The aim of this project was to assist our client in developing a career path and inform on benchmarked remuneration data for their site-based personnel in the Eastern, Northern and Western Cape Provinces.
Career development and benchmarking
Community development programmes
AltGen supports the client’s internal supervisory staff with Workplace Management Services on two of their solar projects based in the Northern Cape, including a 40 MW solar plant as well as a 75 MW solar facility. On behalf of the client, we provide employment to over 100 of their staff – AltGen’s project team which consists of an Operations Manager and HR Administrator are actively involved in the day-to-day activities of the workforce.
The staff compliment is split into two working groups, one being project site-based staff (general up to semi-skilled workers) and the other community workers who fall under AltGen’s “Solar Works Programme.” The programme provides services to the community as well as into the project. The goal of the programme is to upskill the local workforce enabling them to learn entrepreneurial skills or equip them with an improved work ethic which enhances their opportunities for future employment. A notable programme run under the Solar Works Programme was the PPE initiative. The programme aimed to upskill staff in Pofadder with sewing skills to create protective wear for employees on the project sites.
Through the Solar Works Programme, the AES team in Pofadder are spearheading the following community development initiatives in conjunction with various stakeholders and NGO’s in and around towns within the Khâi-Ma Local Municipality:
- Selection of participants and facilitation to enable “Recognition for Prior Learning” by the NCR TVET for general workers employed on our Client’s IPP projects.
- Collaboration with FAMSA on developmental training courses and workshops, such as Employee Assistance Programs (EAP’s), life skills for adults, marriage enrichment programs and fatherhood projects. These activities are being implemented to effect social change and improve the quality of life in the staff member’s local areas.
- Our Solar Works Programme employees are providing their services to the Pella Food Garden which is a successful woman-run subsistence farming business that feeds the Pella community, surrounding Aggeneys, the elderly and the vulnerable. Coordination with BBL and STI provided training to the Solar Works Programme employees based at the Pella Food Garden, such as My Food which deals with trench gardening and teaches them how to be self-sustaining whilst protecting the environment, and My Money which deals with food security and how to earn an income from subsistence farming.
- Both schools in Pofadder are unable to employ additional staff, therefore, our Solar Works Programme employees assist with various tasks such as the distribution of food to classes, cleaning and sanitising the classrooms, cleaning the kitchens and the grounds around the schools as well as providing some administration assistance to the teachers. In Aggeneys, one of our employees assists at the High School. We further assist with landscaping and cleaning the general area at the Pella and Onseepkans Police stations.
- Two (2) of our employee assists at the local municipal offices in Pofadder with various tasks, such as access control, screening, and administrative duties from time to time.
- Witbank is the smallest town within the Khâi-Ma local municipal area where we found a dilapidated tourist centre, which we subsequently refurbished, and it is now a centre of pride. AES’ Operations Manager (Patrick van Heerden) donated leather and tools required to the employees in the community to start a leather crafting workshop. Patrick taught the employees how to manufacture leather goods which they can sell and re-invest into this endeavour to make it a success.
Support Services include:
- Recruitment and selection of the appropriate candidate
- Compiling offer letters and applicable legal contracts
- Claims and leave management
- Payroll processing and reporting
- 3rd party payments (UIF, SDL, PAYE)
- EMP501 annual returns
- Generate IRP5 and IT3 certificates
- Daily staff management
- Performance management support
- Handling all disciplinary measures (warnings, hearings, dismissals, severances, and retrenchments)
- Reporting on employees ED hours and engaging with ED Platform on successful submission of supporting documentation
- Negotiating contracts and possible increases where relevant
- Develop a training plan (WSP) to acquire funding from the EWSETA for training development activities of the staff
Community Trust Administration
Trust Administration for a large international client’s IPP project which is an on-going project. The high-level scope of works includes conducting a Community Needs Assessment, Community Development Plan and the annual budget thereof, Trust Administration establishment and management thereof.
Activities for the Trust establishment include the development of:
- Annual budget
- Trust fund management policies and procedures
Activities for the Trust Administration include:
- Managing bank accounts, dividend payments and payments to beneficiary projects
- Management of annual audits and statutory SARS submissions
- Review of Trial balance and annual financial statements
- Secretarial duties including meeting planning and minute taking, updating and maintaining governance documents, general documentation preparation and record keeping
- Communications and submissions to the Master of High Courts, stakeholders, and Trustees
- Statutory registrations
- Trustee appointments and resignation support
- Coordination of applicable procurement processes and general administration support to Trustees
- Handling social grievances
- Reporting to various stakeholders
Community needs assessments Northern Cape
The REIPPPP uniquely incorporates fundamental socio-economic development objectives to which bidders of the programme are required to adhere to.
AltGen needed to conduct community needs assessments in 3 different district municipalities of the Northern Cape. We provided in-depth reports on the status of the beneficiary communities as well as highlighted potential opportunities for the client’s ED strategies that were unique to the territory. AltGen went into these communities as a neutral party with no affiliation to any entity or programme which allowed us to provide an unbiased depiction of the holistic community needs.
This project entailed that the AltGen Research Consultants spent hands-on time in the communities, understanding the nuances of how they operate and engaging with various stakeholders, from police to social workers, to educators right through to SME entrepreneurs, public servants and local community members. As objective bystanders – we needed to see how these communities operated as a whole, and where room for improvement lay open. The objective of this project was to acquire useful and real needs requirements/necessities of the communities from a generalised LSM scale, of those most in need.
Our goal was to provide unbiased – insight for impactful measures that would aid the potential communities while ensuring transparent communication with the potential benefactors. As a neutral party, our partners and networks in the industry have benefited from AltGen connecting key players with similar goals to one another.
At the end of the day, it’s all about making a difference – AltGen’s impact is through people. The networks we foster, the relationships we establish and the ideas we share. Every human being desterves the right to clean water, energy and education. At the end of the day, its us – PEOPLE. that create a SUSTAINABLE. future for us all.
