” Seerane said.
“Recently we engaged the Belgian government and have signed a bilateral agreement on a Plato Project. We hope that community members, particularly the youth, will consult with our small, medium and micro enterprise department and make use of such opportunities.”
While at Midmar, the students will undertake a four-year programme and concentrate on programmes involving “engineering artisan, engineering technician and teacher education” among others. The company will pay for their tuition.
Speaking about this opportunity, the students promised not to disappoint the partners. Skhumbuzo Mpanza, who is studying mechanical engineering at Western College, said, “I feel honoured that I have been given this opportunity and that I have been selected to realise my dream to further my career in the engineering field.”
Missionel Teme, a final-year industrial engineering student at the University of Johannesburg, said: “As engineering students, we need to get 12 months of practical training; you find yourself roaming the streets looking for a company that can give you that training.
“So I am happy to be part of this team and for me everything is now falling into place. Thanks to Midmar for giving me that opportunity, and I wish not to disappoint [it].”