Cape Town - The green economy in Atlantis got a big boost when the City funded GreenCape skills development programmes at the South African Renewable Energy Technology Centre (SARETEC).
GreenCape skills project manager Lindiwe Johnson said they received funding from the City to deliver skills development training after the skills audit done by the company in 2018 revealed there was a need for technical skills development in the manufacturing industry in Atlantis.
This led to the company organising a variety of courses in collaboration with other partners to fulfil this need.
Johnson said one of the training courses that arose from this was the Global Wind Organisation basic Safety and Training at SARETEC, which includes safety and technical training to qualify wind turbine service technicians for the South African Wind Energy industry (two learners) and internationally.
The other courses included Competency Based Modular Training (18 learners took part) and Introduction to Technical Courses (54 learners took part) at the Lesedi Skills Academy in Atlantis.
Johnson said because the Atlantis area was designated as a green economy industry, GreenCape wanted to ensure the youth from Atlantis were as employable as possible, especially as the skills developed from the training was applicable not only in this particular industry but transferable across others that students might venture into in the future.
“The biggest takeaway from this is that the learners that participate in the training have now seen the opportunities available in the green economy,” said Johnson.
Economic opportunities and asset management mayco member James Vos visited one of the training sessions at SARETEC and said meeting the students was a proud moment.
“By training young people in Cape Town with these highly specialised skills, we have taken a huge step towards helping the city, province and country realise its goal of becoming a green economic leader on the continent,” said Vos.
SARETEC senior project manager Claude Cogill said the students received the training enthusiastically and that entry-level courses such as these allowed students to realise the scope of career opportunities in renewable energy.