Twenty young South Africans have graduated from the Sandock Austral Shipyards Apprentice Training Programme.
Sandock Austral Shipyards is a commercial and naval shipbuilding a ship repair company and is a 100% black-owned South African business.
The Durban-based company partnered with the Department of Forestries, Fisheries, and Environment (DFFE) to develop and qualify South African youth from underprivileged backgrounds.
“Yesterday, we celebrated our most recent cohort of 20 young artisans, trained through our partnership with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment,” the company said.
“It is such an honour to be celebrating the successful end of this joint venture that is making an impactful contribution towards critical skills development and alleviating youth unemployment in South Africa.”
The company’s training programme has been producing artisans since 2008, in the mechanical fitting, electrical, and boiler-making trades and their Learning and Development Centre is accredited under the auspices of MERSETA.
Sinqobile Khuluse, head of human resources, Sandock Austral Shipyards said: “Young people are the key to a bright future for our economy, the prosperity of our country is hedged on us ensuring that we sufficiently equip future generations with the right skills, knowledge, and competencies.”
According to Khuluse, many of the young artisans who have passed through the training programme have gone on to build lucrative careers in South Africa and beyond our borders, and some of them have even started their own businesses.
Nomawethu Makhubalo a mechanical fitter graduate called the opportunity life-changing.
“I am now able to confidently occupy a space that was traditionally male-dominated. The training programme has changed the landscape and broadened the horizons for young females like myself. I truly believe that there is nothing that I cannot do,” said Makhubalo.
Sandock Austral Shipyards urges other private sector stakeholders to be conscientious about creating space for the uptake of critical skills development programmes and graduate programmes that increase the employability of young people.
IOL Business