BuaNews (Tshwane)
Gcina Ntsaluba
27 July 2007
White River — Ten aspiring carpenters hope to start their own businesses after graduating from the Furniture Technology Centre (Furntech), Thursday.
The students attended a six week training programme at the Furntech in White River, Mpumalanga after being awarded bursaries of R10 000 each by the provincial Department of Economic Development and Planning.
At the graduation ceremony, departmental MEC Craig Padayachee gave them certificates, as well as fully-equipped toolboxes so they could start their own businesses.
Furntech manager Lydia Mphumela encouraged the graduates to work hard.
"You need to work 18 hours a day for your businesses to be successful," she said.
The ten graduates come from poor communities around Nelspruit and have been trained in cabinet making, wood finishing, furniture production and upholstery.
Furntech started operating last year and provides training in wood machining, wood finishing, coffin making, cabinet making, making and installing kitchen and bathroom cupboards, as well as wooden doors and window frames.
The centre is equipped with a workshop, classrooms and administration offices.
The construction of the centre was funded at R12 million by the national Department of Trade and Industry, as well as the Furntech Training Trust, which also manages the centre.
The Swedish government trained the trainers who work at the centre.
Currently, Furntech has five training centres around South Africa and 26 micro and small businesses in its business incubation programme.
In a recent Forestry and Timber Processing Summit held in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape it was highlighted that the timber and forestry sector needed transformation to ensure opportunities for both business and employment.
The summit also reviewed a business plan developed by Furntech which aims to provide business technology incubators for the furniture and wood products industries.
The objective of the incubation process is to develop new small business and wood products sector.
The process promotes entrepreneurship and encourages the formation and development of sustainable registered with all aspects of starting up and developing their Small Medium Micro Enterprises.
Furntech is also accredited by the Furniture Industries Education and Training Authority (FIETA).
According to Statistics South Africa's recent labour force survey, the manufacturing sector has employed more than 70 000 people in Mpumalanga.
In this case, the manufacturing of furniture contributes to the rich natural resources provided by Agriculture and Forestry industry which accounts for more than 114 400 jobs in Mpumalanga.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2007 BuaNews. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
