News Article

The Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA) has completed the building of the Ingwavuma Skills Development Centre (SDC), which has officially opened on Wednesday 20th November 2024.

The Skills Development Centre is aimed at offering skills and training opportunities to young people in the area and surrounding areas in Umkhanyakude District Municipality.

Ingwavuma, a rural town in KwaZulu-Natal that borders the province and eSwatini, forms part of CETA’s mandate of providing facilities to both urban and rural areas, equally, as it aims to address the shortage of skills development opportunities, while also offering much-needed training to young people in such areas.
The newly-built SDC was constructed with the capabilities of offering training across artisanal, carpentry, plumbing, electrical, and solar manufacturing disciplines, with a further addition of ICT digital skills training. The priority targeted groups are the youth, women, and people living with disabilities within the Ingwavuma community.

The Ingwavuma SDC is earmarked to serve as a satellite campus of the Umfolozi TVET College, in Richards Bay under the King Cetshwayo District Municipality. The CETA is one of the key and strategic SETA’s in South Africa responsible for infrastructure skills and capacity building for the built environment or construction sector.
During the construction of Ingwavuma SDC, over 300 jobs were created, which included general labourers, bricklayers, skilled and unskilled workers, and other job opportunities. Some of the work was sub-contracted to small businesses in the area. Once the SDC has opened, there will be around twenty-five permanent jobs created, with many other job opportunities within the value chain on the way, all for the benefit of the residents of Ingwavuma.

Malusi Shezi, CETA’s CEO, said: “This project was identified with the sole intention of addressing challenges faced by rural communities. This is where the lack of training facilities is, and Ingwavuma is one of many areas across South Africa that has similar challenges. There is an urgent need to develop relevant skills, as we continue to foster the creation of employment opportunities, entrepreneurial skills, re-skilling, and community participation. We are thankful to Inkosi Lubelo II of the Mngomezulu clan for his unwavering support for this project”.
The CETA had committed to build the SDC in 2011, which has since been followed by two sod-turning ceremonies.
For the next five years, until 2030, the CETA is committed to implement the following programmes, among others:

• Supporting this SDC to be a Quality Council for Trades and Occupations or QCTO-accredited trade test centre to serve all the uMkhanyakude, Zululand, and Big Five districts, including some eSwatini and Mozambican duly registered nationals.
• Apprenticeships of at least 50 per annum entered to start their training at this Centre.
• Learnerships annually entered of 50 per annum.
• Short Skills Programmes of 100 per annum.
• Career guidance for high-schoolers and NEETs to be held annually.
• Support the NBI’s build of an entrepreneurship hub at this SDC in the next 24 months.

“The construction of such SDCs is a key component as we seek to address the challenges of youth unemployment, which is a big challenge across various economies globally, but am certain that as South Africa undertakes such projects, we are on the right path to address this challenge,” concluded Shezi.
The Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training joined the CETA in the celebration of this milestone and the handing-over of this SDC to the Umfolozi TVET. The event took place on Wednesday, 20 November 2024 at 10h00. Members of the community and key stakeholders were invited to attend and experienced this historic facility first-hand.

Following the Ingwavuma SDC event, the focus shifted to Ngoje, in Abaqulusi Municipality, where a sod-turning ceremony took place for yet another Skills Development Centre, with an estimated value of R100 million. The sod-turning ceremony took place on Thursday, 21 November 2024.

The Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA) was established in April 2000 after the promulgation of the Skills Development Act, 97 of 1998. Its primary objective is to influence the course of training and skills development in construction by ensuring that all training reflects the needs and requirement of the sector. The CETA initiates skills projects and learnerships aimed at improving and developing South Africa’s human resources, including a construction workforce whose skills are recognised and valued in terms of the National Qualifications Frameworks (NQF). The CETA is accredited as an Education and Training Quality Assurance (ETQA) body by the South African Qualification Authority (SAQA) on behalf of the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO). The ETQA status authorises the CETA to accredit and monitor both training and training providers. To facilitate the provision of training the CETA uses discretionary money at its disposal to fund projects whose aim is to achieve its qualitative and quantitative obligations in terms of the National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS).

Issued by the Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA).

For media inquiries or additional information about the Ingwavuma SDC, please contact: [email protected]

YouTube video of CEO Mr. Malusi Shezi on Nongoma FM:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeHrLQncqEo