June 2013
CONSTRUCTION WORLD
10
Murray & Roberts Plant, a division of Murray & Roberts Construction,
is running a thriving apprenticeship programme alignedwith Section 13
of the Manpower Training Act 56 of 1981, with about 30 apprentices
currently enrolled at various stages of the four-year programme.
Four different apprenticeships are on offer: earthmoving equipment
mechanics, auto electrics, boiler making and heavy current electrics.
marketplace
ACCORDING TO THE ACT,
a Section 13 ap-
prenticeship allows registered candidates to
take a trade test as a final evaluation. Section
13 apprentices have a contract of appren-
ticeship and attend formal institutionalised
training, as well as practical on-site training.
The Murray & Roberts Plant apprentice-
ship programme was launched in January
2010 and has recruited candidates coun-
trywide from the available pool of learners
who have a National Certificate of Vocation
at Level 3 or 4, with Maths.
Applications are carefully reviewed and
only selected learners interviewed, with the
most promising sent for technical assess-
ments to evaluate their potential to succeed
in their chosen programme.
About 80%of the current apprentices are
previously disadvantaged South Africans,
with several female candidates also on board.
The company has made a significant
investment into the apprenticeship pro-
gramme, which seeks to strike the required
balance between theory and practice. In
line with the formal structure of the Section
13 apprenticeship, the programme is strictly
competency-based and includes a theoretical
component that is completed at an accred-
ited college, alongside a practical section,
duringwhich learners participate in activities
at on-site workshops or at off-site projects.
“To help address the dire need for scarce
and critical skills identified by the gov-
ernment, we believe our apprenticeship
programme will play an important role
in producing artisans proficient in a wide
variety of techniques and capable of continu-
ally producing high quality workmanship,”
Murray & Roberts Plant managing director,
Jim Wiggins, says. “Successful graduates
from the course have the opportunity to
be considered for employment with us and
indeed have the competitive edge of being
well versed in the company’s culture, quality,
safety and performance requirements.”
Enterprise development
Complementing its investment into the
national artisan skills pool and into small
entrepreneurial enterprises, Murray &Roberts
Plant is putting energy into its own Enterprise
Development programme.
Apprenticeship programme thriving
“Our approach is hands-on involvement
in developing a business owned and man-
aged by a previously disadvantaged entre-
preneur, rather than simply allocating a sum
of money to an organisation which would
undertake this kind of development initia-
tive on our behalf,” Jeremy Hallett, financial
manager at Murray & Roberts Plant, says.
“For us, it is not just a matter of accruing
points on a Broad-Based Black Economic
Empowerment scorecard, but about mak-
ing a positive and tangible impact in our
industry with beneficial repercussions well
into the future.”
A recent success story is the company’s
partnershipwith Eastern CapeTyres, founded
and managed by Matthew Nondawyi. The
fledgling tyre company operates from
Murray & Roberts Plant’s premises and
uses the company’s facilities. Nondawyi is
encouraged and supported in his effort to
expand his business in the industry, deepen
his expertise and provide services for other
construction and engineering companies.
Eastern Cape Tyres trades under the name
of Tyre Zone in Gauteng.
Murray & Roberts Plant
Murray & Roberts Plant specialises in the pro-
curement, maintenance, repair andmanage-
ment of construction plant and equipment
used onMurray & Roberts Construction’s civil,
building, roads and earthworks, marine and
mining projects. The company’s extremely
broad range of equipment currently numbers
about 1 400 individual items of specialist and
generalist equipment.
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Some of the apprentices currently enrolled in the Murray & Roberts Plant four year apprenticeship programme.
