Master Builders building skills

Cape Town - There is a persistent shortage of skills in the South African construction industry, according to Allen Bodill, executive director of the Master Builders Association Western Cape (MBAWC).

To meet the needs of the sector, the MBAWC, a registered trade association for employers in the building industry, offers a wide ranging programme of training. This includes basic skills acquisition courses, apprenticeship initiatives, a cadet education programme, the upskilling of construction supervisors and frequently held seminars for members on the latest industry developments.
 
Regarding the organisation’s basic skills acquisition courses, group skills facilitator, Tony Keal, says: “In the Western Cape a large percentage of people working in the industry either have very basic literacy and numeracy skills or none at all. As those people cannot enter into an apprenticeship or any formal type of training, we offer our members’ employees a variety of basic skills courses such as construction carpentry, basic bricklaying, scaffold erection, scaffold inspection, waterproofing and painting."

"Training is provided based on demand for particular skills by our members who only have to pay for the employee’s wages whilst we finance the full training costs. We refer the candidates to accredited training providers in the Western Cape. Certificates of competence are issued upon completion of a course – equipping the employee with a marketable skill.”

Apprenticeships are the MBAWC’s core training offering. “There are two ways in which we run our apprenticeships,” explains Keal.