July 19, 2005
By Anish Abraham
WOMEN are taking over the Soweto construction industry.
With mentoring and assistance from the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA), a group of previously unemployed women are constructing part of the Soweto memorial walkway, signalling their entrance into a previously male-dominated industry.
They are part of the June 16 Training Programme, which aims to increase the numbers of women in construction and improve their competency and business skills.
The walkway, which traces the route marched by pupils in the June 16 1976 uprising, starts at Naledi High School and snakes towards western Soweto. It ends at the spot in Orlando West where the police shot Hector Pietersen.
Though the mayor officially launched the training programme on 16 June 2005, it has been running since October 2004. It is both a Mayoral Project and a JRA social responsibility programme, headed by Dudu Maseko, the general executive manager for corporate services.
A group of men and women from Zola have already completed the programme and are working on various projects in the area.
According to Frans Ledwaba, community liaison for JRA, the women underwent an intensive three-month training course at the Training Centre in Newtown, focussing on theory of signage, kerbing, paving, basic first aid and HIV/Aids training.
Their work on the walkway, for which they are assessed on a daily basis, forms part of their practical experience.
Berry Swarts, the human resource manager at the JRA, is in charge of the training and says the construction education and training authority (Ceta) has recently accredited the programme. Because of this, the women receive a stipend for their work.
With the help of local ward councillors, 36 women living in areas around the walkway were identified for the programme. Swarts says she regularly receives inquiries from other women who want to join the programme.
Getting women into the construction sector is a big challenge, she says. "[But] the women are very dedicated and enthusiastic. There is visible evidence that they are able to do it [pavement construction]."
Once they have completed their training, the JRA helps the groups to register as close corporations. This enables the groups of women to tender for other projects as private companies.
Apart from being able to tender for projects, the JRA also wants to get the women involved in various Expanded Public Works Programme construction as it is started.
"We can also employ some of them at a later stage as they have experience in work that is one of our core functions," Swarts adds.
The two groups who will have completed their training will receive certificates on 20 July, at a function that will also acknowledge contributions made by JRA employees.
The JRA has already chosen a group of 60 community members who will undergo training and then help improve roads and pavements in Ivory Park and Diepsloot.
For more information, contact the Johannesburg Roads Agency on 011 298 5000
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