Youth offered a glimpse into automotive industry at Pretoria plant

A Youth Stakeholder Engagement event was held on May 30, which gave young people a rare glimpse behind the scenes of the north of Pretoria’s evolving automotive industry.

Hosted by the Automotive Industry Development Centre (AIDC) in partnership with the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency, the event brought together high school learners, unemployed youth, and major automotive manufacturers at the Rosslyn plant.

Themed around automotive sector awareness and career pathways, the day’s programme focused on exposing youth to real-world career opportunities in one of Gauteng’s most strategic sectors.

Young attendees watched live production processes on the factory floor, met with professionals in various roles, and saw how innovation and precision drive the industry forward.

Many described it as an eye-opening experience that gave them new respect for manufacturing and engineering careers.

Tebogo Mokebe of Soshanguve said the nice thing about the automotive industry is the variety of options it offers.

“I don’t have a matric certificate, but I’m delighted to hear that some sectors can accommodate people like me who have a Grade 11,” said Mokebe.

Meloney van Eck of the AIDC Board said they aimed to engage with young people to find out what they want.

Van Eck said six or seven months ago, after engaging with different youths, she realised they don’t tell them enough of what they do.

“I spoke to the CEO and the board, then came up with an idea to say that let’s have a huge stake in all the engagement.

“We’ve got a problem in Gauteng where people are going to school, we have the Gauteng automotive centre, we have what we call the automotive city in Tshwane. But we don’t engage enough for the young people to find out what they want,” said Van Eck.

She said the event was not conceptualised to be the AIDC coming to preach to young people about what they do only, but to showcase what they do to get feedback on how to actually tailor-make it for them.

“The other thing I also found out is that when you speak to young people in the townships in particular, you find out the little bit they know about the automotive sector would be for them to be mechanics, to be artisans, and all of those things.”

Van Eck said they want the youth to contribute to the economy by virtue of participating in the competitive manufacturing part of it.

“Last year, we trained 67 people in automotive electric circuits and wiring, 49 in simulator training, and entire footing strapping and balancing, 140 people were trained.

“So our agency is driving towards getting investors, creating jobs, and then having people absorbed in those jobs.”

Major manufacturers, including Nissan, Ford, BMW and Mahindra, participated in panel discussions highlighting skills shortages, future trends, and the kinds of roles they’re looking to fill.

Some companies also offered application support and career advice through dedicated booths.

CFO of Mahindra SA, Koushik Mitra, said Mahindra has been present in South Africa for more than two decades, and the company has grown organically.

“We have been one of the fastest growing brands in South Africa for the last seven years, clogging almost about 17% in terms of growth.

“We are associated with a lot of skill development throughout our initiative, both in South Africa as well as in India.”

He said Mahindra has about 40 learners they are associated with, so these learners can be developed skillfully and eventually become an asset to the automotive industry.

The session saw continued engagement through a career and skills exhibition, where participants could interact with employers, vocational institutions, and development agencies.

Lofentse Lebese, talent management graduate from BWM Group in Rosslyn, mentioned that the organisation does offer apprenticeships, internships and graduate programmes for 24 months.

“So the internships that we offer are around the entire business. It’s not specifically to say we only have engineering internships.

“I think maybe a barrier that young people would face in the industry is trying to find their feet. I do think that the integration between leaving school and entering the world is quite steep. So sometimes they struggle to comprehend how to apply certain thoughts or assumptions,” said Lebese.

He added that BWM Group supports local development through CSI initiatives focused on high school students and making sure they offer them certain experiences and exposure.

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