Mining industry’s preferred portable skills training provider

Tjeka Training Matters remains the mining industry’s preferred provider of portable construction skills training. This training equips members of mining communities with the basic construction skills that they need to secure employment or start very rudimentary construction trade-related businesses that serve their communities and the host mine. This quality training also imparts sound foundational skills that can be developed through further formal training.

This leading private technical and vocational education and training provider was recently appointed by a mine in Limpopo to train a group of individuals from a mining community in basic carpentry. This is one of many highly sought-after construction-related trades, especially in the home services market, which experienced record growth in 2020 and 2021. While the market may have started levelling out as the country returns to normal after the lifting of the lockdowns, there is still a significant demand for these skills. They are in very short supply in the informal areas which are developing at a rapid rate. These areas are also notoriously under-serviced by skilled and experienced contractors, as well as home improvement and building merchants. Individuals who have completed Tjeka Training Matters’ carpentry training can manufacture and erect roof trusses; install conventional home ceilings, cornices and skirtings; as well as hang doors.

The group of individuals were trained by Tape Fataar, an experienced training facilitator who is also an accomplished tradesman. Moreover, they had the opportunity to learn while using the best materials and tools in the field.

Tjeka Training Matters has partnered with many suppliers of the best construction materials and tools and equipment because they facilitate learning.

For example, Milwaukee cordless planers, provided by UPAT SA, are used across Tjeka Training Matters’ carpentry training programmes, including short courses, as well as apprenticeships and skills paths.

“It is important that our learners have the opportunity to work with tool brands that are widely used or considered to be the benchmark in the industry. Tools are artisans’ bread and butter. You can identify experienced and skilled artisans simply by the type of tools that they use and the state in which they keep them. Enterprising employers know that workers are more productive, efficient, accurate and safe when they are equipped with the best tools for the job. These learners are, therefore, bound to encounter a Milwaukee planer when they join the world of work and will know exactly how to get the best out of them,” Fataar says.

The Milwaukee cordless planers deliver unmatched depth control and powerful stock removal for quick and precise material removal on soft and hardwoods. They are also very safe tools to use, with their left or right chip ejection feature that aims shavings away from operators’ eyes or finished surfaces.

Fataar says that it was an absolute pleasure working with learners who, given the chance, will prove to be very skilled and capable workers. “Most importantly, they are passionate, determined and motivated to succeed. They want to be artisans. This is not something that they are doing simply to gain employment,” he concludes.