After 18 months of intensive scientific, engineering and technical training, 73 Rand Water Academy graduates will in the next few days start reaping the fruits of their labour and persevere towards becoming registered professionals.

Initially, 120 graduates were approved by the National Treasury and thereafter admitted for professional development at the RWA for a period of 36 months. The project has two phases, 18 months onsite at RWA and a further 18 months at the recipient municipalities. The graduates will be placed at several municipalities in the Mpumalanga and Gauteng provinces from January 13 – 17, 2014. The 73 graduates consists of 30 Water Quality Generalists, 40 Process Controllers and three Engineers. They will undergo the second phase (18 months) of their 3-year internship at the Govan Mbeki Local Municipality, Emalahleni Local Municipality, Thembisile Hani Local Municipality, City of Tshwane Metropolitan Council and Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Council.

Rand Water Academy’s Programme Manager, Mr Asief Alli said Rand Water, through the establishment of the academy, aims to play a pivotal role in the development of professionals within the water and sanitation sector. This will be achieved by skilling, capacitating and empowering of young graduates to become professionals. The academy will address the critical skills shortage that has a negative effect on the South African water and sanitation sector. Rand Water, Alli said, has already engaged several local, district municipalities and metropolitan councils to establish their needs and subsequently plan further intake of the graduates. The programme’s key mandate is to develop and train unemployed water and waste-water graduates in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and the Free State provinces. He said all the municipalities had indicated willingness to work with the RWA and create an environment in which the graduates can impart their expertise freely.

“It’s been a rigorous training programme for the graduates in the past 18 months and it has made us all proud of their achievements. The placement of the first batch of graduates was a major milestone in the history of the academy,” Alli added. When the programme started, the academy invited applications from students in the fields of Science, Artisanship, Engineering and Process Control. The RWA’s internship programme was undertaken in phases. The first batch of trainees started the training in Water Quality and Process Control in June 2012. The second was a group of Engineers who began training in May 2013. After placement at the municipalities, Rand Water will continue to monitor the graduates’ progress and provide mentorship and technical support to the graduates.