On 10 June 2022, the Department of Transport and Public Works (DTPW) handed over certificates of completion to 20 targeted contractors at the Contractor Development Programme’s (CDP) Structured Training Certificate ceremony in Durbanville.
The CDP is an Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) empowerment initiative offered to contractors who have a Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Grade 2 rating. However, CIDB Grade 1 contractors who have registered construction business and have been active in the industry for at least two years may also apply. This eight-week structured training programme takes place in one-week blocks over a period of eight months. The modular course design enables participants to continue to run their businesses while they are learning.
“The course covers enterprise development for 1 or 2 weeks, then labour-intensive construction skills, the construction practical, health and safety, site administration, and the administration of records,” says Marcelle Modise of the DTPW Directorate: EPWP: Construction Industry Innovation and Empowerment.
“It is entirely up to the contractor once they leave here to test themselves within the market, because the construction industry market is broad. Participants can then go on to participate in the Advanced Training and Mentoring Programme.”
Course participants are excited and looking forward to using their new skills in their businesses.
“This programme has helped me with costing, how to talk to my clients, how to do agreements with them before we start work,” says Ellen Mngonyama, owner of Skymira Construction and Projects.
“I’ve learnt a lot about how I can manage my workers, and how they should conduct themselves at work.”
The completion of this eight-week programme is a step in the right direction for these contractors. By using the tools and methods they learn to improve their businesses, they could potentially upgrade their company’s CIDB grading, which will make them eligible to tender for larger and more complex contracts.