Kwena People
Kwena People, a subsidiary company within Kwena Group Holdings’ has officially been awarded a significant portion of the Koeberg Power Refuelling Station Outage, set to commence in the middle of September 2019. The parastatal project is a perfect fit for the company’s empowerment goals, which aim to comply with high Employment Equity standards as well as a significant investment in youth upliftment through skills and development training.
The shut-down is part of Eskom’s routine maintenance, which takes place every 18 months, an effort to increase lifespan and improve operations and capabilities on one of the two units. The outage project alone will require 400 individuals with varied skills, ranging from project planners, artisans and engineers to technicians, semi-skilled and general workers. Kwena People was a primary tender for the project, which was made official in August.
“Shut down begins in September which is quite challenging considering the mobilisation process can take up to four weeks. Part of our motivation is capability and we have never shied away from short time frames. We are extremely dedicated to meet our client deliverables.”
A key player in securing the project is Michelle Worsfold, Kwena People’s Key Recruitment Consultant and Project Manager who has kept a close eye on the project for the past three years. Michelle’s impressive track record dates back to her engineering and project management experience as well as her role in Kwena Offshore, a recruitment and project focused company within Kwena Group that provides staffing solutions to high profile marine, on and offshore projects.
Empowerment and Gender Equality:
What makes Kwena People different from her sister company, Kwena Human Capital, is its ability to provide mass recruitment solutions to the South African market. Much of Kwena People’s clients fall within the government sector, which allows for massive empowerment opportunities, presenting itself as a fully compliant Level 2 BBBEE supplier to support the preferential procurement quota.
“A big reason for creating Kwena People is to eventually become an empowerment company. Part of our commitment to the Eskom project is to utilise the project to develop up and coming black youth who need skills assistance, as well as a platform to launch their careers into the market-place. We are committed to assisting at least two individuals in the administrative and technical side, providing them with a sustainable skill set that can be used in future Kwena projects.”
The driving force behind Kwena People’s empowerment strategy is Dr. Namane Magau, former educator and executive director at various public and private organisations. Dr. Magau is the majority stakeholder at Kwena People and is extremely passionate about skills development and equality. Her inspiration draws from her own professional training and vast experience in the day-to-day running of her consultancy firm B&D Solutions.
Dr. Namane Magau is making huge strides in the gender equality movement and currently sits as a member on The Presidential Review Committee (PRC) on Women’s Emancipation and Gender Equality. The committee was appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa to review the persistent challenges around women’s rights, empowerment and development in South Africa.
“Dr. Namane is a true leader who continuously inspires and capacitates us to form our own network of female entrepreneurs, such as the consultancy team at Black Tower. Part of our mandate is to subcontract work to other companies which allows us to share our knowledge and resources with other South African companies. In doing so we are able to educate and assist with learning and development skills that will allow start up companies access to the appropriate training in the tender process to become self-sufficient and sustainable for future work.”
To find out more about Kwena People, visit www.kwena.net
