Sasol Limited Sustainability Report 2021 - Book - Page 33
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SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE AGAINST OUR FOCUS AREAS: GROWING SHARED VALUE – SASOL IN SOCIETY (CONTINUED)
Bridge-to-work: Skills development
Skills development plays a pivotal role
in creating sustainable livelihoods and
driving both the formal and informal
economies globally. However, the
COVID-19 pandemic has presented an
unprecedented challenge for skills
development systems across the world,
forcing them to rethink skills that would
be required for the economy in the
immediate and near future, as well as
how these will be accessed by the youth.
Theme
Purpose
Progress
TVET-to-work skils
Commercialising technical skills to enable
sustainable income earning.
Over 300 youth have been trained in
technical skills in the past year in Sasolburg,
Secunda and Mozambique to enhance their
farming, artisan and other vocational skills.
Small Business Development
Capacitating entrepreneurs through
business development that enables
them to set up sustainable enterprises.
Over 1 500 youth trained and mentored in
small business development through our
SME training.
Business skills training
Training of the unemployed aligned
to economic activity.
Mentorship and business development
support given to over 600 SMEs to assist
them in sustaining and growing their
businesses.
Provision of starter pack/
trade tools
Provision of critical work tools and
equipment to enable sustainable income
generating activities.
Our SME programmes include provision of
starter packs which enables the businesses
to have the initial required tools to assist
in commercialising them.
Investing in skills development in Sasolburg
Our approach
Enabling youth employment
Considering the nature, location and scale of our
activities, we recognise our role in contributing to the
improvement of labour market prospects for the youth.
We understand that to create real and lasting value,
a focused effort is needed to improve the standard of
training and offer programmes that lead to enhanced
economic opportunities in our fenceline communities.
Sasol offers targeted interventions that provide
youth with core skills such as technical, vocational
and work readiness training to enable them to be
self- sustainable and become positive contributors to
local and national economies. In addition, we prioritise
development interventions that are linked to local
community value chain services such as plumbing,
electricification and tiling.
The short supply of qualified, experienced artisans in
South Africa has created a huge demand for these skills.
In order for South Africa to meet and deliver the aspirational
growth rate of 5% per annum by 2030 (as per the National
Development Plan), the promotion of artisan skills is
essential. To this end, Sasol in Sasolburg partnered with
Government and other stakeholders to embark on a number
of skills development initiatives in Metsimaholo to increase
the skills pool and assist in increasing the chances of
employability of our youth.
The Sasol Artisan Training Programme in Sasolburg has reached
over 210 Zamdela youth since its launch in 2013. Training is
done in partnership with registered artisan training entities,
being the Sedibeng Artisan Skills Training Centre, MCD Training
Centre, Steinmuller, Aurex Constructors (previously known
as SNC-Lavalin) and Aveng Grinaker-LTA. Of the 72 learners
trained in 2020 / 2021, 18 have completed their training and
38 are still placed in experiential learning programmes at Sasol,
companies in the Vaal Triangle, Metsimaholo Local Municipality
and the Free State Department of Health. The rest of the
learners pursued other qualifications.
Our decision to be a key role player in the programme was
further informed by a needs analysis done in the Metsimaholo
Local Municipality which indicated the need for the
following skills:
• Electrical;
• Boilermaking;
• Mechanical fitting;
• Motor mechanics;
• Rigging;
• Plumbing;
• Welding; and
• Instrumentation.
The recently constructed welding school at Boitjhorisong
Resource Centre in partnership with Aurex Constructors
and Afrox, offers a modular approach where participants
are afforded the opportunity to expand their welding skills.
The centre was further retrofitted to be able to offer level
2 Argon (TIG) welding as a training module. Of the first
cohort of 12 who completed the structural welding module,
three were accepted by Afrox on their advanced welding
programme and four continued with the TIG module at
the centre. Two thousand applications were received
for the 2021 cohort of which ten started the training.
The programme provides opportunities for the youth
to pursue their goals and at the same time contributes to
the increase of much needed skilled labour in the region.
Sasol Sasolburg is committed to empowering the
communities within which we operate through initiatives
such as the Sasol Artisan Training Programme.
• Fitting and turning;
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Sasol Sustainability Report 2021
In 2021, over 300 youth benefitted
from Sasol’s skills development
programmes globally to assist them
with employability and business
development skills that enable
them to be self-sufficient and active
contributors to the economy.