Quality training helps keep road construction on track

Tjeka Training Matters was appointed by Concor, one of South Africa’s leading construction companies, to train unemployed people how to construct concrete-lined open drains (V-drains) on one of its projects for the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL).

Tjeka provided exceptionally high standards of training to this specific Concor team on its previous projects where all of the workmanship of the trainees was accepted. In so doing, we helped bolster productivity levels and mitigate the need to redo work, while also assisting this client meet its socio-economic targets for roads authorities. The registered and Construction Education Training Authority-accredited Technical and Vocational Education and Training college was, therefore, strongly recommended to Concor management to provide similar services on this road-construction project.

Notably, Tjeka has also nurtured a very close working relationship with SANRAL, which continues to pioneer unique ways in which to ensure maximum participation of community members in its brownfield and greenfield construction programmes. The training of unemployed people, therefore, remains a significant focus for this client body and the professional teams that have been appointed to work on its construction and routine maintenance projects.

A total of 36 unemployed people from communities between Despatch and Uitenhage were trained as part of this road construction contract, and all of their work accepted by the professional team.

Prior to receiving their instruction from Tjeka’s Whitey Ndyumbu, the various sub-contractors produced sub-standard work that was rejected by the contractor.

Tjeka, therefore, continued mentoring the workers for a week after the training to ensure that their new skills were deployed efficiently and productively and, in so doing, mitigating risk for Concor.

This project builds on a 20-year-long legacy of providing quality training to many of the established South African-based contracting companies working on public-sector infrastructure development projects. Among these clients are Liviero, Stefanutti Stocks, Raubex, Basil Read and WBHO.