#WeAreNAACAM: As the automotive industry embraces a new era of electrification, automation and digital manufacturing, developing a skilled, future-ready workforce has become more important than ever. The recent Engineering News article highlighted this critical challenge, and NAACAM is stepping up to meet it head on.
NAACAM Head of Skills and People Development, Lebalang Molobele, noted that NAACAM is driving targeted lean and shop-floor quality training as well as bursaries for engineering and manufacturing-related studies. The support provided is tailored for industry needs – “we design our programmes around the gaps identified within the NAACAM membership base… The result is training that genuinely improves competitiveness.”
Shifts to new energy vehicles (NEVs) and digitalised production are necessitating greater levels of collaboration between industry, training institutions and government. Lebalang highlights, “Over the next decade, mechanics or artisans won’t disappear, they’ll evolve. We’re working with the Setas to upgrade existing modules so that programmes that are already focused on, for example, electrical or mechanical maintenance, will now also integrate cleaner production and battery technology.”
Aside from technology shifts, over the next 5-years, NAACAM’s sill strategy has prioritised bolstering inclusivity and transformation across the automotive value chain, with a focus on gender, youth and disability inclusivity.
Read the full article via Engineering News: https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/s-africa-must-develop-workforce-for-auto-transition-association-2025-12-05