10 Oct 2017

The Minister of Employment, Labour Productivity and Skills Development, Mr Tshenolo Mabeo has said in future the country should have Construction Industry Trust Fund (CITF) satellite offices throughout the country.
Speaking during a tour of the Kasane mobile CITF office and the Chobe Brigades on Monday, Mr Mabeo said having mobile offices whenever there are mega projects is not sustainable.

He said there is need for continuous importations of skills to trainees in building and construction because the demand is not limited to mega projects.

Mr Mabeo said the curriculum for CITF needed to be tailor made for each area in the country citing that in tourism areas such as Kasane the courses could   boast the industry while in areas such as Jwaneng and Borolong courses on mining and agriculture could be offered respectively.

He said the CITF trainees should also not be encouraged to be employees but rather employers who could in turn create employment opportunities for others.

At the Chobe Brigades, the minister noted that he was aware of the challenges faced by the brigades all over the country and has since asked for an audit of the institutions.

He said brigades had similar challenges such as lack of training for trainers and he was hopeful that the release of the audit report would mitigate some of the challenges.

He observed that brigades had been neglected for a long time yet they were supposed to be the engine of economic growth.

Mr Mabeo said he was looking forward to a time when at least 70 per cent of the education at the brigades would be hands on instead of theoretical.

Earlier during the CITF tour, the CITF deputy chief executive officer, Mr Sybran Tsie explained that during the 2015/16 financial year, 212 students graduated from the centre and 202 were employed during the Kasane Airport construction. He said CITF offered courses in bricklaying and plastering, carpentry and civils.

He explained that CITF conducted mobile training to areas where mega projects were coming up  in order to close the gap in skills that were needed.

The Chobe Brigades principal, Mr Livius Muthetho informed the minister that the brigade had capacity to enroll 164 but currently had 140 students.

He explained that the brigade did not cater for students with disability because the facility was not user- friendly to them. ENDS