The KZN Training Academy

THE KZNTCC TRAINING ACADEMY

Introduction

The KZNTCC formally established its Training Academy when it was accredited as a training service provider by the Transport Education and Training Authority (TETA) in October 2014. The KZNTCC was asked to perform this role for the taxi industry in KZN by the Santaco Provincial leadership chaired by Mr Boy Zondi. Since gaining accreditation with the TETA, the KZNTCCTA has undertaken a few major training projects for the taxi industry in KZN in line with its mission. These projects have been funded by either the KZN Department of Transport or the TETA and the specific projects are detailed hereunder.

KZN Department of Transport funded projects.

a) Leadership Training

This project was aimed at upskilling the senior levels of leadership in the industry in KZN and took part in the first quarter of 2016. The provincial leadership attended a 6 day Leadership Development Programme offered by the UKZN Extended Learning Unit in conjunction with the KZNTCCTA. In addition the leaders of the Hlokomela Safety programme attended a 3 day programme designed to improve their ability to perform their important role as industry safety officers on the province’s roads at peak periods. This training was conducted by Ebodhwe Training in conjunction with the KZNTCCTA. The bulk of the training was conducted by the KZNTCC facilitators themselves and was aimed at 2 main groups. The first of these groups was the Executive leadership of the various taxi regions and sub-regions throughout KZN. The second was the Executive leadership of the Woman’s Desk structures of the taxi industry in the province. This training which comprised among other things modules on leadership, financial management, and conflict resolution was conducted at up to 8 locations at the same time. These locations were as widespread as Vryheid and Newcastle in the north to Port Shepstone in the south but this was in line with the KZNTCC’s stated aim to “take training to the people.”

The culmination of the project was a Graduation Ceremony that was held at Durban’s International Convention Centre on Friday 24 June 2016. The ceremony was a glittering occasion graced by dignitaries such as the newly appointed MEC for Transport in KZN, Mr Kaunda, the City Manager of Durban Mr Sithole and various other senior staff of the DOT, the TETA and Toyota SA. The function was generously co-sponsored by Halfway Toyota, Clarendon Insurance Underwriters as well as the DOT. MEC Kaunda graciously agreed to hand out each and every certificate to each trainee who had attended the training. This gesture was highly appreciated by all.

b) Driver and Operator Training

This training was conducted during the first half of 2017 and was again presented by the KZNTCCTA facilitators with course material that had been developed and customised by the KZNTCCTA. This project has been our biggest to date as we were tasked with training 1 600 drivers and 1 600 operators/owners throughout KZN. A formula was developed in conjunction with the Santaco leadership in terms of which a number of these courses were allocated per region dependant on the number of associations and members in each region. Once this had been decided, a venue as near as possible to a particular association or associations was booked and the same venue was used for the driver training on a Monday and Tuesday of a particular week and the Wednesday to Friday were used for the operator training. The Santaco Woman’s Desks members were given the opportunity wherever possible to provide catering for the training and this gave them the opportunity to provide a much needed service as well as to generate some much needed revenue for their activities.

The course material for the drivers consisted of a detailed vehicle checklist, customer relations, safe driving habits and HIV/AIDS training. The course material for the operators consisted of financial management of a small business, sound HR and IR practices, requirements in respect of operating licences and different forms of legal entity. Once again this training was conducted on a “take training to the people” basis and the KZNTCCTA was running up to 18 training venues throughout the province at any one time.

This training was extremely well received by both drivers and operators and all learners agreed that they had benefitted considerably from what they had learnt during the training. It is hoped that the KZN DOT will again at some time in the future, provide additional funding to train those drivers and operators who were not trained during the first phase.

c) Induction Training

Following the Santaco elections for the association, regional and provincial executive committees, the KZNTCC was tasked with conducting a 3 day Induction Workshop for the association as well as the regional Woman’s Desk structures. This was another mammoth project where 2500 association exco members and 160 Woman’s Desk exco members were trained. For this project, the KZNTCC team developed the course material in conjunction with Santaco and translated this material from English into isiZulu. Training was conducted in classes of 20 consisting of the excos of 2 associations at a time. The same model was followed for the training of the Woman’s Desk excos. This training focussed on equipping the officer bearers on the excos as well as the excos as operating entities, with the skills and knowledge necessary to perform their functions as effectively as possible. The training was once again conducted throughout the province to ensure minimal travel for the members attending.

