Quality training keeps wheels turning on road construction contract

Tjeka Training Matters is helping Hillary Construction train an additional 12 individuals as part of this leading contractor’s Gap Year initiative.

They started their four-month-long training at Tjeka Training Matters’ state-of-the-art training and trade-testing facility in Randfontein. Eight individuals from this group are women who, once they have completed their theoretical instruction, will be deployed on Hillary Construction sites for practical training.

The programme was launched in 2017 as a pilot project by the Human Resource Development Department of Hillary Construction. It was initially aimed at attracting enterprising matriculants to the civil-engineering construction sector and has since been extended to include N6 civil-engineering interns who need to complete 18 months of workplace training to complete their National Diplomas.

The most promising individuals are awarded bursaries by Hillary Construction to study for a Civil-Engineering Degree or Diploma. As many as 18 of the just under 50 candidates who have participated in this initiative thus far are now furthering their education at universities or Technikons.

Hillary Construction has retained Tjeka Training Matters as its preferred training provider considering the very high quality of its road-construction training which, the contractor says, “remains unrivalled”. This is evidenced by the feedback it continues to receive from the learners who have participated in the programme, backed by their solid performance on our road-construction projects. Importantly, Tjeka Training Matters is a registered private technical vocational education training college that provides training that is accredited by the Construction Education Training Authority.

The elective component of the 12 month-long National Certificate in Road Construction Works NQF3 learnership covers road maintenance, layer works, bitumen surfacing, stormwater drainage, culverts and kerbing. These are complemented by the core units, namely engineering drawings, quality and production, in addition to health and safety.

Certainly, keeping the young learners motivated is also key to the success of Tjeka Training Matters’ training.

They receive mentorship and coaching from an experienced team of trainers. It includes Solly Mqhamkana with support from Ronnie Jacobs, Operations Manager of Tjeka Training Matters’ Randfontein facility.

Hillary Construction continues to show that it takes training very seriously. Its approach transcends merely contributing towards the scorecard, with many young South Africans having been afforded a well-deserved opportunity to start careers in an exciting industry by participating in the Gap Year programme.