Reaching out to Johannesburg inner city’s unemployed

Tjeka Training Matters and Outreach Foundation have already equipped more than 80 people, mainly unemployed women and youth who live in the Johannesburg inner-city, with the skills they need to secure employment in the building sector.

Based in Hillbrow, Outreach Foundation, a non-profit organisation, empowers those in need by providing training and skills development, as well as social support and a safe haven.

Outreach Foundation’s three-week artisanal training has been designed to provide learners with the basic skills they need to enter the building job market. Once they have secured employment, they are then able to further develop their competence levels.

Those people who are selected to participate in the programme only pay a very small portion of the total value of the training, while the balance is funded by Outreach Foundation’s donors.

David Mathews, who is experienced in many trades, again conducted plumbing training on behalf of Tjeka Training Matters for Outreach Foundation. A total of 12 people were recently trained by the qualified plumber, while Tjeka Training Matters also recently trained 25 people in bricklaying and 12 people in plastering.

All the participants successfully completed their training and received a certificate of competence. They then participated in an incubation programme by the Outreach Foundation to equip them with basic business knowledge.

“The training that we offer in the various building trades is of the highest quality. It is being undertaken by a Construction Education Training Authority-accredited training provider that is also affiliated with leading construction industry bodies. We guarantee that those people who have successfully completed our training programmes are competent. Their skills will be welcomed on most of the social infrastructure projects, including affordable housing, schools, as well as clinics and hospitals, that are being rolled out by government,” Robert Michel, Executive Director of Outreach Foundation, says.