One of the working groups that is already well-established and submitted their first formal item to the District Council for a plan to establish a multipurpose and highly specialised training academy in the Garden Route. The need for community-based training in firefighting is a big focus area, which is a critical need in the district.

The Forum is an external stakeholder forum that is a webinar-based platform and is held every three months. The platform is led and chaired by Councillor Stephen de Vries, who is the Chairperson of the Training and Skills Development Portfolio Committee at GRDM. Dr Florus extended a word of gratitude to Cllr De Vries for his support relating to the GRSM so far. He said: “We hope that the new Chairperson will similarly support the GRSM and the Forum look forward to welcoming the new Chairperson after the elections in November this year”.

The forum already has five programmes/projects with substantial amounts of funding behind it. This is an indication how well in operation the forum is. The aim is, however, to multiply these proposals with the help of the service/training providers and other officials that are welcome to form part of these initiatives. Florus said: “We look forward to growing that progressively here in the Garden Route, because ultimately these efforts will benefit the people of the Garden Route”. A Funding Strategy is also in place and is starting to be utilised progressively.  However, capacity around it still need to be built so that the Strategy gets more and more people get to understand it and use it.  Part of the Strategy is a pre-approved Provider Database.

The transversal scope of work of the Garden Route Skills Mecca (GRSM) requires that the District Municipality establishes partnerships and invites bids for the registration of public, private and state owned companies as service providers on a pre-approved database to offer skills development related programmes and workplace services as required by employers and entrepreneurs within the prioritised economic growth and enabling sectors of the District.

Dr Florus explained: “After conclusion of the supply chain process and once placed on the approved list, such service providers would be expected to provide quotations on selected programmes and/or services as requested by the District Municipality”.  Meaning, “approved service providers would be selected as possible providers for a particular programme or service and then be requested to provide a quotation for the intended programme or service,” he added.

It will be expected from service providers to deliver programmes or services that must be relevant to at least one or more of the Garden Route District Growth and Development Strategy socio economic priorities that may be amended quarterly; These include: occupational based education training development, occupationally based assessment services including recognition of prior learning services; generic work readiness programmes inclusive of Core Skills within the framework determined by the International Labour Organisation; and Professional Technical Expertise Services within the categories of Facilitating, Consulting, Mentoring, Coaching, Research and Data Analytics.

According to Dr Florus, the database plays a significant role to get service providers to help the GRSM to spend the money. He emphasised: “You can sometimes get the cash, but it is almost twice as hard to spend the funds and it need to be spend in a way that is correct and under proper governance”. The provider database, as well as other documents such as the funding strategy etc. will always form part of the agendas directing the Summits and Indabas. These documents will influence the resolutions around the GRSM.

Dr Florus praised the local municipalities in the district for establishing their local structures where economic development and skills development colleagues meet to discuss their program.  So far, these local structures have provided the GRSM with up to four projects that they want assistance on. He said: “This is great if one has this kind of cooperation – we will progress, and this will help us tremendously in our region in terms of skills development”.

The other side of the support system focuses on “customer orientation”. This approach refers to helping particularly employers and learners, as two big customer groups, together with the GRDM and the members of Council. The GRSM work closely with the GRDM Digital Transformation Strategy Group to build an employer database which will be a multi-faceted employer database.

This database is formally part of the Digital Strategy with the employer data as records that will be well-controlled. The database plays a significant role as it can build skills profiles and skills needs of employers.  “This part is linked back to the district development model, because if the GRSM does not have an effective employee database like that, regarding what employers in the area really need and be able to deliver on those skills, then the district development model will not work,” Dr Florus said.

To ensure the effective marketing of these programs and projects of the GRSM, a Digital Marketing Strategy together with the website that is being developed, as well as a comprehensive e-marketing strategy, is in the process to be implemented. The website is envisaged to go live in due course. Through this website, all the necessary information that it shared at the Forum, can be accessed.