InfrAstructure & Development - Trademax Publications

cement & concrete
First Sephaku Cement artisans
trained prove their mettle
Any of those from our first group of qualified artisans, born and bred
in the commnities surrounding our plants will be an asset to their
employer, says Sephaku Cement Chief Executive Officer, Pieter Fourie.
Chris Van Aswegen, Reliability Engineer at Sephaku Cement together with three of the successful artisans, Ernest Pule,
Reginald Thafe and Kealeboga Solomon Mosiane.
Sephaku Cement recently celebrated its first grouping
of new artisans, trained through an Artisan
Development Programme that is facilitated and fully
sponsored by the company. The learners passed rigorous
Trade Tests to conclude the two year course, which
includes theoretical and workplace experience, making
them either specialist fitter and turners or electricians.
“We have walked closely with the learners these past
years, providing them with funding, mentorship and
guidance,” explains Fourie. Despite not having existing
cement production operations, Sephaku Cement found an
appropriate solution through which to invest in skills
development within Lichtenburg and Delmas-based
communities. Lafarge agreed to host the learners for
theoretical training and during the period the learners
spent 14 months working at Exxaro’s Delmas facility,
where they completed their experiential training.
One of the spinoffs for the artisan learner group was the
teamwork that it built up over the qualification period.
Now a qualified fitter and turner, Reginald Thafe (25) from
Mahikeng in the North West Province had applied for
three consecutive years prior to finding the Sephaku
Cement programme.
He says, “We had to work as a team, supporting each
other, especially in the on site training that challenged us
with real life work experience.”
To be an electrician was a dream for Solomon Mosiane
(33) from Matile Village. “Sephaku Cement has helped me.
If it was not for them I don't know where I would have
been,” he says. Ernest Pule from the Bodibe Village was
previously a bricklayer who had done his N1 and N2 in
Civil Engineering. Now a qualified fitter and turner he
notes, “I am something because of Sephaku. They have
given us support all the time. It was not easy for us and
they have made life easier for me.”
These guys, concludes Fourie, have more than just ticked
the boxes required in their Trade Tests. "They have
mastered a complex set of scarce skills that we need in
our developmental economy. To us, they have proved
beyond a doubt that training partnerships with people
from the communities in which we operate can be very
successful.”
36
august 2013