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Author: Marlene Nqumse

Upcoming Garden Route DM Skills Summit – 7 February 2019

The Garden Route District Municipality, in collaboration with the B-municipalities in the district and the Western Cape Provincial Government, will be hosting the annual District Skills Summit on Thursday, 7 February 2019 in Stillbaai, a coastal town within the Hessequa Local Municipal region. 

This year’s summit follows a resolution taken at the 2018 Garden Route District Skills Summit held on 1 February 2018 in George, during which it was resolved to take the concept of a Garden Route Skills Mecca forward and review progress on an annual basis.   

The idea of a Skills Mecca originates from the Garden Route Rebuild Initiative (GRRI), which followed the devastating fires that hit the district (Knysna/Plettenberg Bay) in June 2017.  Since last year’s summit, municipalities in the district, in collaboration with various stakeholders, among others, the Provincial Government,  progressively worked together in order to bring about and implement the Garden Route Skills Mecca concept.

The 2019 Skills Summit will focus mainly on the achievements of the previous year’s implementation of the summit resolutions. The “show and tell” (presentation/competition) will give municipalities an opportunity to showcase a project that was implemented within their respective municipal areas.

Another objective of the 2019 Skills Summit will be to discuss the progress of establishing the district-wide Skills Mecca made thus far,  and also to evaluate the resolutions  determined in 2018 towards  making the Garden Route a preferred pristine destination for learning in the country and continent.   

Other role-players involved are:

– MECs

– District Mayors

– District Municipal Managers

– Corporate Services Managers

– LED Managers

– Tourism Managers

– Skills Development Facilitator

– Youth Coordinators

– Various government departments

– Western Cape Government

– Local Businesses

– Garden Route Business Chambers

– Hessequa Business Chambers

– Local NGOs

The following resolutions were taken during the 2018 Skills Summit:

  • Continue and accelerate collaboration and cooperation among all district skills development role- players born out of the GRRI;
  • Become involved and add value to the Garden Route Skills Development Strategy for a Skills Mecca across the district;
  • Ensure that the Skills Mecca concept leverages digital infrastructure as far as possible, to ensure learning and processes methods are and remain cutting edge;
  • As far as possible, link Skills Development to Investment and Economic Development opportunities to the  advancement for all;
  • Ensure that all Skills Development processes in the Garden Route ALWAYS consider and proactively
  • considers Water – a Shared Resource.
  • Ensure that all current and emerging skills development intervention in each municipality is supported and built into the Skills Mecca concept;
  • Consider and where possible; efficiently and effectively include the skills needs of Municipality in the Garden Route District, in the development and roll out of the Skills Mecca;
  • Engage with all willing partners, in particular the SETAs and the National Skills Fund, in order to explore the development and implementation of projects across the District as an integral part of the Skills Mecca.
  • Consider and leverage local skilled people, including retired people, within the District, to accelerate the growth of the Skills Mecca; and
  • Within the next six months a new skills project is started within each of the six focus areas within at least one local municipality

Municipalities are expected to prepare and present a case study of an actual skills development project implemented within their municipality at this year’s Summit. A ten minute presentation will form part of a competition to determine the annual Garden Route Skills Mecca Champion for 2018.  Presentations will be evaluated by the delegates on the day of the event through a simple ballot system.  Each case study will be judged against three criteria:

  • Did the partnerships in the project add value? – Yes or No?
  • Did the project support transformation in a creative way? – Yes or No?
  • Did the project make learners more employable? – Yes or No?

The envisaged outcome of the Summit is to ‘’fine-tune” the resolutions from 2018 and develop ideas on how to accelerate implementation of the Skills Mecca in the Garden Route. The Skills Summit will be an annual event on a rotational basis; municipalities therefore also need to budget and plan towards this purpose. The 2018 Skills Summit attracted approximately 350 people and for this year, arrangements are being made to accommodate 250 – 300 people.

