22 August 2024 Media Release: GRSM and stakeholders engage in capacity building workshop in preparation of R 36,4 million project to benefit Tourism and Hospitality sector
Media Release: GRSM and stakeholders engage in capacity building workshop in preparation of R 36,4 million project to benefit Tourism and Hospitality sector
For immediate release
20 August 2024
On Monday, 5 August 2024, delegates from various organisations including officials from the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) responsible for Skills Development, Finance and Tourism, members from the National Skills Fund (NSF), Eden Hospitality & Training and Africa Skills George Tech (formerly known as Africa Skills College), participated in a Nationals Skills Fund (NSF) Tourism & Hospitality Project Capacity Building Workshop.
The purpose of the workshop was for all stakeholders involved in the R 36,4 million project that was approved by the Director-General of the National Department of Higher Education and Training in collaboration with the NSF on 5 July 2024, to plan and discuss the technical groundwork and way forward in relation to the project.
The project will be implemented by the GRDM as the largest single project under the Garden Route Skills Mecca (GRSM) since its emergence in 2017 from the Knysna Fires disaster.
Officially called the Garden Route and Klein Karoo Hospitality and Tourism Skills Development Project, it has its two key objectives:
- Train 200 unemployed persons across the Garden Route on the nationally occupationally accredited programme for Cooks; and
- Offer workplace experience for 200 unemployed persons who have already completed Tourism and Hospitality programmes at academic institutions.
Although the official approval of the project came through on 5th July 2024, the award for the project was issued on 20th October 2023. Since that time the Skills Mecca Team across the Garden Route have been busy with preparatory work that included advocacy and recruitment of learners as well as host employers and an accredited provider for the Cook training programme.
Dr Florus Prinsloo, Programme Manager of the GRSM, said: “That preparatory work has resulted in 400 applications for Cook Training and 644 applications for Work Experience Placement. This recruitment process was completed utilising the first-ever online recruitment system developed by the GRDM specifically for the NSF project simply because of the size of the recruitment process, with over 1 000 persons applying. Such a process would have been immensely difficult if completed manually.” Prinsloo added.
The preparatory work also included a tender process for accredited providers to apply for the Cook Training, that has resulted in locally based Eden Hospitality & Training, also known to many as the Francois Ferreira Academy, being awarded the contract.
Although a number of employers have put their names forward to host both sets of learners over the next 12 – 18 months, many more are required and the GRSM Team are engaging with Tourism and Hospitality employers across the District to open up their workplaces to offer unemployed persons the opportunity to learn and work in this critical industry.
“Given the size and complexity of these large NSF projects, there is always a need for careful designed and detailed planning and capacity-building processes right at the beginning of these programmes”. To further ensure the success of the project, Dr Prinsloo highlighted that “the Municipality has a good structure in place which is the GRSM and as part of the structure are individuals located at all local municipalities in the district,” he added.
Items that were discussed during the session includes:
- Key project deliverables and Management;
- First tranche payment;
- Financial Reporting;
- Learner data reporting and safekeeping;.
- Circular 5/Audit readiness;
- Project communication channels;
- Learner sites and visits; and
- Project team roles
The importance of the project to the Garden Route has also been acknowledged by the newly appointed Executive Mayor for the GRDM, Mayor Andrew Stroebel, who has agreed to host a formal launch of the project at Carpe Diem School in September this year.
ENDS
On 24 July 2024, GRDM’s EHPs based in Oudtshoorn, in collaboration with Oudtshoorn Municipality, presented a Health and Hygiene training session for informal food traders of Dysselsdorp at the Dysselsdorp Thusong Service Centre. Twenty-one (21) informal food traders attended the session.
The GRDM EHPs also conducted a Health and Hygiene Education session at the Spaza shops in the Uniondale and Haarlem areas on 25 July 2024. The following topics were further discussed:
