Exxaro Resources believes in empowering and upskilling community members in the host communities in which it operates, and this was witnessed when its digital and connected Belfast mine in Mpumalanga hosted an assertiveness and personal presentation training programme at its Enterprise Development Centre.

According to a recent report entitled “Empowering Emakhazeni Future Leaders” released by the Emakhazeni Unemployment Graduates, a non-profit organisation based in Mpumalanga, there are 68 graduates in the local towns of Emakhazeni Local Municipality (ELM) namely: Dullstroom; Machadadorp; Belfast and Waterval Boven. However, only 10 of them are employed.

As a way of contributing to the upskilling of unemployed graduates, Exxaro’s Belfast mine management decided to run a training programme which was attended by 37 graduates from the local community. The aim of the training programme was to further assist graduates with skills and attributes required to help ace job interviews.

Belfast Coal Business Unit Manager, Londolani Rampfumedzi, said his team was keenly aware of the struggle that graduates experienced during job interviews and therefore developed this solution.

“When we present job opportunities within our community, we see that the graduates struggle with certain communication skills and confidence. Through this initiative, they will be equipped with assertiveness skills which will enable them to compete fairly and confidently during job interviews.”

During the training, the beneficiaries were given the opportunity to lead with personal presentation and interviewing skills. The programme also focused on best practice for preparing a Curriculum Vitae in response to job advertisements; behavioural elements; and how to prepare for a job interview.

“The training taught us vital skills like learning how to revamp our CVs; conduct ourselves during interviews, and market ourselves to employers. I consider myself competitive and ready to take on any job interview that I may be shortlisted for after this training,” said beneficiary Nelisiwe Maseko, a marketing graduate.

“As part of our strategic approach to socio-economic development, it is important for us to empower graduates as they will make a difference in their communities through the skills and knowledge they acquire. This training is one of the many ways we are powering possibility for graduates in our communities and across the country,” Rampfumedzi concluded.