GAUTRAIN EMPOWERS WOMEN THROUGH SKILLS TRAINING

Gautrain’s concessionaire, the Bombela Concession Company has several initiatives in place to grow skills amongst women in the technical and engineering fields. Having learnt new skills, these women are able to work for Gautrain or any other construction related project. By creating job opportunities for women, Gautrain helps towards the empowerment of women and the fight against poverty.

BOMBELA CIVILS JOINT VENTURE (B CJV)

Learnerships

To meet the increasing demand for skilled professionals in the technical and engineering fields, Bombela Civils Joint Venture (B CJV), responsible for the design and construction of the civil infrastructure on the Project, is providing various learning opportunities to young people from historically disadvantaged backgrounds. Bombela’s strategy is to support the growth of mainly black women in the technical fields with B CJVs learnerships programmes that are currently in place targeted specifically at this group.

The following are some of the learnership interventions that are in place:

Roadwork Construction

• B CJV has currently registered 19 women learners on a 16-month learnership Certificate in Roadwork Construction accredited by the Construction & Engineeering Training Authority (CETA). Learners who successfully complete the competence test would receive credits towards the qualification. As part of the programme, learners are afforded an opportunity to gain experiential training at various BCJV construction sites.

Trade

• Bombela in association with Murray & Roberts Cementation are currently providing learnership/trade opportunities to 09 Women learners towards certificates in Blasting, Millwright/Fitting & Turning/Diesel mechanics. Throughout their study, learners are afforded an opportunity to gain workplace exposure at various Murray & Roberts sites.

Operator Training

• The purpose of the operator training is to afford comprehensive, specialized operator training to individuals with a matric or equivalent qualification who wish to follow a career as an operator. The operator training which will be offered in Plant, Crane, Excavator, TLB and Front End Load Operations will be offered in 2008 at the Chloorkop Training Centre.

Experiential Learning

• B CJV has in the past year provided experiential learning opportunities at various construction sites for students studying towards the National Diploma in Civil Engineering, a key part of their completing the study field. Twenty trainees are paired with experts and mentors in various sites and dependent on requirements some students have been offered contracts of employment with Bombela CJV.

Bursaries

B CJV has sponsored over 90 women learners in the business management and engineering fields at various FET and Academic Institutions in Gauteng in 2007. Furthermore, 11 students have been awarded bursaries and 52 students have been awarded sponsorships in 2008 in the fields of Civil Engineering, Quantity Surveying, Industrial Engineering, Mining Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Building & Construction Management and Bachelor of Business Administration. Upon completion of studies some students are offered in service training and contract employment with B CJV (depending on Project requirements). Students on B CJV bursaries are also offered vacation work during the holiday period and are provided with an opportunity to work with experts in their respective fields of study.

BOMBELA ELECTRICAL & MAINTENANCE (E&M)

Learnerships

Bombela Electrical and Maintenance (B E&M) responsible for the electrical, trackwork and maintenance of the Project is currently offering learnership programmes to 42 female learners in various areas such as Finance, Procurement, Human Resources, Contract Administration and Wiring.  As a requirement of the programmes, the learners receive experiential learning 3 weeks in a month and another week is spent on assessment on the various unit standards. The current intake is due to be completed in August 2008, subject to fulfilling the requirements of the programme successfully.

Another learnership intake took take place in March 2008, where an additional 42 learners are currently involved in learnership opportunities in the fields of Electrical and Civil Engineering, Document Control, Project Controls, Configuration Management and Construction.

Bursaries

B E&M is currently in the process of reviewing a bursary program – further details of which will be on the Gautrain and Bombela websites.  In addition B E&M has given 25 bursaries to existing staff to further develop them within their career paths.

Training Initiatives

Apart from on the job mentoring and training, E&M supports it’s employees by encouraging them to seek out training in an effort to further develop themselves, this training ranges from computer skills to specialized engineering courses.

In addition, the Track company has been upskilling the local workforce by offering various training programs.  The following training has been completed to date, with additional training forecasted to take place in the coming months:

• Excavator
• Fire Fighting
• First Aid
• Front end loader
• Incident Investigation
• Hand and power tools
• Hazardous chemicals
• PPE
• Roller
• SHE Representation
• Track Safety
• Flash Butt Welding
• Train Operations