Deputy Minister Samantha Graham-Maré on recruitment and placement of 500 unemployed graduates to be trained as Energy Performance Certificate Practitioners

Deputy Minister of Electricity and Energy, Samantha Graham-Maré, invites all public and private entities to assist with the recruitment and placement of 500 unemployed graduates to be trained as Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) Practitioners.

The EPC Skills Development Programme aims to train unemployed graduates with a NQF Level 6 or higher qualification in Engineering and Built Environment, Energy Studies, or Sciences. Once recruited, the graduates will be equipped with skills in data collection, processing and understanding of Energy Performance Certificates, while upskilling and or reskilling them from a general qualification towards specialisation.

In addition, the programme aims to:

• support building owners with a pool of trained unemployed graduates to collect and analyse the necessary data required, for the registration of buildings, issuing of EPCs and improvement of energy performance of buildings as part of complying with the EPC Regulations,
• produce EPC Registered Professionals who took over the issuing of EPCs after 31 July 2024, and
• offer the opportunity for at least twelve months.

Deputy Minister Graham-Maré said: “By getting involved in this process, you are not only ensuring that our young people are presented with a job opportunity, but you are also assisting with large buildings, as required by law, to become energy efficient. These graduates, who will be acquiring green skills, will be based at your entities. This means instead of waiting on an external practitioner to evaluate your buildings, you have immediate access to the resource who will assist in making your buildings energy efficient. These graduates will also help to achieve our target of 60-thousand EPC registrations, particularly since they will be deployed across the entire country.”

The South African National Energy Development Institute (Sanedi) is currently recruiting 80 graduates. Upon the conclusion of this initial drive, these students will undergo training. Presently, there are 78 registered EPC professionals.

Under the Regulation, Mandatory Display and Submission of Energy Performance Certificates, in the National Energy Act, 1998 (Act no. 34 of 2008), all state-owned buildings that are 1000m² and owners of commercial buildings of 2000m² that fall under the occupancy classifications: A1 – Entertainment and public assembly; A2 – Theatrical and indoor sport; A3 – Places of instruction and G1 – Offices, are required to register their buildings and publicly display EPCs by 07 December 2025.

Since its launch in December 2020 until 23 August 2025, 7 411 buildings have registered, and 3 986 EPCs have been issued. Of these, Gauteng leads with 1 740, followed by the Western Cape with 1 593. The Northern Cape has the fewest, with only 12 EPCs issued.

Buildings registered and issued EPCs in other provinces are:

• KwaZulu-Natal 318
• Eastern Cape 111
• Mpumalanga 69
• Free State 59
• Limpopo 47
• North West 37

“We must move with speed, as this is an opportunity that should not be missed. The multiple benefits for individuals, entities, bodies, and companies are endless, and I urge all relevant stakeholders to participate in this initiative. Let us be the ones creating the pipeline of new EPC-registered professionals,” concluded Deputy Minister Graham- Maré.

More information on the EPC Skills Development Programme may be obtained by contacting Roseline Sandamela at roselines@sanedi.org.za or Koketso Madikologa on koketsom@sanedi.org.za

Those interested in the EPC registration process may visit https://epc.sanedi.org.za/home

For media enquiries:

Marcellino Martin, Media Liaison in the Office of the Deputy Minister of Electricity and Energy 
Cell: 082 721 3362
E-mail: Marcellino.martin@dee.gov.za

Tsakane Khambane, Spokesperson in the Ministry of Electricity and Energy 
Cell: 082 084 5566 
E-mail: Tsakane.Khambane@dee.gov.za

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