TCS John Huxley and umAfrika Gaming Technologies Upskills Learners

TCS John Huxley and umAfrika Gaming Technologies Upskills Learners in 2021 and do so again in their 2022 Learnership Programme

TCSJOHNHUXLEY is world renowned as a producer of the highest quality live gaming equipment. Having been established for almost 50 years, their products and solutions can be seen in casinos across the globe – from the largest and most prestigious gaming and entertainment resorts to smaller exclusive clubs.

umAfrika Gaming Technologies, a subsidiary of umAfrika Holdings, is a 100% South African owned company with majority black ownership. As an organisation, they are licenced to import and sell gambling equipment, goods, and services with exclusive distribution rights to Aristocrat and StylGame products in South Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Indian Ocean Islands.

In 2021, both TCSJOHNHUXLEY and umAfrika Gaming Technologies decided to combine resources in not only ensuring the best service and quality to that of their clients, but also aim to empower individuals to gain knowledge to supply educated youth to enter the industry. The learnership programme was launched in 2016 with the aim of contributing to skills development for unemployed South Africans. One of the main objectives of the programme is to fortify and expand the gaming industry with more qualified technicians by recruiting talent from local institutions of higher learning. With the assistance of grok HR consulting, ten students, enrolled at various institutions of higher learning, were selected for the programme. Before final selection, the students were taken through a series of assessment procedures to gauge their capabilities, and throughout the year, had to satisfy various elementary outcomes before successful completion of the training.

“The programme is designed to feed off the gaming companies’ requirement in P1 and P2 to ensure the students attain their degrees, while at the same time, promote and secure a pool of skilled technicians for the industry, which leads to better absorption within the casino space” says Group CEO at grok HR consulting, Mr Herman J van der Merwe. Furthermore, from Technical Manager and Mentor at umAfrika, Mr Ronnie Maisela: “The programme is designed to develop professional engineering technicians by teaching learners how to apply mathematical, scientific and engineering theory to electronic engineering systems and equipment”

Nosipho Fakude, a student who was part of the 2021 learnership, described the year-long programme as an eye-opening experience. “The programme is truly interesting, and I am learning so much, not only about field of study - engineering, but that of the gaming industry through TCSJOHNHUXLEY and umAfrika Gaming Technologies.”

According to the Technical Manager and mentor at TCSJOHNHUXLEY, Mr Warren Jones, one of the key benefits of the learnership programme is that the learners get exposure to the live casino and working environments in South Africa, acquainting them to general operations and procedures.

Left to Right: Rene Strachan, Herman vd Merwe, Matshepo Hlahasoane, Warren Jones, Bongani Mnyandu, JP Brummer, Brian Mukwevho, Siyabonga Gudazi, Ronnie Maisela, Christiaan Els, Pramodh Munbodh Sitting Left to Right: Silindile Lubisi, Precious Zulu, Zandile Mkhwanazi

“We wish all of our 2021 learners well for the future. Our hope is that they will become agile employees who are skilled and always prepared to come up with solutions to challenges that they may face as technicians,” says Mr Maisela and Mr Jones. They concluded by wishing the 2021 Technical Learnership Programme candidates all the best for their future and welcomed the Class of 2022 Learners to this exciting journey.

*Should anyone be interested in employing one of the graduated students, they can contact the HR departments for more information: • TCSJOHNHUXLEY Africa: Matshepo Hlahasoane • umAfrika: Pramodh Munbodh • grok HR: Herman vd Merwe

l-r: Brian Mukwevho, Bongani Mnyandu, Silindile Lubisi, Precious Zulu, Zandile Mkhwanazi, Siyabonga Gudazi