African Fusion June 2018

SAIW: Sean's comment

SAIW and SAIW Certification

I t is rather concerning that the future of the fabrication industry remains so unclear. Our industry is in survival mode, with fab- rication facilities downscaling as Medupi and Kusile near completion. From next year, it is expected that Medupi will reduce down to 300 workers onsite, with Kusile following shortly after. We hoped that the two rail projects, the PRASA Fleet Renewal Pro- gramme and the Transnet Freight 1064 project would fill the void leftby the completion of the power generation projects. Unfortunately these projects are now also mired in controversy and difficulties. In spite of a lot of training effort by the OEMs, most notably, Bombadier, the output to date has been very slow. Also of concern is that our private railway industry has not fully benefitted from these projects and, to a certain extent, has been kept at arms length from much of this work. Of late there has been much negative media coverage about the slow progress. With excess capacity in industry, this is rather disappointing. So where are we headed? Are we watching history repeat itself, seeing a fabrication industry falling apart once again? Looking at the positives, many people have been trained and capacity building has happened, with some success. In our industry, we now have a lot more welding engineers and technologists, QC personnel andwelding inspectors. As an industrywe have also trained many more welders, although skills at this level remain problematic. Our petrochemical industry, mostly through Sasol, has an obvi- ous future because it manufactures fuel from local coal and gas. The oil price is also increasing, which is a positive for fabrication. While problematic for consumers, a higher oil price justifies more explora- tion, upgrades and new plant investment, which are all good for the welding industry. Long term, our economy needs amanufacturing-based economy in order to provide employment opportunities, particularly for our soci- ety, which has a large proportion of unemployed youth. So it is deeply concerning that, in spite of more positive sentiment, manufacturing declined by 6.4% in the first quarter of this year. Highly skilled personnel are at the heart of a successful manufac- turing industry. We are, therefore, excited and continue to support the DHET’s Centres of Specialisation project, with its focus on the 13 priority trades, welding being one of them. We believe this will help to support the South African economy. We also need to face some hard facts. The biggest downside of our economy is poor productivity, which is nowhere near world-class levels. We desperately need a better-motivated andmore cooperative workforce in order to change this. A highly skilled workforce is the only way to sustain the manu- facturing and fabrication industries. It is imperative that we focus on puttingwell trained and highly skilled people into good quality jobs so they can produce quality products that are globally competitive. The welding industry can provide those jobs, but we need infrastructure development and projects to stimulate the demand for these skills. This is at the heart of transformation. Nelson Mandela said: ‘Edu- cation is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.’ This needs to be a mantra in our society. We need to raise our efforts in education and training so that we can get more competent people into high-level positions. Welding is anenabling technology that canproduce abetter quality of life, because it involves decent paying jobs and lifelong careers. And welding skills are needed everywhere in the world. The AWS predicts a welder shortage of 400 000 in the US by 2024. Sowelding can be a core part of addressing transformation issues, restoring our manufacturing base and delivering a better life for all. Sean Blake

SAIW Governing Board President: Morris Maroga – Eskom S Blake – SAIW L Breckenridge – CEA G Joubert – SAISI A Koursaris – Metforensics DJ Olivier – Olivier Survey Group A Paterson – University of the Witwatersrand T Rice – Personal member J Tarboton – SASSDA JR Williamson – Wilconsult J Zinyana – New Age Welding Solutions SAIW Certification Governing Board Chairperson: G Joubert – ArcelorMittal B Beetge – Sentinel Inspection Services P Bruwer – Sasol Synfuels F Buys – TUV S Blake – SAIW G Buitenbos – Steinmüller G Joubert – SAISI A Koursaris – Metforensics D Olivier – Olivier Survey Group H Potgieter – SAIW Certification P Pistorius – University of Pretoria R Williamson – Wilconsult J Zinyana – New Age Welding Solutions M Maroga – Eskom S Moodley – SAPREF

SAIW Foundation Board Chairperson: M Maroga - Eskom S Blake - SAIW P Pistorius - University of Pretoria P Venter – ArcelorMittal J Pieterse- Afrox

SAIW and SAIW Certification representatives

Executive director Sean Blake Tel: (011) 298 2101 sean.blake@saiw.co.za

Training services manager Shelton Zichawo Tel: (011) 298 2148 shelton.zichawo@saiw.co.za

SAIW Certification manager Herman Potgieter Tel: (011) 298 2149 herman.potgieter@saiw.co.za

NDT training manager Mark Digby Tel: (011) 298 2169 mark.digby@saiw.co.za

Executive secretary Dimitra Kreouzi

Technical services manager Riaan Loots Tel: (011) 298 2144 riaan.loots@saiw.co.za

Tel: (011) 298 2102 Fax: (011) 836 6014 dimitra.kreouzi@saiw.co.za Finance and administration manager Michelle Warmback Tel: (011) 298 2125 michelle.warmbank@saiw.co.za Cape Town branch manager Liz Berry Tel: (021) 555 2535 liz.berry@saiw.co.za SAIW regional representatives

KZN branch manager George Walker Tel: (087) 351 6568 george.walker@saiw.co.za

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June 2018

AFRICAN FUSION