The Retail Motor Industry Organisation (RMI) has warned that the country is facing a crisis of underskilled technicians entering the country’s automotive industry.
The automotive aftermarket is one of South Africa’s most important sectors as it supplies vital support to the 13-million-plus cars on the roads.
However, for many years there has been no real skills development in this industry which was exacerbated by under-investment in human capital.
“Skills have been outpaced by technology and there has been a loss of businesses and profits,” said Ipeleng Mabusela, RMI CEO of Strategy and Corporate.
“Improved skills will result in increased productivity. It is all about professional standards and changing of perceptions and encouraging business owners to draw in new entrants into the sector.”
The RMI also holds the belief that if government can start migrating informal businesses into the formal sector, we will have a far stronger industry.
“Significantly, for every small and informal business or every apprentice successfully converted and absorbed into the formal sector, five jobs are likely to be created,” said Mabusela.
“Each of these newly employed people, in turn, financially supports another 20 people on average in the process.”
Addressing the skills gap
To address the skills gap in the automotive aftermarket sector, young people from school level must be enticed to follow this career path, said Mabusela.
The RMI and organisations like the South African Motor Body Repairers’ Association (Sambra) have made inroads into this by launching several training programmes at school and college levels including one focused on alternative energy vehicles.
Competitions like Motor Mech, which is held at the Port Rex Technical High School in Durban, also help to expose the industry to school students.
However, these organisations all agree not enough is being done to introduce young South Africans to the automotive sector at an early age.
Schools and colleges should also align more closely with the industry by updating their curricula to reflect current industry needs.
Likewise, it is imperative that the private automotive and education industries get together and collaborate to give learners a better platform to kick-start their careers.
“If we can close the gap from high school to apprenticeship level we will have made significant progress and open up a wealth of new career opportunities for our young people in the future,” concludes Mabusela.
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