Municipalities suffer from critical shortages {writer: Staff reporter}

While presently South Africa annually produces less than 45% of the number of artisans its economy requires, and less than half the number it produced a quarter of a century ago, some experts list this state of affairs as one of the major reasons municipalities battle to render proper services.

It is further said to be one of the main reasons most municipalities find it impossible to utilise their multimillion-rand infrastructure grants.

The shortage, however, is not only evident in the government, where artisans are required to “keep the lights on, keep our water flowing and drinkable, and ensure our roads, bridges, dams, culverts and manholes are all in working order”. There is also a lack of these skills in manufacturing, mining and in heavy industry.

According to reports, entities such as construction giant Grinaker-LTA and petrochemical company Sasol had to import artisan skills from Malaysia, Ireland, India and Thailand to work as welders and to do maintenance.

According to a 2009 report published by the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of South Africa (Seifsa), apprenticeship intake by the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services Sector Education and Training Authority (merSETA) Metal Chamber fell from more than 12 000 in 1982 to less than 2 000 in 2003.

The intake has since risen slightly due to an accelerated artisan training project started by Seifsa and adopted by merSETA.

Commenting on the infrastructure underspent by municipalities, John Botha, the general manager of the Production Management Institute – a subsidiary of Adcorp – said that “when you scratch the surface of poor delivery, you inevitably find that the one constant factor is a lack of skills. We just don’t have enough artisans to do the work. We are producing less than half the number we should be.”

He added that artisans are critical to the operation and maintenance of municipal infrastructure and equipment. This includes heavy-current electricians, plumbers, fitters and turners, welders, carpenters, bricklayers and handymen.

The main reason for the shortage of artisans was, according to Botha, the lack of suitably qualified candidates with qualifications in science and maths – the foundation of many artisan trades.

It is estimated South Africa produces about 5 600 qualified artisans a year, compared to a target of 12 500 set by the Department of Higher Education and Training. Estimates of the country’s artisan requirements vary, ranging from 50 000 to 80 000.

Records show that in the early 1980s, there were 30 000 registered apprenticeships in South Africa. By 2005, however, that number had fallen
to 1 400.

In 1985 alone, 13 000 artisans qualified in a single year, said Botha.

One of the reasons for the shortage is that Eskom and Telkom, which used to train a large number of artisans through apprenticeships, no longer do so due to the commercialisation of their operations.

Emigration has further dented the skills base, as has the fact that companies have scaled down their training as Seta learnerships have replaced company apprenticeships.

With at least half of artisans 50 years or older, it was increasingly urgent “to get new blood into the system”.

Some commentators have suggested that South Africa should consider the possibility of lifting the retirement age in line with practices in particularly Europe, to try and retain skills and experience for a longer time.

It would not, however, be all that simple since, unlike European countries, South Africa does not have a negative population growth and has much higher unemployment levels.