Steel Construction Vol 40 No 2 - Tubular Steel Feature | Page 17

INDUSTRY NEWS: in brief

address the critical skills shortage in the
welding discipline.

Civil Engineering Training Centre over the
last three years.

The main objectives of the Welding
School, which is located at the Aveng
Grinaker-LTA Steel Fabrication facility
in Vanderbijlpark, is to train welding
apprentices, up-skill semi-skilled workers
and provide unemployed youth from the
local community with portable skills.
The Welding School is accredited by the
Manufacturing Engineering and Related
Services SETA (MERSETA) and qualifying
learners are awarded with a National
Certificate comprising of NQF level 2, 3
and 4 in Welding Application and Practice.
During the programme learners undergo
18 – 24 weeks of intensive theoretical
and practical and on-the-job experience
through apprenticeships.

Furthermore, there are currently 34
engineering graduates enrolled with
the company for formal mentorship
towards professional registration with the
Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA).
The company also sponsors 45 students
at tertiary institutions across South Africa
through its bursary programmes.

“To date, 81 ASGI-SA apprentices and 40
Sasol apprentices were trained through
the programme and in December 2015
the welding school awarded a Double
Coded Welders qualification to 10 learners
who are now qualified welders,” explains
Henning Venter, Aveng Grinaker-LTA’s
Mechanical & Electrical Fabrication
Executive.
He further adds:“Skills development is a
key focus area for the company and every
year 50 learners across the Vaal triangle are
accepted into the Welding School’s training
programme. Encouragingly, around 60% of
these are woman, which demonstrates the
growing number of females who are now
entering into a previously male dominated
profession.”
The training initiatives at the Welding
School are a key component of Aveng’s
transformation programme. A total of
1,972 employees were trained in various
technical skills in the Aveng Grinaker-LTA

A solid foundation for Springs
Mall with Giuricich Bros
Construction on the R950 million Springs
Mall at Blue Crane Eco Park development
is well underway, according to main
contractors Giuricich Bros, with the
46,000m² regional shopping centre right
on schedule to open before Easter 2017.
The landmark mall located in Springs, east
of Gauteng, is a joint-venture between
the Giuricich Bros Group; Blue Crane Eco
Mall (Pty) Ltd; Flanagan & Gerard Property
Development & Investment; and Vukile
Property Fund, a leading JSE-listed retail
focused SA REIT (real estate investment
trust). Springs Mall is already 85% let, with
anchor tenants signed up including Pick
n Pay, Checkers, Woolworths and Edgars,
and other major national retailers including
the Foschini Group,Truworths, Mr Price,
Hi-Fi Corporation, Clicks, Dis-Chem and
Incredible Connection set to join the mix.
“As a retail development of almost
R1 billion, with over 150 stores, the
mall is a major invest