The Kruger National Park (KNP) together with Scarce Skills Development and Training (SSDT), P.D Naidoo and Associates (PDNA), Automobile Training Academy (ATA); Nkangala Further Education & Training College and Eskom launched an artisan training programme in August 2012. The programme is aimed at training engineering students to become artisans.
Kruger will train eight students, who are based at different sections within the Park's technical services department. The eight students are part a group of 14 who are placed at different companies within Mpumalanga Province as part of their experiential training.
Speaking at the launch was Ben du Plessis; manager water, mechanical and waste management, who indicated that there is a need for artisans in the country. "This is the second group of students that we are receiving in the KNP to help shape them for the future. We are placing them at different areas where on a daily basis they do wielding, pipe fitting, fix laundry machines, generators and water pumps" said Mr du Plessis.
This relationship started last year (2011) when students from Nkangala FET College were given an opportunity to do experiential learning in the KNP for a period of six months. This forms part of the KNP's broader strategy of community empowerment and corporate social investment.
