Cape Town - Inspired by his love for cars, Gino Lange is seeking to put a spin on youth empowerment by introducing young people to the trades of the automotive industry.
Having carved a name for himself in the custom automotive world, Lange is launching a programme that will attempt to train and equip 2 500 unskilled South Africans to enter the industry as qualified professionals.
Using his background to fuel his passion for youth empowerment, Lange said that his life was not always a smooth ride.
“I grew up in Woodstock before we moved to Sybrand Park, where I spent most of my childhood and early adult life. Given what was happening around me during apartheid, things were not always easy.
“Having changed schools, I was one of a handful of kids of colour in 1991. I was usually in trouble at school because I got bored quickly, not because I wasn’t interested but because I didn't find it challenging.
“However, given that I was a son of a joiner who owned his own joinery workshop, it helped me with my woodwork skills, enabling me to win the woodwork prize year after year at school.
“Despite this though, growing up I often got into trouble and ended up like most youth these days. I entered the party scene and dabbled in drugs, which led me to end up in rehab for substance abuse.
“After recovery, I worked at schools doing counselling and running anti-drug campaigns. After that, I volunteered as a youth pastor at my church. Given this, I would say that my biggest challenge was overcoming addiction,” said Lange.
While overcoming his addiction was a journey on its own, Lange added that his inspiration for the motor industry came about when he bought his first performance car and aspired to make it look the way he wanted it to look.
“I love cars, they’re an extension of me and my personality. From sitting in my first performance car, I became a car nut! This ended up with me deciding to do a few things myself by watching YouTube videos and ultimately opening up a shop. From there, it was all about learning how things work and finding out the technical aspects of working on cars ... and the rest is history,” said Lange.
With the South African car industry not always being so pleasant, Lange added that through the programme, he hoped to uplift and change the narrative around the automotive industry.
“In South Africa, the car industry is not the most pleasant – from dodgy workshops to shady characters in the motor repair industry. Then there are brands trying to dictate what you can do with your car even though you just paid for it.
“We have people getting paid to help manufacture void warranties because guys want to personalise their cars. It’s a dog-eat-dog world, mainly because half the people in the industry aren’t qualified.
“We are partnering with another local college to up-skill 2 500 individuals for four sectors in the motor industry: mechanical, auto body repair, auto electrical and spray-painting. Our goal is to run a training programme that doesn’t allow a 30% pass rate.
“We want these guys to go through our training, and if they don’t make the grade, they go back and learn some more until they do. We want to put quality skilled individuals into the automotive space and ensure motor customers receive the best service possible.
“We’ve also partnered with like Sweet-Orr who have been working with us on the #LoveWhatYouDo campaign, coming alongside us to design work-wear for the industry and emphasising comfort and protection while doing what you love.
“We want to take that message into the communities, giving those guys a sense of pride in what they do because there is a stigma of mechanics in dirty old overalls, getting paid whatever to fix cars.
“We’ve designed garments with Sweet-Orr that are not only functional and comfortable but also look great. I want the mechanic who opens his shop to know his worth and charge accordingly – our tradesmen have been undervalued and underpaid for far too long,” said Lange.
Celebrating the work that Lange is doing, Sweet-Orr spokesperson Brandon White said that given the skills shortage in the country, Lange’s approach was one to celebrate.
“Sweet-Orr has partnered with 10 South African industry leaders to showcase their talent and celebrate their inspiring stories. It’s a salute to the hard-working men and women from different industries, who all share one common trait: they have a deep-rooted love and passion for what they do.
“Coming from humble beginnings, Lange has turned his passion and love for the craft of custom car fabrication, into a fully-fledged business with strong ties to the local and surrounding communities.
“With such a skills shortage in this country, especially if you want to enter this industry as a qualified professional, training and upskilling are imperative. Gino’s passion and deeply-rooted love for his craft will shine through this programme and will be ingrained in every single trainee,” said White.
Giving a word of advice to young people, Lange said that patience was what was needed the most in this generation.
“If there’s one thing we lack in this generation, it’s patience; I struggled for years but had to learn the hard way to be patient. I knew patience would pay off, not just because you’re waiting but because you’re working hard and keeping your head down by being patient,” said Lange.