2. Transport Training and Education Authority (TETA) funded projects.

a) Broad Based Facilitator Training

This was the KZNTCC’s first training project and the objective was to equip our chosen facilitators with a range of skills that they could in turn pass on to various stakeholders in the taxi industry in KZN. The skills included the following that were aimed at up-skilling the office staff in the various taxi offices throughout KZN. These included:

Basic first aid;
Basic HSSE;
Office administration;
Controlling documentation in an office.

During its relatively short existence the KZNTCC Training Academy has built up an enviable reputation for service delivery for with all stakeholders in the taxi industry training space in KZN. These stakeholders include the KZN DOT, Toyota SA, The TETA and most importantly among the members of the taxi industry in KZN – the KZNTCCTA has high levels of credibility with them all. We believe that the training we have provided has contributed significantly to the transformation of the taxi industry in KZN in line with the vision of the industry leadership in the province.

Although the main focus of the KZNTCC Training Academy to date has been on the needs of the taxi industry in KZN, the company intends broadening its focus to other provinces and other sectors of the transport industry in the longer term. However wherever its future endeavours may take it, the KZNTCCTA will never forget its roots and origins in the taxi industry in KZN.

b) Exco Secretary Training

The second TETA funded project focussed on the Secretaries of the taxi regions and associations in KZN and was run between November 2016 and March 2017. The Secretaries were identified by the Santaco leadership as key to the successful functioning of the excos at various levels in the industry. A Skills Programme was therefore put together to equip the Secretaries with the skills necessary to perform their functions at the highest possible level. The courses offered as part of this programme included the following subject “clusters”:

Business Communication
People Management
Financial Management
Leadership
Roles and Responsibilities of Secretaries

This programme was attended by 200 individuals throughout the province in classes of 20 and accommodation was provided where necessary. There was very positive feedback on the impact that this training had on the skills levels of the Secretaries which in due course will impact on the overall functioning of the excos themselves.

c) Learners Licence Training

The third TETA funded project was in respect of preparing 50 learners for their learners licences. This skills programme consisted of 2 unit standards consisting of Basic Customer Relations and Preparing for a Learners Licence and was offered over 12 days of classroom contact time by 3 of our most experienced facilitators. The programme was offered in predominantly rural areas in the towns of Melmoth, Vryheid and Ladysmith and 37 of the 50 (74%) of the candidates were women. All candidates were connected to the taxi industry and were nominated by the relevant taxi structures in the different areas. The purpose of the training was to provide the learners with the opportunity to obtain their learners licences and hopefully in time (subject to available funding) to obtain their full drivers licences. So in addition to providing the training for the programme, the KZNTCC out of its own funds, paid for the learners to actually write the learners test and 31 of the 50 (62%) have currently passed the test.

d) Internship Programme

The KZNTCC is currently (June 2018 – May 2019) running a 12 month programme for 30 graduate interns in various disciplines in order to provide these interns with some relevant work experience so that they are better equipped to compete effectively in the job market. The interns have been placed at various locations mainly within the Halfway Group of Companies throughout KZN. Each intern has a “Coach” within the workplace environment who provides immediate direction and support and ensures relevant work experience. In addition, each intern has been linked with a designated “mentor” from the KZNTCC who visits and meets with the intern and coach each month to ensure that the process is on track and to address any challenges that may arise. To date the programme has been very successful and both the interns and the companies seem to be benefitting considerably from the opportunities that have been presented by this programme. In many cases, the companies concerned have already indicated that they intend employing the interns at the end of the programme and the interns have confirmed that they are gaining valuable experience in their respective fields.

3. Conclusion

The KZNTCC has ploughed whatever profits have been generated through its training programmes back into the taxi industry in various ways. These have included using the Woman’s Desk to do the catering for our major training projects enabling them to raise much needed revenue for their mission of improving the position of women in the taxi industry. The KZNTCC also pays the regional office a market related rate for the use of their training rooms (where suitable) during our training projects. The KZNTCC has also used these funds to upgrade 7 of the regional offices to create a fully-fledged 50 sq/m training/board room as well as providing training equipment such as projectors, screens, flip chart stands etc. Future profits will be used to upgrade the balance of the offices in the same way to give the industry its own training infrastructure throughout the province.