JUNE saw a further 119 learners graduate from the Cape Skills and Employment Accelerator – a City of Cape Town-funded project, administered by the Craft + Design Institute’s (CDI), that focused on creating employment opportunities for youth and women in the clothing and textile industry in Cape Town.
The group of 119 graduated and received their National Qualifications Framework (NQF) level training certificates from Boland College and the Cape Town Workbased Learning Academy (CTWLA), which marks a final milestone of success on the project. The first 17 graduates completed their learnerships on the project in 2022.
Made possible thanks to a collaboration between the City of Cape Town and the National Skills Fund (NSF), the project enabled SMMEs to take on machinists at a greatly reduced cost to their business while creating learning and work opportunities for unemployed women and youth. The programme offered NQF level training and workplace opportunities for unemployed youth and women as part of a 12-month learnership, with a view to the SMMEs employing the women at the end of the project.
The learners developed skills that include pattern making, pattern cutting, garment making, and sewing with 75% of the time spent in the business supported by 25% classroom time provided by the training provider.
Erica Elk, Group CEO of the CDI, said the outcome has been a remarkable success, given the project started during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“When we initiated this project it was in the midst of a very difficult period for employment creation and for businesses trading in the creative industries. We are proud of the outcome, through which so many young women have gained an NQF4 Learnership qualification as a machinist. While they were learning, 27 CDI member SMMEs hosted the learners by providing the site for workplace learning to take place, and hopefully with a job at the end of each learner’s 12 month journey.”
“A highlight is that 87 of the learners have now been placed in jobs or chosen to study further. That’s a 64% retention rate through the programme, which is a testament to the resilience and efforts of the youth and the local businesses to overcome the challenges presented by the pandemic and its aftermath. We also spent time with learners who weren’t going into jobs or further study by facilitating conversations with them about their next steps and getting them into other networks, so they are more accessible in the job market.”
Elk added that it was not just a skills development project for youth – the CDI placed emphasis on the development of each business and their capacity to grow.
Alderman James Vos, the City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee member for Economic Growth, said: “This project was designed to respond to a skills need in Cape Town’s high growth industries and the needs of youths wanting to become part of the city’s workforce. There is a direct correlation between South Africa’s unemployment crisis – which largely affects our youth – and the dearth of valuable skills. The City of Cape Town is working methodically to meet this challenge head on, and our efforts are bearing fruit. In our programmes, we are not simply funding training for the sake of it. Investment in meaningful skills development initiatives is one of the most pressing concerns in our country right now. We have the foresight and vision to make Cape Town the best city in Africa to do business and work.”
At the event, Mae Newman of The Umtshayelo Foundation, one of the organisations that hosted learners in their workplace, spoke proudly of her experience with graduate Siphokazi Papiso, who has been retained as an employee now with the Foundation.
Addressing all the graduates, she said: “All of you are so much further than where were last year, you’ve all come a long way. Siphokazi has now started working permanently and there was no way I was going to let her go. When you have a good thing, you don’t let it go! I want to celebrate you Siphokazi in front of all of your peers. When you first joined us, you didn’t have a vision for your future. When I look at you today, with the help of this programme you have become who you were meant to be.”
Papiso said the entire programme has changed her life. “I didn’t believe in myself before, I didn’t even know how to stitch, but now I have made my own designs, even what I am wearing today – thank you to the funders and the college, and all the learners, my new friends who supported me on the programme!”
