Technician a real wiz in his field
Local Mahindra technician Gert van der Merwe took first place with 65 points in the recent Mahindra SA Tech Wiz skills contest which was held at Mahindra training offices in Centurion, Gauteng
LYDENBURG – Local Mahindra technician Gert van der Merwe took first place with 65 points in the recent Mahindra SA Tech Wiz skills contest which was held at Mahindra training offices in Centurion, Gauteng.
The contest comprised theoretical and practical tests.
He collected a trophy and a gift voucher of R5 000. The objective of this annual event is to provide a competitive environment within the service personnel in the dealer network with the customer being the ultimate beneficiary.
Mahindra SA is a fully-owned subsidiary of Mahindra & Mahindra of India, distributing Mahindra and SsangYong motor vehicles in Southern Africa.
Van der Merwe was among 10 technicians who were selected nationwide at the beginning of 2014 as the top-10 participants who qualify for the finals through an examination.
The technicians qualified for the Tech Wiz contest, which is projected to recognise the skills of Mahindra technicians in SA.
“We wrote a theory test, that is how we qualified to be in the top 10 and participate in the major,” said Van der Merwe.
During the competition they were evaluated using a theoretical questionnaire where 60 questions had to be answered within 90 minutes.
This was followed by a practical test where the contestants had to find and repair two faults built into a vehicle.
According to Van der Merwe solving these problems was not an easy task. “It was difficult since one had to figure out what the fault was in the vehicle within a given time and if that time had lapsed we had to stop whether you were finished or not,” he explained.
Runner-up was Francois van der Walt of Heidelberg Mahindra, who scored 59 points, with Mukesh Lala, of Lenasia Mahindra taking third position with 57 points.
“I didn’t expect to win since it was my first time participating in the finals. Last year I made it to the top 10, I received an invite to participate but unfortunately I couldn’t attend,” he explained.
The focus of the company is on Fix It Right the First Time. Mahindra SA has also taken over responsibility for the sales, service and parts supply for SsangYong products since April 1, 2012 in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Zambia. There is currently a network of 38 SsangYong dealers in SA.
