4 minute read
Welders are a dime a dozen, but quality welders are not
development that will enable them to participate meaningfully.
Foresighted development approach model
This is mainly aimed at what are generally referred to as strategic large capital projects that are continuously allocated to large national or multinational corporates due to a lack of skills or lack of quality product offering from small businesses.
The capacity development programme should incorporate technical capacity development which can ensure effective skills transfer that will prepare small suppliers to: • Partner with the large corporates in providing the required services; and • Develop the necessary skills to start participating in core mining activities through sub-contracting and possibly mutually beneficial joint ventures.
The pool of suppliers developed through these models should provide for increased confidence in mining corporates to consider unbundling strategies of large core mining opportunities to enable significant growth of local small businesses.
Access to finance
Access to empowerment funding with preferential rates will continue to be a great growth enabler for small businesses that would otherwise receive high interest rate charges from commercial banks due to their risk classification.
Various funding instruments paired with closedcircuit verification processes can be employed to enable the small businesses to access funding whilst mitigating against the inherent risk associated with small businesses. These financial instruments may include (amongst others), contract finance, medium term loans, forex facilities as well asset finance. A reliable process of verifying contracts with the employer or mining corporate allow for a seamless de-risking of the finance transaction which will eventually reduce the cost of capital which is crucial for small business survival.
In facilitating ESD funds, the process must be clearly defined and clearly understood by all parties involved in order to avoid delays that may place undue pressure on the small business cash-flow status.
I believe more can still be done in developing host communities to take meaningful participation in the immediate local economy and eventually in the mainstream economy of the country. However, this can only be achieved when all key stakeholders embrace the transformation agenda in the spirit that it was intended.
As we enter the new season of stakeholder engagements through informative and networking events such as the Mining Indaba, the country must clearly communicate the shared value benefits that can be achieved through conscious and deliberate stakeholder collaborations that would ensure efficient utilisation of the ESD transformation levers
afforded by legislation, to achieve meaningful economic transformation of host communities.
Gordon Malebo is an ESD strategist assisting corporates to clearly define and craft their transformation strategy.
Welders are a dime a dozen, but
quality welders are not
Welders it seems are a dime a dozen but highly skilled welders are not. This is the stark reality facing the South African industrial sector according to Southern African Institute of Welding (SAIW) Executive Director John Tarboton, who is concerned about the number of fly-by night training institutions that churn out graduates without the proper qualifications in place.
This wastes students’ hard-earned or even borrowed financing and sends out a generation of unqualified welders into the marketplace. And it can end in situations like that found during the construction of the Medupi Power Station, where 150 Taiwanese welders were employed for specialised welding work due to a lack of local skills in this specialised field, which is certainly not an acceptable situation.
It is made worse within the context of South Africa’s 34.9% unemployment rate (Stats SA) equating to 7.6 million people without work.
Training of welders needs to be given the respect it is due
"However, even when welders seek out employment; anecdotally what we have found is that out of 10 interviewed, only one will be sufficiently qualified for the job," Tarboton comments. “Unfortunately this stems from training providers not always understanding the need for suitably qualified and experienced trainers within their institutions, who follow clearly outlined training guidelines in properly equipped facilities. In addition, certification bodies do not always understand the need for properly trained assessors with a proper understanding of Codes and Standards underwritten by objective assessments. “As a result what we are increasingly seeing is students who have already completed training at other institutions coming to us to gain the proper certified, government recognised training after battling to find or keep employment due to a lack of skills,” adds Tarboton.
This is especially worrying given the danger this poses to the quality of the installations or projects or products that the welders work on prior to achieving the appropriate level of skill.
