A former Buffalo City College lecturer is doing his bit to fight unemployment by helping potential auto mechanics qualify in their dream career.
Irna Makalima has opened his own accredited workshop, OBD Automobiles & Training in Alberta Street, Braelyn, to help candidates achieve the four years practical experience required before they can qualify for a trade test.
And a passion for cars is what motivated three young auto mechanics – Lizo Mzekeli, Eishiad Heslop and Sibonise Piet – to persist with their career choice and get the training required, thanks to Makalima’s workshop.
The trio say they have experienced a great deal of frustration trying to find placement in workshops – or car manufacturing companies – to achieve the experiential training they needed to become qualified auto-mechanics.
Mzekeli, Heslop and Piet are all former Buffalo City College students who struggled to get placement at companies until Makalima’s workshop opened a door of opportunity for them.
They all said it was a dream come true to finally qualify as auto mechanics.
“I have knocked on so many doors. There are many dealerships in East London, but I have been turned away so many times,” said Scenery Park’s Mzekeli.
He is fascinated with the task of dismantling an engine and putting the parts together again.
Mzekeli says he is a born mechanic who grew up among uncles who were self-taught mechanics, and he was always on hand to pass on tools while they were lying underneath cars fixing them.
Heslop and Piet said their fathers were also self-taught mechanics and, while growing up, wanted to be like them.
“Even now, while I am trying to establish my own business I am working with my dad in Mdantsane and it’s awesome, because I had always watched him fixing cars and now I also have my say and fix things when I see a fault,” said Piet.
Heslop said he enjoyed watching a car leave the workshop problem-free when he had worked on it.
“It’s thanks to Meneer [Makalima] who has given us the platform to live out our dreams, because most of our peers, whom we went to school with, lost hope when they couldn’t get any facility to train them. We breathe cars, and we live by the sound of engines. Just by listening to the sound of a car we can detect what the problem is.
“Here we are not training on demos but on real cars that belong to real clients. This keeps us on our toes. It has also helped us to work on all kinds of cars and trucks,” said Piet.
Makalima said although he was receiving a stipend from the Services Seta for training the three students, which was the maximum number he could mentor at any one time, this did not cover all the expenses for the students’ needs.
“Mercedes-Benz only started offering pre-evaluation tests last year. Before then I had to take the students to Volkswagen in Uitenhage, which was very costly.
“As a small business I’m doing my best to help students qualify so they can be employable in big companies that can pay them the money they deserve as professionals.” — mbalit@dispatch.co.za
Giving young mechanics a head start
Image: Mbali Tanana
A former Buffalo City College lecturer is doing his bit to fight unemployment by helping potential auto mechanics qualify in their dream career.
Irna Makalima has opened his own accredited workshop, OBD Automobiles & Training in Alberta Street, Braelyn, to help candidates achieve the four years practical experience required before they can qualify for a trade test.
And a passion for cars is what motivated three young auto mechanics – Lizo Mzekeli, Eishiad Heslop and Sibonise Piet – to persist with their career choice and get the training required, thanks to Makalima’s workshop.
The trio say they have experienced a great deal of frustration trying to find placement in workshops – or car manufacturing companies – to achieve the experiential training they needed to become qualified auto-mechanics.
Mzekeli, Heslop and Piet are all former Buffalo City College students who struggled to get placement at companies until Makalima’s workshop opened a door of opportunity for them.
They all said it was a dream come true to finally qualify as auto mechanics.
“I have knocked on so many doors. There are many dealerships in East London, but I have been turned away so many times,” said Scenery Park’s Mzekeli.
He is fascinated with the task of dismantling an engine and putting the parts together again.
Mzekeli says he is a born mechanic who grew up among uncles who were self-taught mechanics, and he was always on hand to pass on tools while they were lying underneath cars fixing them.
Heslop and Piet said their fathers were also self-taught mechanics and, while growing up, wanted to be like them.
“Even now, while I am trying to establish my own business I am working with my dad in Mdantsane and it’s awesome, because I had always watched him fixing cars and now I also have my say and fix things when I see a fault,” said Piet.
Heslop said he enjoyed watching a car leave the workshop problem-free when he had worked on it.
“It’s thanks to Meneer [Makalima] who has given us the platform to live out our dreams, because most of our peers, whom we went to school with, lost hope when they couldn’t get any facility to train them. We breathe cars, and we live by the sound of engines. Just by listening to the sound of a car we can detect what the problem is.
“Here we are not training on demos but on real cars that belong to real clients. This keeps us on our toes. It has also helped us to work on all kinds of cars and trucks,” said Piet.
Makalima said although he was receiving a stipend from the Services Seta for training the three students, which was the maximum number he could mentor at any one time, this did not cover all the expenses for the students’ needs.
“Mercedes-Benz only started offering pre-evaluation tests last year. Before then I had to take the students to Volkswagen in Uitenhage, which was very costly.
“As a small business I’m doing my best to help students qualify so they can be employable in big companies that can pay them the money they deserve as professionals.” — mbalit@dispatch.co.za
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