One hundred young people from two rural municipalities in the Far North of KwaZulu-Natal get a head-start following their completion of a rigorous six month Expanded Public Programme (EPWP) linked training course in Building and Civil Construction.
To celebrate this milestone, MEC for Human Settlements and Public Works in KwaZulu Natal, Ravi Pillay will preside over a special graduation ceremony on Friday, 3 March 2017 at Mbazwana Arts Centre where certificates will be handed over.
“The recipients have met the minimum requirements for the National Certificate in Building and Civil Construction. They are the first batch of 445 who will graduate over the next few weeks in four districts in the province,” said Pillay.
He added that the training programme exposed the youth to various modules of housing construction and that certification enables them to access work opportunities that match their newly acquired skills – a critical element of government’s EPWP for advancing radical socio-economic transformation.
The modules include specialist instruction in bricklaying and plastering as well as roofing and carpentry. The training has been facilitated by the uMfolozi Trade and Vocational Education and Training College.
The graduating youths are drawn from the municipalities of Big Five, Hlabisa and uMhlabuyalingana in uMkhanyakude District. KZN Department of Human Settlements is currently implementing the Makhasa Rural Housing Project at Big Five Hlabisa Municipality as well as the Mashabeni Rural Housing Project and KwaMbila Rural Housing Project in uMhlabuyalingana Municipality.
The Department’s quality assurer, the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) has also undertaken to provide bursaries to some of the learners for them to continue their studies in the Built Environment disciplines at Mtheshana Trade and Vocational Education Training (TVET) College.