30 Youth and emerging contractors receive training in the Contractor Development Programme in Lawaaikamp George
This past Friday 12 November, the Western Human Settlements Tertuis Simmers delivered a keynote address to a group of young entrepreneurs at the Contractor Development training in Lawaaikamp Community Hall in George.
30 students, of whom 19 are female, from various communities across George are currently participating in a two week long training programme. The two weeks, with the second week commencing on Monday, 15 November 2021, is aimed at empowering and upskilling youths and Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises from some of the most impoverished communities in the Western Cape.
This development training is made possible through the partnership of the Western Cape department of Human Settlements with National Home Builders Registration Council(NHBRC), Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), South African Revenue Service (SARS), Development Action Group (DAG) and Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA).
Some of the content covered in this course are: technical training, finance for non-financial managers, project management and construction management.
Minister Simmers said: “I’d like to congratulate these students for taking the first step in empowering themselves. This is truly empowering, as they clearly see the benefits of being part of such an important programme.”
The Western Cape department of Human Settlements has spent and committed in excess of 60% of its R2.6 billion Human Settlement Development Grant (HSDG) budget in the empowerment of emerging contractors in the financial years of 2019 and 2020 respectively.
Simmers added that: “We’re also making history in the province, as we’re in the process of developing a contractor’s framework which is geared towards attracting construction companies that have a women ownership of 51% and more. The primary objective is to create tangible and sustainable opportunities for our women within this sector and we are the first province to do so in the country.
I’d like to thank our partners NHBRC, the CIDB, SARS, SEDA and DAG, for the significant role they’re playing in assisting our SMME’s. As a government it is impossible to do this alone and this is why we always call on the assistance of those who have insight and are experts in the construction sector, but particularly on the business side.
As the Western Cape Government, we remain committed to accelerating human settlements delivery, while promoting social inclusion through the development of integrated, resilient, safe and sustainable human settlements in an open opportunity society”.
Source: Government of South Africa