The SAIW Foundation is a company started by the Southern African Institute of Welding (SAIW) as a public benefit organisation to provide training to disadvantaged individuals in a wide range of areas including welding and inspection, the training of trainers for welding and related technologies and more.
“There are so many people who could benefit from the wonderful career opportunities that welding offers but who simply cannot afford it. The SAIW Foundation will provide as many of these people as possible this opportunity,” says SAIW executive director Sean Blake.
He says the initial seed funding for the SAIW Foundation has come from the Institute but the idea is for the industry at large to participate. “We want the SAIW Foundation to become a conduit for the welding industry’s charitable efforts so that, through economies of scale, we can give as many youngsters as possible a chance in life, while at the same time doing as much as we can to alleviate the skills shortage in our industry.”
Nonhlanhla Angel Mthebula’s internship with leading dome structure manufacturer In2Structures in Wynberg, Johannesburg is an excellent example of this. Angel was part of the first ever group of trainees that was brought to the SAIW for training through funding by the SAIW Foundation. Her internship materialised after In2Structures made a donation to the SAIW Foundation for Angel’s training on the SAIW’s IIW International Welder training programme. As a result of this donation, Angel’s training is being extended to include GMAW welder training and welding aluminium and part of the deal was that she would do the internship at In2Structures.
Angel says she is delighted with her internship with In2Structures. “I have been working hard at the SAIW to progress in my International Welder course and I will now have the chance to implement what I have learnt in the “real world”,” she says.
Blake says that this agreement between In2Structures’ and the SAIW represents an excellent win-win situation. “As In2Structures’ core business is welding, they wanted to give something back to the welding community while improving their BBBEE score on skills development through investing in the training of a black female welder. At the same time, the SAIW Foundation requires funds to train more previously disadvantaged people in the welding field. This was such an easy way for both parties to meet their individual objectives and we hope that other companies follow In2Structures example,” Blake says.
In2Structures is an ideal place for a young trainee to get going in the competitive welding industry. Part of the Gearhouse group, it is one of Africa’s leading fabricators of custom-designed dome structures, which are generally used as portable facilities for a variety of uses. In addition, its management is cognisant of the need to give young disadvantaged learners a break in an industry, which offers so much.
“We are delighted to have Angel on board,” says In2Structures’ director Linda Wijnberger. “The structures we fabricate are clearspan, load-bearing domes in which the welded joints are the critical foundations of the structure’s stability. Angel will be learning from the best and this will be an important step in her welding career,” she says.