POLOKWANE – For the best in town, visit Tradesman Skills & Training. The company, which is passionate about transferring trade skills in electrical, mechanical fitting, welding and plumbing to young people, is situated at the Seshego Industrial Park. It was founded by Ciska and Fanie Prinsloo six years ago after they invested their life savings to establish the company.
Ciska explained that the company is and has never been about money but rather about empowering people to use their skills to create employment opportunities for themselves. “Even if we can change just one person’s life, we will have done our job. There is nothing more fulfilling than seeing our former students thriving with the skills that they gained from the training centre,” said Ciska.
She further added that due to the growing population and the state of the economy, people need to be self-sufficient and this can be done by starting their own micro-business. She further explained that a major problem that they face now is the lack of exposure for learners at schools to the various trades available to them for career options.
Tradesman Skills & Training has a capacity for 500 students and their curriculum consists of 30% theory 70% practical work.
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They emphasised their commitment to safety for everyone within the structures and they take the time to orientate all on safety prior to beginning their training.
They plan to establish satellite training centres in rural areas to be accessible to the general public, as they offer training to businesses who want to equip their employees with the qualification in electrical or pumping skills.
They added that the challenge, however, is funding because they work strictly out of pocket. “We don’t receive funding or sponsorships and that places a financial burden on us because we can’t stop the training,” she said.
Pieter Pretorius is one of the students who enrolled in February before the nationwide lockdown. He is a high school mathematics teacher by profession and is currently undergoing electrical training at the centre. “I didn’t finish my electrical training back in 1995 and I decided to come back to finish what I started. Although a lot has changed, I am catching up quite fast. It is never too late and we never stop growing as people,” he said.
Former Tradesman Skills and Training electrical student, Karabo Gifty Ngoetjana said that she would recommend the training centre to anyone who would like to progress in their trade. Since completing her training in June, this year, she expressed that she is excited at what the future holds.
For more information contact Tradesman Skills and Training 083 735 6620 / 072 179 0364.
Or visit their centre at Freedom Drive, Factory 64, Industrial Park, Zone 6 in Seshego.
