The award is given to the leading apprentice chosen from all those registered on the organisation’s Apprenticeship Training Programme.
“For the past few years we have been giving people the opportunity to earn while they learn through the programme," says the MBAWC’s group skills facilitator, Tony Keal. "The MBAWC pays for the apprentices’ training and places them with our member organisations for experience. In doing so, we equip them with the skills and experience they need to become master builders. Apprenticeships not only create skilled people, but also future entrepreneurs in the industry.”
Perreira, who had worked for ten years as a joiner in a furniture factory, decided to pursue a career in construction. This field offers many areas of opportunity, from plumbing and electrical works to civil construction. He joined the programme in 2013 and completed all of his theoretical and practical training. He has also done in-service, on-site training with a number of MBAWC member companies and is currently fulfilling his internship with one of South Africa’s leading construction companies, GVK-Siyazama.
“It was a complete surprise. There are many other deserving people in the programme. I have always tried to be a hard worker and do exactly what the foreman says,” Perreira says.
