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The Witness writes that there’s a shortage of a number of scarce skills in South Africa, with one of the areas most affected being artisans.
The Minister of Higher Education and Learning, Blade Nzimande, recently said that SA needed at least 60% of the matrics from the class of 2022 to pursue artisan-type training to meet the country’s demand for scarce skills. The department advised the number of students entering artisan training in TVET colleges would be increased from 17,000 to 30,000 in the 2023 academic year in an attempt to close this shortage gap. Kelvin Perimal, managing director of Zama Training & Development in Durban, said the shortage of artisanal skills in the country was critical. He pointed out that eThekwini Municipality, along with many other municipalities in SA, was experiencing a serious problem of sewage spillages and dilapidated storm water systems, but there were not enough skilled and professional plumbers, engineers and builders to effect repairs. “The demand for these skills is there, but we just need more young people to open themselves up to it,” he noted. Perimal also disputed the misconception that there was no money in artisan work, noting that a newly-qualified bricklayer could earn anything from R15,000 to R20,000 a month. KwaZulu-Natal premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube last month outlined the provincial government’s plans to convert non-viable schools that had dwindling enrolment numbers into vocational skills centers to address the shortage of technical skills
Read the full original of the report in the above regard at The Witness
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