Delivering the keynote address at the Denel Dynamics Young Achievers Awards in Centurion, south of Pretoria, recently, Denel group CEO Riaz Saloojee reaffirmed his company’s commitment to education and skills development. “One of the key challenges facing the country is how we educate our people,” he said. “From the Denel perspective, we have a very clear and well-defined interest in education. “We are a company in one of the most cutting-edge and competitive industries in the world.

“For a country with such a small proportion of its [gross domestic product] devoted to defence, our country is certainly punching above its weight [in defence technology]. “It shows the progress South Africa has made on the technology front,” he highlighted. “Denel is increasingly being seen as a centre of excellence.” To maintain this success, Denel Dynamics has, he pointed out, initiatives to attract students and trainees. “Denel Dynamics would not be on the cutting edge of technology if it were not for you, the people,” he told the attendees of the function. “One of Denel’s objectives is to promote engineering as a career choice for women.”
The Young Achievers Awards recognise outstanding students from three levels of education supported by Denel Dynamics. Firstly, there are the Saturday schools for maths and science sponsored and actively assisted by the company, which benefit pupils at the Steve Tshwete and Olievenhoutbosch High Schools. Staff from Denel Dynamics voluntarily provide their time and expertise to assist in the teaching of the children at these schools. The next level comprises the university students who have received bursaries from Denel Dynamics.
Finally, there is the company’s own Engineering Academy of Learning (EAL), in which the company’s newly recruited engineers and technologists serve a year as interns, learning what it is like to work on a high-technology project. This is achieved by having the interns, with the assistance and guidance of their seniors, execute their own projects. For example, the 2012 EAL interns designed and developed a Cubesat and its associated ground station (see Engineering News January 13, 2013).
At the same function, Denel group chairperson Zoli Kunene affirmed: “We are succeeding in attracting to our company the brightest young minds. “We are looking forward to offering an increasing number of bursaries to the graduates of this [Saturday school] programme.”
Denel Dynamics CEO Jan Wessels highlighted that his company’s educational efforts benefited the whole economy. The successfully graduating school learners would seek jobs throughout the economy, while not all the university graduates nor all the interns would remain with the company. “Young engineers can vastly influence job creation, and people with bright young minds have a drive to build things that work through experiment and product realisation – exactly the type of skills South Africa needs to nuture.” These are the skills needed to develop a knowledge economy. He added that young engineers and technologists had the potential to create between 10 and 1 000 other jobs in whatever advanced technology sectors of the economy they worked in.

Saloojee referred to the fact that other Denel group companies ran similar programmes with similar success. “I am quite confident we’ll meet the challenges of the future as far as education and engineering are concerned.” Thus, Denel Integrated Systems Solutions (a previously independent unit of Denel which was amalgamated into Denel Dynamics last year) has helped the University of Cape Town to create a radar technology course.
Denel Aviation sponsors additional maths and science classes for pupils from the Vaal Reefs Technical High School and the Rafedile Academy, and its staff provides extra classes for pupils from the Reiger Park Secondary School at the company’s site in Kempton Park (east of Johannesburg). Altogether, more than 1 000 pupils benefit from these courses. The company also has a sponsored apprenticeship training programme.