A Think-and-Do Tank for Vocational Innovation in South Africa

Fosh trainees simulate electrical installations in VR – safer, faster, and ready for real work

South African industries are leaving billions on the table annually due to vocational skills bottlenecks. Yet across the country, quiet innovations – from metaverse-enabled electrician training to AI-driven welding assessments – are redefining how quickly and effectively we build a work-ready, economically activating workforce.

The real question is: how do we move from scattered pilots to sector-wide systems?

The cost of vocational underinvestment

Youth unemployment remains stubbornly above 60%, while employers struggle to fill critical technical roles. This disconnect is more than a social tragedy. It is an economic inefficiency that undermines productivity, competitiveness, and sector growth.

A 2022 Human Sciences Research Council analysis estimated that skills shortages cost South Africa’s economy tens of billions annually in lost output and opportunity costs. Artisans, electricians, welders, and technical professionals are the backbone of infrastructure build-out, energy transitions, and industrial expansion. Without them, strategy remains strategy.

Innovation is happening – but it’s fragmented

Contrary to perception, vocational training in South Africa is not stuck in the past.

Consider these examples:

• Fosh Electrical Training is pioneering metaverse-mediated training modules. Trainees don VR headsets to simulate hazardous electrical tasks, building confidence and competence in risk-free environments. For employers, this translates into faster onboarding to productivity, reduced workplace accidents, and lower supervision costs.

• Seabery’s Soldamatic Augmented Training (Spain, piloted in Southern Africa) is integrating AI-based performance assessment tools, providing instant feedback on weld precision, technique, and consistency – something traditionally requiring significant expert assessor time.

• The Hospitality Academy (South Africa) uses gamified learning modules to accelerate service training, enhancing learner retention and job readiness.

  
  

They are not just technologically impressive. They are practical solutions addressing structural constraints like:

1. Scarcity of qualified trainers

2. Safety risks in training environments

3. Long lead times from training to economic contribution

4. Low learner confidence and throughput

   
   

The strategic opportunity for industry leaders

At GrowZA, we view vocational training as economic infrastructure. Every major growth strategy – from renewable energy rollout to construction expansion – relies on artisans, technicians, and vocational professionals.

Despite promising innovations, South Africa lacks systemic coordination, scaling infrastructure, and outcome-driven investment models to translate these pilots into national solutions.

Moving from ideas to implementation

This July, GrowZA is convening an invitation-only think-and-do tank in Johannesburg, bringing together:

Industry leaders shaping technical pathways, Master trainers advancing standards of practice, Policymakers crafting national skills development strategies and Innovators bridging learning-to-earning at scale

The goal is unambiguous:

Design practical, fundable vocational training models that produce immediate economic activation – and launch them. The insights emerging from this convening will not remain theoretical. They will be operationalised into practical models and embedded directly into funded programmes under GrowZA’s implementation portfolio – ensuring that ideas translate into outcomes on the ground.

This is not a consultation or a talk shop. It is a design room for implementation.

How to qualify for participation

To ensure calibre and relevance, we request a short case study (maximum one page) detailing:

1. A vocational intervention you have designed or implemented

2. The economic activation outcomes it achieved

3. Lessons or innovations that can inform scalable practice

Submissions can be sent to grow@growza.co.za by COB 11 July 2025.

Why attend

• Shape programmes that directly address your sector’s skills constraints

• Collaborate with peers driving practical, scalable innovation

• Position yourself as a sector steward shaping South Africa’s vocational systems for economic growth

  
  

Vocational training is not a fallback. It is South Africa’s fastest route to an economically dignified, competitive future.

This is how we #GrowZA