Deur Cornelius van Leeuwen Ek is Corrie en hier is my siening van die stappe in 'n persoon se lewe en die impak van 'n werkgewer. Ek is gebore in 'n familie waar die meeste van my ooms ambagsmanne was. My pa het op die destydse Spoorweë gewerk en hy het groot agting gehad vir 'n ambagsman. In sy dae het hy die ambagsmanne aangespreek as “Meneer”, want dit was tog 'n geleerde persoon gewees. My pa is vroeg in my lewe oorlede, maar ek kan onthou as hy soms oor die ambagsmanne met my ma gepraat het, was dit
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By Marli Naidoo Your business is growing and you cannot handle everything on your own anymore. It is time to expand and appoint personnel, but how do you pick the right candidate for each post? Fortunately you’re not the first artisan who has travelled this route and books full of advice on this theme have been written. First of all, make sure that you know exactly what you are looking for. Do you need a fairly experienced person or do you want to appoint a beginner and train him yourself? Must he be able to talk to clients and what
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By Tania du Toit Traditional tailoring (bespoke tailoring) as a peculiar trade is a fine art skill that is achieved through a long, painfully precise apprenticeship under a master’s hand. This industry resonates with old-world discipline, work pride, smart hands and eyes, and an almost magical knowledge of cloth, line and contour. Such tailormade garments transform every human being into a well-dressed emperor. Wearing of a perfectly styled garment remains an irreplaceable feeling. Nothing surpasses the satisfaction of wearing tailormade, and largely, handmade garments. You might think this trade is waning. The opposite! According to especially established European tailors, the
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 By Tania du Toit When leaning back comfortably in your favourite armchair, you are probably resting your behind on years of training and handwork. Nowadays most functional furniture are completely or partly factory manufactured, in other words, items from a production line. This does not necessarily make the end-product inferior, or in the case of a chair or sofa, less comfortable. However, it is still the manual upholstery from days of yore that can give many pieces of furniture a specific value, charm and unique finishing and could possibly grant a well-made piece a second to even tenth life. Upholstery
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By Melodie Veldhuizen No education and teaching body should stagnate in its teaching and learning methods. John Dewey, born in 1859, justly said one-and-a-half centuries ago: “If we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow”. This fits in closely with Sol-Tech’s motto – Tomorrow begins today”.  According to Reon Janse van Rensburg technological developments have changed our ways of working over the years and workplaces are now preparing for the effect of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) on how we are going to work in future. Every profession demands certain skills and students must even
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By Melodie Veldhuizen Most people still remain under the misconception that certain professions are reserved exclusively for men. Yet there are women who are testimony to the contrary. Simone van Vuuren, a Sol-Tech student, says, “I’m a tradeswoman and enjoy every minute. I did my theoretical training in electricity from May to August 2019, after which I did my practical, which was supposed to stretch from January to June 2020, but due to Covid-19 was only completed in September 2020. In November 2020 I started my one-year in-service training at Zipcord. After that I have to pass a trades test
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By Tania du Toit In spite of the renewed focus on the necessity for vocational training in South Africa, the art of centuries-old traditional stonework is not often the first trade you think of. This is surprising, because stone is such a fundamental component of our African reality. An established South African stonework company puts it like this: “Natural stone is not a trend. It is lasting value in die African context”. Prospective clients who want to have authentic stonework done, have to do a fair amount of searching before even tracing tradesmen with old-school training. Enquiries confirm that good,
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By Tania du Toit Stonemasonry has been part of mankind at least since Biblical times and is certainly also the reason why archaeological excavations of earlier civilisations often yield stone artefacts. There are many provable origins of the heritage and tradition of stonemasonry art in South Africa, although we will probably never have a complete record of these. A few prominent stonemasonry footprints are discussed below. The stonemasonry footprints of the indigenous African population stretch from the Egyptian pyramids across the continent to the southern tip of Africa. One of the oldest remains of masterful local stonework near Zimbabwe can
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By Marli Naidoo Restorers work at different skills levels. Sometimes the task is simple, for example repairing a cracked cup with sentimental value, and at other times the request may involve the restoration of a coveted work of art. Whatever the assignment and article, it is important that the restorer should be fully trained to perform the task effectively. The type of person who would fit in well in this field is someone who loves fixing things. He or she also likes building puzzles, and enjoys brain teasers and solving technical problems. It will also help if the person enjoys
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By Melodie Veldhuizen Although the trades are traditionally still regarded as a man’s world, there are quite a number of women who are proudly filling men’s shoes in technical careers. We talked to Lynette Schultz, a qualified electrician and currently Learning Programmes Coordinator at Sol-Tech where she coordinates and helps develop learning programmes for six trades offered there (that of electrician, millwright, diesel mechanic, welder, toolmaker and fitter and turner). Which trade do you practise? I have my Red Seal in electrical trades and as such I am a qualified electrician.  I started working at Sol-Tech in 2012 as lecturer
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