Public Works Minister Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde on Tuesday launched a campaign recalling retired built environment engineers and artisans to provide practical skills and training to a growing number of trained, but unqualified, engineers and artisans.

Mahlangu-Nkabinde said that the Department of Public Works (DPW) wanted to test the scarcity of skills in the country, which was often given as reason for outsourcing most of the construction projects commissioned by government to large multinational corporations.

“I am of the opinion that there is capacity, ability and willingness to successfully handle most of these services, which are usually outsourced, in the broader community of this country,” she noted.

The aim of the campaign was to create a database of engineers and artisans to assist the DPW in delivering on its infrastructure mandate, job creation and sustainable skills pipeline.

The unqualified artisans would be trained as apprentices in the Departmental workshops, which were being reopened, with the ultimate aim of successfully passing a trade test to become qualified artisan.

The earlier closure of the workshops resulted in unemployment for many skilled individuals, as well as a loss of skills that were necessary to the development of the country.

The Minister aimed to tackle the artisan shortage in South Africa with this campaign.

“Research shows that the average current age of an artisan is 55 years. The Minister of Higher Education also recently indicated that 70 000 artisans have to be trained in the next five years to meet demand,” she added.

Mahlangu-Nkabinde called for qualified engineers or artisans with experience in the construction and built environment to submit their CVs to the DPW.