Fitter and Turner
Fitters maintain and repair the moving parts of wind turbines and of the pumps, compressors and gearboxes in hydrogen plants, and fitters and turners also make replacement parts on lathes. Wind farms in the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Northern Cape have called on young people from nearby towns to train as wind turbine service technicians, on a course that accepts fitters and turners.
Jobs in the energy transition
Wind turbine service technician
You'd inspect, service and repair the mechanical parts of wind turbines, working at heights and in tight spaces.
Extra training: After qualifying as a fitter and turner, you'd take a wind turbine service technician course of about nine months at SARETEC, a renewable energy training centre in Cape Town, and recent intakes also asked for three years of work experience.
Hydrogen plant maintenance fitter
You'd strip down, repair and rebuild pumps, compressors and gearboxes, replacing worn bearings, gears and seals, to keep a hydrogen plant running.
Fuel cell and electrolyser factory fitter
You'd keep production machines running and help assemble equipment in factories that make fuel cells and electrolysers, the devices that use and make hydrogen.
How to get there
The qualifications
There are two certificates, the Occupational Certificate: Fitter and Turner and the Occupational Certificate: Mechanical Fitter, and both are at NQF Level 4, the same level as Matric. The fitter and turner certificate adds machining, which means cutting and shaping metal parts on machines.
What you need to start
The official minimum is a Grade 9 pass, or another qualification at the same level, with Mathematics, and the fitter and turner certificate also asks for Science.
These are the official minimum requirements, and colleges can set higher ones.
Where you can study
Data verified June–July 2026 from official college publications and the DHET occupational qualifications register. Spot an error? Suggest a correction.
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