Siyabonga Dilimeni appointed as Director of Business Development

Siyabonga (Siya) Dilimeni has been appointed Director of Business Development of Tjeka Training Matters, a leading provider of training to the civil-engineering construction and building industries.

Dilimeni is also a Director of the Limsa-Tjeka Joint Venture. This partnership between Limsa Training Institute and Tjeka Training Matters is providing extensive training to the large team that is building the iconic Msikaba bridge near Lusisiki in the Eastern Cape on behalf of the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL). The training also focuses on equipping people with skills that they can use in other construction fields once the project has been completed in line with SANRAL’s focus on sustainable job creation on all its projects.

Passionate about construction and sharing his extensive knowledge with others, Dilimeni has excelled at Tjeka Training Matters over the years.

Some of the highlights of his career include implementing learnerships for the Western Cape Provincial Government and local municipalities for road construction projects, as well as the establishment and development of PLC committees for infrastructure projects. This is in addition to the role that he has played in developing many small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) in the civil-engineering construction and building sectors – an aspect of his job that he thoroughly enjoys.

“SMME development is critical to the transformation of the South African construction sector. It is encouraging that so many government bodies, such as SANRAL, are now placing even more emphasis on the development of SMMEs on their projects in response to the economic crisis caused by the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus in the country. Unfortunately, the high failure rate of SMMEs in the construction industry, which has been struggling for many years, remains a concern. This undermines efforts to grow and develop new players in an industry that has traditionally been dominated by a handful of companies,” Dilimeni says.

Over the years, he has led many successful high-level training interventions on behalf of Tjeka Training Matters. They include national and provincial National Youth Service Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) projects and national EPWP building maintenance skills programmes. This is in addition to Masakhisizwe Bursary Scheme Level 4 Supervisory programmes and four Artisan Development Programmes for SANRAL and the Independent Development Trust that encompassed various learning paths. They included Recognition of Prior Learning, learnerships, apprenticeships and skills programmes for the built environment.

In his new role, Dilimeni will lead the teams responsible for new business development and management. This is in addition to managing those involved in the planning and implementation of both accredited and non-accredited training in the built environment; training project management; and stakeholder relations.

He holds a National Diploma in Business Management from Stanford Business College, in addition to an OD-ETP NQF 5 qualification from Corporate College International and NQF 6 from People Development Africa.

Dilimeni is also registered as a professional with the Association for Skills Development South Africa and the South African Board for People Practices. He was also a member of the Construction Industry Development Board National Stakeholder Forum.

“We are proud to have Siya, who has added immense value to the company over the years, as a member of our Board of Directors. His skills, experience and, especially, passion for construction training and enterprise development will play an important role in ensuring that Tjeka continues its growth path. This includes our large participation in equipping many South Africans with the skills they need to deliver the highly-anticipated large public infrastructure projects geared at stimulating economic recovery,” Frans Toua, Chief Executive Officer of Tjeka Training Matters, concludes.