As part of its corporate social investment (CSI) initiatives, electric motors company Zest WEG Group has donated equipment worth more than R2-million to training schools, colleges and other educational institutions.

The group states that training to meet dire skills shortages remains a motivating issue for the company. In addition to driving skills transfer and education through its 200 m2 training centre in Johannesburg, the group is involved in assisting several educational facilities meet a variety of pressing needs.

The company’s training centre is accredited by sector education and training authority the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers, as well as the Engineering Council of South Africa, and contains the most up-to-date technology required to provide learners with a level of education that can offer continuing professional development points.

However, not all educational facilities in South Africa have access to a full complement of technology. Zest WEG CSI project manager Nokuthula Shabangu says the company identified strategic areas in the country, such as Mpumalanga and the North West, where the need for training equipment is the greatest.

“Our donations cover the whole spectrum of education levels, from preprimary, to primary schools, high schools and tertiary education,” says Shabangu, adding that Zest WEG supplied the Centurion-based Dove’s Nest Place of Safety with baby formula, cereal, jars of food and nappies, as well as a Hyundai H1 panel van to transport the home’s children. Dove’s Nest is a place of safety for abandoned, vulnerable and/or HIV-positive babies and young children.

Moreover, the Zest WEG Group has partnered with Patti Hanley, architect of the Diepsloot Preschool Project, to provide impetus for early childhood development. The Diepsloot Preschool Project encompasses 22 preschools in Diepsloot, Leeukop, Transkei and Orpen Gate. About 1 600 children benefit from the scheme yearly. In late 2013, the initiative produced 220 000 worksheets for three-, four- and five-year-old learners, as well as two workbooks for each grade R child.

On a tertiary level, three colleges within the Nkangala technical and vocational education and training (TVET) college scheme have benefited from Zest WEG Group’s donation of electric motors, switchgears, soft starters and other electric equipment.

The Nkangala TVET college scheme was formed in 2003 with the merger of eMalahleni, Middelburg, Mpondozankomo and CN Mahlangu campuses – formerly technical colleges – in the Nkangala region. Waterval- boven Campus was transferred in 2011 from Ehlanzeni Further Education and Training (FET) College. The college was formed after Parliament’s adoption of the FET Act of 1996.

Shabangu points out that Zest WEG Group will continue to research and identify educational facilities that can be uplifted by input from the company. “An integral part of our strategy in playing a responsible role in society is to invest in the future of our youth.”