German drainage company MEA Drainage Systems has donated a set of Meadrain drainage systems and 
equipment, to the value of R50 000, to the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s South African-German Training Services’ (SAGTS’s) Builders Training Centre (BTC), in Soweto.

While the glass-fibre-reinforced plastic Meadrain drainage systems are used inter-
nationally for civil engineering and landscape design projects, the system has yet to be 
employed anywhere in South Africa.

The light material is strong and dimensionally stable, even when subjected to significant temperature fluctuations, and exhibits resistance to a wide range of abrasive and corrosive chemical liquids.

The system incorporates a complete range of accessories, which integrate seamlessly with one another.

As a result of its low weight and the design of its rebated joint, the Meadrain system is easy and quick to install, without the need for heavy equipment or much manpower, and allows for easy retrofitting in places where inferior drainage systems may have been previously installed.

Owing to the advanced design flexibility and sturdiness of the channel bodies, Meadrain systems can be used for a wide range of drainage solutions, including heavy-duty applications.

MEA identified market opportunities for the drainage systems in South Africa, but noted that appropriately skilled workers were needed to properly install and maintain them.

“MEA’s offer to BTC [was] that they should begin training young people to lay their systems,” said Southern African-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry CE Matthias Boddenberg at the handover cere-
mony held at the BTC, at the end of July.

“In order for us to improve business relations between our two countries, we need a performing economy. If we want South Africa and its economy to grow in a sustainable way, we need qualified people in all industrial sectors,” he added. “Real empowerment is the result of enabling people to look after themselves and their families, and not the result of a few megamillion-rand deals.”

In addition, the BTC offers training in bricklaying, plastering, tiling, roof making and plumbing, and saw more than 780 people
trained in 2008.

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