Fixing what’s broken: certified cellphone repair training to upskill jobless

An initiative by the Gauteng department of economic development (GDED) is under way to train young people in mobile device repair to create job and business opportunities for residents in townships and beyond. 

Scores of young South Africans in Gauteng will be trained to become skilled distributors and repairers of devices such as cellphones, laptops, tablets and wearables. This cohort is the first of many in a programme that hopes to provide job opportunities while equipping an industry in dire need of skilled workers.

The project is led by the SA Mobile Devices Distributors and Repairers Association (Samddra), with funding from the Gauteng provincial government and the media, information and communication technologies sector education and training authority.

The Covid-19 pandemic was the death knell for many small businesses. This first-of-its-kind model hopes to revitalise township entrepreneurship and business. “We aim to organise the mobile device distribution and repair industry,” says Samddra MD Mark Mpasa.

This is in line with the Gauteng Township Economic Development Act, which aims to move the township economy from the margins to the centre of the mainstream economy. This includes the multimillion-rand cellphone repair and aftercare industry. 

“There is a shortage of qualified SA cellphone repairers or mobile device repair technicians in the country,” says Mpasa.

When companies asked Samddra for help in finding local technicians, they were only be able to identify non-nationals working in SA or people who knew how to do a certain part of the repair but weren't fully qualified.

The training takes four months, and there are agreements in place with the Small Enterprise Development Agency and the Small Enterprise Finance Agency for additional entrepreneurial skills training and possible small business financing. 

This is in line with broader efforts to ease market access barriers for new entrants in the sector. These include the procurement and provision of equipment and kiosks for the beneficiaries. 

Through pilot projects, a number of people have already qualified. Mpasa says this is proof that concepts are yielding the required outcome. He said not everyone who is trained qualifies for the entrepreneurial ventures as some may want formal employment.

“We aim to reach 25,000 technicians across the country over three to five years.” 

While this may be ambitious, he says mobile devices have become ubiquitous and critical. “These are becoming intrinsic to our life, so we can't continue risks of getting them repaired by people that don't know how to repair them correctly and who cannot give us the devices within a reasonable time.

“We want to improve the security people have when the device needs repair — they will go to accredited technicians.”

To ensure consumer satisfaction, Samddra plans to offer recourse for consumers unhappy with the service received from repairers affiliated to the organisation. “We want our technicians to be accountable to us as a professional body so the public can have better assistance, better services and a good recourse.”

The hope is that beneficiaries become self-employed using the knowledge, skills and resources provided to them by the association and its partners.

“Not all of them would like to become self-employed; we are aware some still want to have a regular salary. This will [hopefully] allow the mobile network operators and private businesses to recruit qualified people who can do the job properly.”

Mpasa says they are creating a path into an industry that is not easily accessible to the public. “The mobile market is huge, but it is not streamlined. Those that are informed are benefiting from it, but the majority are not. So it's about how can we put it together, share this big cake and localise it.”

Tasneem Motara, the Gauteng department of economic development MEC, says it’s important to put an accredited course in place to ensure the process is formalised and trustworthy. She says this is “so the workforce we put out is not a fly-by-night, but has been properly trained and accredited”.

The MEC says support should not end with the qualification. “But I think the big issue will be providing funding for start-ups and equipment. That kind of support is necessary.”

Mpasa says this even applies to sourcing the material. “Everything we are using, we can safely say is 99% imported, so we’re also setting sights on local manufacturing,”

“We're looking at the entire value chain,” the department’s director for inclusive economy, Mathopane Masha, echoes. He says they hope to give graduates the necessary tool kits and starting placements in malls to begin working. Some of these agreements are already in motion.

“According to our records, each cellphone repairer is likely to hire one additional person. So if you have 3,000 cellphone repairers being trained, chances are we are likely to breach about 6,000 jobs. Some will grow and have more than one site.”

While the first cohort of trainees is already under way, Samddra and the department hope for several to follow and a bright future for this industry.

To contact Samddra or learn more about these opportunities, visit www.samddra.org.za, email info@samddra.org.za, or call 011-655-7313.

This article was sponsored by the Gauteng department of economic development.