Pretoria - Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa on Friday launched the Rand Water Academy in Zuikerbosch, Vereeniging.
Speaking at the launch, Molewa said the academy will play a pivotal role in skills and capacity development, given the global standards that the organisation measures itself against and surpasses.
She said the work of the academy would enhance the current in-house training programmes and benefit Rand Water as an entity, but more so the water and sanitation sectors broadly within the country.
"It is important to take note that the Rand Water Academy is borne out of the need to systematise the various pockets of excellence in training operating independently across the organisation into a single integrated unit," she said.
Molewa said the water sector urgently needed 4 000 artisans/technicians to overcome the crippling challenges of poor operation and maintenance of infrastructure.
The Rand Water Academy will open its doors to 130 young graduates in the fields of science, artisanship, engineering and process control.
It is a three-year course, and graduates will train for 18 months at the Rand Water Zuikerbosch Water Purification and Pumping Station and complete the remainder of the project with other water services authorities. - SAnews.gov.za
