MAN donates engine to local college

August 26, 2023

In an economic environment where people are grappling with youth unemployment and mismatched skills development, MAN Automotive (South Africa) has committed to plugging the gaps. Nicola Jenvey reveals that, in keeping with this spirit, the company has donated an engine worth over R800,000 to Elangeni TVET College.

MAN Automotive (South Africa) has donated a CLA engine – the D0836LFL10 with SE2 – to Durban’s Elangeni Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) College KwaDabeka campus, for practical training. The move follows the donation of a prototype truck several years ago by the German-headquartered vehicle manufacturer.

As a TVET institute, Elangeni College provides higher education learning supported by the Department of Higher Education and Learning. It is also approved by the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS). The college offers full-time, part-time, and long distance learning. It also provides bursary programmes including the National Students Financial Aid Scheme, as well as other financial support services.

Puso Molefe, MAN group manager labour relations and transformation, says the donation, made in line with the company’s socio economic development strategy, was also the company’s means by which to contribute to the communities in which it operates. “South Africa’s triple issues of poverty, inequality, and unemployment can only be solved via education. MAN wants to further education and training in this country and this investment will translate into boosting the pool of diesel mechanics,” he elaborates.

Diesel mechanic is recognised as a hard-to-fill position within the sector. Molefe says that access to practical and theoretical experience will enable those who achieve this qualification to contribute to the broader motor vehicle and manufacturing industry.

Elangeni TVET College KwaDabeka campus head of department engineering and related design Marvin Majola and Elangeni TVET College lecturer KKN Mbambo; KwaDabeka campus students Ngcobo Nontethelelo, Malindi Lwandile, Mdunu Sihle, and Ngxongo Thangitnini; and MAN group manager labour relations and transformation Puso Molefe.

MAN accountant Perm Luthuli, MAN human resources business partner Nompumelelo Mdletshe, MAN group manager labour relations and transformation Puso Molefe, Elangeni TVET College KwaDabeka campus head of department engineering and related design Marvin Majola, and Elangeni TVET College KwaDabeka campus student Ngxongo Thangitnini.

The three-year course fulfils the requirements for National Qualifications Framework (NQF) levels two to four, which require students to receive 30% theory and 70% practical training. The aim for TVET college students is to complete their qualifications with a trade in order to be either employable or an employer. “Too often, students emerge from their studies without sufficient practical knowledge and hence the mismatch in skills: they have been trained, but not adequately to be employable,” Molefe says.

He adds that graduates’ options include being employed, becoming an employer in a small-scale business, or entering an apprentice programme such as the one offered by MAN. The company has already had students working on learnership programmes to develop career interest in the motor vehicle sector.

“We want to teach students that there is a potential career path in the industry and that diesel is not only dirty. There are opportunities to move into plant management, dealerships, and business management, but starting at the bottom is critical to that progression,” he says.

Knowledge Mbambo, Elangeni TVET College KwaDabeka campus senior lecturer mechanical engineering, says the TVET education system aims to prepare students for the workplace, but often fails in providing sufficient practical experience. This mismatch detrimentally undermines the system’s intentions.

Mbambo’s colleague, head of department engineering and related design Marvin Majola, says the donation significantly contributed to integrated workplace learning, adding that he is excited about the relationship being built with MAN.

“In having an engine on which the students can work, they take the knowledge from the books and see it in action. They can disassemble and reassemble an engine, not from the text, but from the practical reality of getting their hands dirty as they identify the various engine parts,” he explains.

Looking ahead, Molefe says continuity is key to achieving MAN Automotive SA’s transformation goals, so further contributions to the KwaDabeka campus will be among the company’s public private partnership initiatives.

This will also translate into boosting broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE), while generating loyalty for the MAN brand and complementing partnerships with municipalities in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth), Cape Town, Tshwane, and eThekwini.

Photographs by Terry Haywood