US car maker Ford on Tuesday announced that it would invest R11.5-million in the construction and operation of a new job training and entrepreneurial development centre at its South African assembly plant, in Silverton.

The Ford Resource and Engagement Centre (FREC) was slated to open in October.

Ford Motor Company (FMC) Fund and Community Services president Jim Vella said in Pretoria that the FREC was only the second resource centre of its kind to be created by the company in the world, with the first located in Detroit, US, where unemployment reached between 11% and 13%.

Ford’s head office is in Detroit.

Vella said South Africa had been selected as the second FREC site as Ford had a long history in South Africa; as the Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa was a growing and enthusiastic participant in Ford’s global month of caring - which focused on involving employees in community projects - and as there was a clear need for such a centre in South Africa.

It was anticipated that the centre would assist around 200 people a year, most of them from the Mamelodi community.

The centre would operate in partnership with the nongovernmental organisation, Future Families.

Future Families’ Penny Learmonth said the centre’s first course, for which it was awaiting accreditation, was on early childhood development and afterschool care, to be followed by training on entrepreneurship and a variety of entry-level job positions.

Training would include aspects such as financial literacy, career guidance and job dress codes, for example.

“There will be a strong focus on employability,” said Learmonth. “The training will be for free.”

She noted that youth unemployment in Tshwane was at 32%.

Vella added that the FREC would follow the lead of the community on the projects they would like to see happen at the centre.

The Detroit centre, for example, had evolved into a facility that also offered an arts programme, as well as a regular farmers’ market.

Since opening in Detroit three years ago, the original FREC had assisted more than 80 000 local residents through a range of social and cultural services, including providing 1.2-million pounds of food and helping to complete 6 100 tax returns.