For more information contact the GRDM’s Training and Development Section, Mr Reginald Salmons at 044 803 1363. 

Official Launch of GRDM Training Programmes

This year, 2019, marked the beginning of a prosperous year for approximately 120 young people from the Knysna and Plettenberg Bay municipal areas, as they benefited from the Garden Route Municipal Training Programmes, which includes:  First Aid Level 3 Training; Driver’s License Training and Law Enforcement Training.

These training programmes originated from the Garden Route Rebuild Initiative (GRRI), which was established after devastating fires hit the district (Knysna/Plettenberg Bay) in June 2017, and the need for a District Skills Mecca was identified.

The Training Programmes are funded by the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) and is managed through the Office of the Executive Mayor, under the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP).  The project’s primarily focus is on youth development in the Garden Route, building capacity among young people; breaking the chain of unemployment and ensuring a marketable labour force in the region. 

The GRDM Executive Mayor, with his delegation, political leaders and officials from the Bitou Municipality, Service Providers and beneficiaries of the Training Programmes.

During the official launch of the training programme, which kicked-off in Plettenberg Bay, the Deputy Mayor of the Bitou Municipality, Cllr Sandile Gcabayi, warmly welcomed guests and applauded the District Municipality for the initiative of providing skills development opportunities to young people in the district.

Cllr Sandile Gcabayi, Deputy Mayor of the Bitou Municipality, during the official welcoming at the launch of GRDM Training Programmes in Plettenberg Bay.

The Manager in the Office of the Executive Mayor, Mr Siphiwe Dladla, briefly explained the background, purpose and objective of the project.  When elaborating on the selection and recruitment process he emphasised that according to the number of applications received, the need to continue with the programme is evident.  He ensured the audience that representation from all wards and areas of the greater Plettenberg Bay and Knysna were covered during the selection process.  Lastly, he explained that the First Aid Level 3 course will be an entry level, where after participants will be able to further their studies to become paramedics.

Manager in the Office of the Executive Mayor, Mr Siphiwe Dladla, gave a brief background and overview of the Programmes.

In his keynote address, the Garden Route DM Executive Mayor, Cllr Memory Booysen, stated that the Garden Route Municipal Training Programme will be rolled-out in all 7 B-municipalities in the district.  He further explained that the Garden Route, in collaboration with various stakeholders, among others, the Provincial Government is in the process of establishing a Skills Mecca. He raised a concern that participants are not taking opportunities seriously and said: “People complain that they are unemployed, but when we provide opportunities to enter the employment arena, they do not take it seriously.  Remember, you must be the ones who need to give the opportunities to those who did not make it into the programme, the first time around, because if this programme becomes successful, we will continue with the roll out “.

Later in the day, the second launch of the Programme took place at the Knysna Municipality.  Beneficiaries from Knysna and surrounding areas attended this remarkable gathering.  The Executive Mayor of Knynsna Municipality, Cllr Mark Willemse, officially welcomed guests and extended a special word of gratitude to the Garden Route DM Executive Mayor, Cllr Memory Booysen, and his delegation for an amazing initiative.

The programme followed the same route as in Plettenberg Bay.  In conclusion, the EPWP Manager, Mr Richard Dyantji, introduced the Service Providers appointed to train the participants.  He encouraged the participants to make use of the opportunity given to them, to “grab it with both hands and run with it”.  Subsequent to the formalities, service providers were given the opportunity to discuss the course layout with the participants.

Mr Richard Dyantji, EPWP Manager at GRDM as well as Programme Manager of all EPWP related training programmes during his address at the launch.

During the past festive season, participants of the previous law enforcement training programme acted as peace officers and assisted the two municipalities to uphold law and order.  The Garden Route Municipal Training Programme will be rolled-out to other municipal areas within the Garden Route District.

The children of any nation are its future.  A country, a movement, a person that does not value its youth and children does not deserve its future – Oliver Tambo