Archive photo (Photo: Provided by Sol-Tech)
Solidarity’s Craft Network has consulted with its legal team to tackle the ongoing delays experienced in issuing red seal certificates.
The organization is currently considering all options to deal with this injustice, which hampers young tradespeople.
This move follows after it was revealed that hundreds of graduate tradespeople – including more than 600 from Sol-Tech – are still waiting for their red seal certificates, despite having already passed their final subject test.
According to policy of the Quality Council for Trades and Professions (QCTO), these certificates should be issued within just 21 days. Yet in many cases apprentices who have completed their training wait months and sometimes even years longer than this prescribed period to receive the red seal certificate.
“This is not just an administrative problem. It has real and serious consequences for the lives of young people and our young tradesmen,” says Stef Pretorius, coordinator of Solidarity’s Trades Network.
“Craftsmen who have already passed their subject tests cannot be appointed as qualified workers without those certificates.” They therefore remain apprentices in practice and cannot apply for other jobs with a red seal certificate in hand. In most cases, they are also not entitled to the remuneration of a qualified tradesman, while employers can already utilize the full skills of a fully trained tradesperson.
This unlawful situation is directly caused by administrative inertia at QCTO. It is a statutory body that is responsible for the certification of trade qualifications and it falls under the department of higher education and training.
This delay means that many of these young tradespeople are still stuck on apprentice salaries of around R8 000 to R10 000 per month, while they could already qualify for salaries of between R20 000 and R30 000 per month.
In addition to the financial loss, these artisans’ progress and career prospects are also limited. Without a red seal certificate, they cannot apply for other jobs, which means that some are even out of work for months.
“It is simply unfair that young tradesmen who have proven themselves are now financially disadvantaged due to state institutions’ absolute inertia,” says Pretorius. “Many of them lose on average up to R15 000 per month – money that would be rightfully theirs.”
However, Solidarity’s Craft Network emphasizes that training institutions such as Sol-Tech have done everything in their power to ensure that the required documentation is submitted correctly and completely.
“This type of inertia sends an extremely negative message to young people who are considering a trade as a career,” warns Pretorius. “In a country where there is already a shortage of skills, we simply cannot afford to hold back qualified tradespeople in this way.”