Live events equipment supplies company DWR visits SARA on Mandela Day and lauds the institution for its training programme
BY CITYLIFE/ARTS Editor
Mandela Day, July 18, is celebrated every year in South Africa, and not only to mark the day when the father of Democratic South Africa, Nelson Mandela was born, but for people to put a pause in their busy schedule and do good for society. It is a day when the small things become important, be it helping an elederly neighbour to do their garden or volunteering your skills to help struggling youth with their school work. All these activities matter, and these are often the things that make South Africa to be a great country, whose people are gifted with Ubuntu.
Corporates also use this opportunity to demonstrate their good corporate citizenship.
One organisation that demonstrated this quality on Mandela Day, is DWR Distribution, a Honeydew, Johannesburg, based company that supplies equipment for producing live events, such as theatrical productions, music concerts and festivals as well as for training.
I met Sherryn Rileythe marketing manager for the company, who among other clients, also supplies equipment to the South African Roadies Association, (SARA). This is the Newtown based association that equips the youth with technical skills for live events through its lauded accredited training programme.
But on Mandela Day, Sherryn was not at SARA House to sell equipment to SARA, but to meet and greet with the training institution’s management as well as those receiving essential technical skills to work as technicians on live events once they complete the training. About 20 of the youth that are part of SARA’s training programme chatted to Sherryn about their dreams and how they came to be part of the training programme. Some of them had never before head about such an opportunity, but have now found a home where their dreams of working on big events such as music shows, they hope will be realized once they graduate.
But while I was there, chatting to Sherryn about what her company does, I noticed that she had come with some supplies of a different kind, as a gesture of appreciation for what SARA is doing in training the youth in technical skills. She had gifts of toilet paper rolls, coffee and other everyday necessities that the youth need as they absorb the finest technical details during their training.
“This is just a small gesture of appreciation in recognition for the great work that Freddie Nyathela and SARA are doing in imparting live events technical production skills. This is because until recently there was no formal training programme for this kind of skill by our institutions. I do not know if you know that the country’s first lighting designer, one of the best in the country, Mannie Manim had to teach himself the skill as there was nowhere to teach the skill in the country,” Sherryn reflected.
Asked how she came to know about SARA and its training programme, Sherryn explained that it was trough her husband, who has worked in the sector for several years before starting out on his own in 2006 by starting DWR. The company today offers training live vents production as well as suppling equipment for live events to the sector in South Africa, importing such equipment from overseas.
“My husband Duncan (William Riley) has known Freddie for a long time and the important work that he and SARA do. WE also supply them with equipment for training purposes, and we also from time to time engage with their students, inviting them to our company for further training,” Sheryl shared.
Nyathela the President of SARA explained to Sherryn that SARA’s training programme has been a success over the years, with some of its graduate working on big shows around the world, including in the US and Saudi Arabia as technicians.
“Our graduates are everywhere in the world as these skills are much sought after. It is a pity that back home, SARA is not getting the support that it should and needs, especially from relevant SETAS (Sector Education Training Authorities) of government,” Nyathela said.