Cape Town: The City is investing R43 billion in the infrastructure of Cape Town for the next three years, which is anticipating to create 135,000 jobs. The City of Cape Town has also trained and mentored 125 graduates through its Infrastructure Skills Development Grant programme, that ensures a talent pool for future projects.
Reportedly, the City of Cape Town has joined the National Treasury and several representatives from other municipalities at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, were present to discuss and share insights at the year’s Infrastructure Skills Development Grant Engineering Alignment Workshop.
The City of Cape Town has been a part of the National Treasury funded Infrastructure Skills Development Grant (ISDG) Programme since the 2014-15 financial year. The initial grant allocation was of R1 million, which now stands at R12 million for the financial year 2024-25.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Corporate Services – Alderman Theresa Uys said that since the inception of programme, the graduates have been declared as competent in their specific fields and were absorbed into permanent positions within the Cape Town.
The main objective of the programme is to build a talent pool, igniting scarce skills within municipalities across the country by training and mentoring the graduates and to assist them in registering with their relevant statutory professional councils.
A total number of 125 graduates have directly benefitted from the ISDG programme at the City of Cape Town. These graduates represent various fields of study that include Civil Engineering, Chemical and Mechanical Engineering, along with the Materials Science, Biotechnology, Chemical Science, Environmental Science and also Quantity Surveying.
Alderman Uys added further that the City of Cape Town is currently experiencing a shortage of professional engineers to support its main goal of infrastructure development.
Many engineers within Cape Town are reaching retirement age and the city needs to plan ahead to mitigate any impact which may have on future service delivery.
As cities expand, their industries and people need to be supported by adequate services, from electricity, water and other amenities, in order to support to additional services that aid modern development beyond the basics.
Executive Director for Future Planning and Resilience – Gareth Morgan, during the opening keynote address of the ISDG workshop on Wednesday, said that over the next three years, the City intends to invest R43 billion in infrastructure at a rate far, that is outpacing any other metro.
According to him, these infrastructure investments will create an estimated 135,000 jobs over the next three years.
He added that the ISDG plays a crucial role in supporting these efforts. By funding a stream of built environment graduates, the ISDG desires to enable these young professionals to enter into the City and get mentored towards professional registration.