Applications for Transnet
National Ports Authority’s
(TNPA) marine training
centre will open in April next
year, with the first intake of
students starting technical
training at the centre in
October 2017.
The Cape Town-based
facility is part of government’s
Operation Phakisa maritime
growth initiative and will be
located at the port’s Safbulk
building, which is currently
being upgraded.
“The centre is aimed at
improving the lives of the
economically vulnerable
by training and certifying
youngsters from previously
disadvantaged communities,
such as the Cape Flats,
Dunoon, Joe Slovo,
Kraaifontein and Strand,
among others,” Cape Town
port manager Sipho Nzuza
said.
Courses on offer will
include the first-ever
accredited dock master
training programme in Africa,
ship- and boat-building
courses, a ship maintenance
programme, and international
accredited lighthouse
and navigational systems
programmes.
“The City of Cape Town
has a high unemployment rate
among the youth, particularly
those from previously
disadvantaged communities,
and, without a proper skills
development programme,
these young people cannot
participate meaningfully in
the economic development of
the country,” said Nzuza.
He admitted that skills and
competency gaps remained
a challenge within the
organisation, which he hoped
the new training facility
would address. “The Port
of Cape Town, for example,
has a workforce of 780-plus
employees,15% of whom are
at or close to retirement age,
which presents a potential loss
of important skills in the near
future."
Furthermore, Nzuza
pointed out, demand was high
for people with critical skills,
such as dock masters. “TNPA
needs to train 51 dock masters
across the port system. At the
Port of Cape Town, existing
dock masters work abnormal
hours owing to shortages,” he
said.
CAPTION
The Port of Cape Town
New marine training centre gears up for first students
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