In the face of adversity, the Mother City has shattered barriers and lit up a path to empower young men and women in the clothing and textile sector. The City of Cape Town, in partnership with the Craft and Design Institute (CDI), proudly celebrated the graduation of 119 learners from the Cape Skills and Employment Accelerator.
A project that focuses on creating employment opportunities for youth and women in the clothing and textile industry in Cape Town.
Also read: Twyg magazine awards the most sustainable SA fashion designers
The group of 119 graduated and received their National Qualifications Framework (NQF) level training certificates from Boland College and the Cape Town Workbased Learning Academy (CTWLA), which marks a final milestone of success on the project.
The first 117 graduates completed their learnerships on the project in 2022.
Made possible thanks to a collaboration between the City of Cape Town and the National Skills Fund (NSF), the project enables SMMEs to take on machinists at a greatly reduced cost to their business while creating learning and work opportunities for unemployed women and youth.
The programme offered NQF-level 4 training and workplace opportunities for unemployed youth and women as part of a 12-month learnership, with a view to the 27 CDI member SMMEs employing the women as machinists at the end of the project.
The learners developed skills that include pattern making, pattern cutting, garment making and sewing with 75% of the time spent in the business, supported by 25% classroom time from the training provider.
Erica Elk, Group CEO of the CDI expressed that the outcome has been a remarkable success, given the project started during the Covid-19 pandemic when employment creation and business trading in the creative industry was particularly challenging.
‘A highlight is that 87 of the learners have now been placed in jobs or chosen to study further. That’s a 67% retention rate through the programme, which is a testament to the resilience and efforts of the youth and the local businesses to overcome the challenges presented by the pandemic and its aftermath,’ said Elk.
Elk added that it was not just a skills development project for youth – the CDI placed emphasis on the development of each business and their capacity to grow.
Sharing the sentiment, Alderman James Vos, the City of Cape Town’s MMC for Economic Growth, said: ‘This project was designed to respond to a skills need in Cape Town’s high growth industries and the needs of youth wanting to become part of the city’s workforce’.
According to Vos, there is a direct correlation between South Africa’s unemployment crisis – largely affecting the youth – and the dearth of valuable skills.
‘In our programmes, we are not simply funding training for the sake of it. Investment in meaningful skills development initiatives is one of the most pressing concerns in our country right now. We have the foresight and vision to make Cape Town the best city in Africa to do business and work,’ added Vos.
Cape {town} Etc discount: Enter the world of digital design with an Adobe Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator Course from Alpha Academy for R219 (valued at R450.50). Get it here.
At the event, Mae Newman of The Umtshayelo Foundation, one of the organisations that hosted learners in their workplace, spoke proudly of her experience with graduate Siphokazi Papiso, who has been retained as an employee now with the Foundation.
Addressing all the graduates, she said: ‘All of you are so much further than where you were last year, you’ve all come a long way. Siphokazi has now started working permanently and there is no way I was going to let her go. When you have a good thing, you don’t let it go!
I want to celebrate you Siphokazi in front of all of your peers. When you first joined us, you didn’t have a vision for your future. When I look at you today, with the help of this programme, you have become who you were meant to be.’
Papiso said the entire programme has changed her life. ‘I didn’t believe in myself before, I didn’t even know how to stitch, but now I have made my own designs, even what I am wearing today – thank you to the funders and the college, and all the learners, my new friends who supported me on the programme!’
Are you searching for a safe and reliable vehicle that fits your needs and your budget? Find car listings for under R100 000 here.
Also read:
Local artist completes painting at Surrey Estate mosque at age 74
