Pretoria - South Africa is bringing in the old troops to help boost its current practical skills base in the field of engineering, particularly the built environment.
The drive to get retired professionals back into the public service has been prompted by the pressing need to provide practical skills and training to a growing number of trained but as yet unqualified engineers and artisans.
"We always hear talk of scarce skills in the country as the reason for outsourcing most of the construction projects commissioned by government to large multinational corporations. Now we want to test this notion of scarcity," said Public Works Minister Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde.
"I am of the opinion that within the broader community of this country, there is capacity, ability and willingness to handle successfully most of these services that are usually outsourced," the minister said.
The Department of Public Works is in the process of re-opening its workshops that have been out of operation. These workshops were established to primarily have qualified staff which could provide services to government in its quest to render services to the public.
The closure of the workshops meant unemployment for many skilled individuals. It also meant a loss of skills that are necessary to the development of the country.
The call by the minister is for qualified engineers or artisans with experience in the construction and/ or built environment to submit their CVs to the national Department of Public Works.
The aim is to create a database of engineers and artisans so that they can help the department to deliver on its infrastructure mandate, job creation and contribute to a sustainable skills database well into the future.
According to the department, unqualified artisans will be trained as apprentices in the departmental workshops, with the ultimate aim of having them successfully pass a trade test in order to become qualified artisans.
The minister's objective for this programme is to address the artisan shortage in South Africa.
It has been found that the average current age of an artisan is 55 years and the Minister of Higher Education has indicated that 70 000 artisans have to be trained within the next five years.
Interested engineers and artisans who would like to be on the database are urged to submit their CVs at the nearest regional office of the Department of Public Works or call toll free number 0800 782 542.
