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South Africa: Imperial Plans to Develop Skills for Vehicle Sector
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Business Day (Johannesburg)
14 May 2008
Posted to the web 14 May 2008
Business Day Reporter
Johannesburg
IMPERIAL Holdings, which owns the largest network of motor dealerships in SA, has opened a new technical training academy in Cape Town to address the skills shortage facing the automotive industry, and will spend R20m on a similar facility in Johannesburg next year.
The Imperial Technical Training Academy would initially accommodate 30 apprentices, but by the end of next year, 130 apprentices would be under training once the Germiston Academy had been opened, said Johan de Beer, Imperial's head of human resources development last week.
He said the major advantage of the academy was the hands-on training and coaching to be offered by the company's "highly experienced and qualified" technicians. The training centres would ensure each artisan was well equipped to maintain the technologically advanced vehicles on SA's roads .
"The courses are a balance of theory integrated with practical activities, providing students with the knowledge required to achieve success in this field."
The academy was a decentralised test centre for petrol and auto electrician trades. "Initiatives such as these, coupled with public sector initiatives, such as the R300m allocated to artisan training by the National Skills Fund will go a long way to easing the pressure on the industry," he said.
Imperial's executive director in charge of strategic development, Tak Hiemstra, said not enough artisans were being trained to meet industry demands for qualified people.
He said statistics from the Retail Motor Industry Organisation showed that the number of apprentices contracted nationally totalled 3376 last year against 5876 qualified artisans who were required by next year .
At present, only 1800 third- and fourth-year apprentices in the system were ready to qualify, leaving a significant shortfall. "These statistics illustrate the growing need for automotive technicians. Quality training driven by the private sector has become essential," he said.
Hiemstra said the decline in the number of qualified artisans was mainly due to the rapid advancements in vehicle technology that had changed the profile of the traditionally trained artisan.
"This career field now demands knowledge, ability and specific training. With vehicle technology becoming increasingly complex, automotive technicians now require a much broader base of knowledge than they did in the past," he said.
"In addition to being proficient in the basic mechanical and electrical systems, today's mechanics need to be equipped with the technological know-how to operate sophisticated diagnostic computers.
"The increase in the motor pool -- now sitting at approximately 7-million cars on the road -- has equally created a higher demand for car mechanic artisans," Hiemstra said.
There were also fewer young workers entering the field. The workforce is largely made up of older artisans, many of whom were already retired or will retire within the next 10 years.
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He said the reduction in the number of artisans being trained by the large parastatals had forced the private sector to come up with its own training programmes to fill the gap.
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