Guarantee Trust’s programs focus on the selection, training and placement of HDI (Historically Disadvantaged Individuals) accounting graduates and under-graduates into the accounting profession in conjunction with Fasset, who provide funding and overall guidance.

At first represented in Kyalami, the company now also has training academies in Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban, employing some 100 staff.

Kevin Wakely-Smith has a background in the financial services sector and ran his own accounting firm for many years. Alan Murray has a background in management consulting and personnel assessing. Kevin and Alan have known each other for many years prior to the formation of GTCSS.

Kevin Wakely-Smith secured a contract, out of his own initiative, from Fasset in early 2003. This contract allowed Kevin to pilot the selection, training and placement of 20 unemployed PDI commerce graduates in Gauteng into the accounting profession. Upon receiving his contract Kevin contacted Alan to cooperate in the selection process. Kevin’s contract with Fasset was secured through a company called Guarantee Trust Holdings (GTH) partly owned by Kevin. Alan handled the selection process through his company, Assessment Services, as a service provider to GTH and became involved with Kevin in the training content and line-up.

As this pilot project proceeded the training was subcontracted to Education Alive as a training facility and licensor of some of the courses and was situated in Kyalami in the Crowethorne Shopping Centre. Kevin and Alan cooperated in surveying accounting firms and preparing training material that would be relevant to the needs of the Learners and the accounting firms. Kevin included a course he has written covering the basics of bookkeeping and Alan prepared an office orientation course and both of these were built into the training curriculum.

The success of the programs so far had encouraged Fasset and Kevin and Alan and it was time to rapidly expand the effects of the good work being done. Employment of Learners on our programs was running at 90% and this is hugely successful when compared to what other organizations were achieving. Kevin and Alan tendered for a project for 2005 for 300 PDI unemployed commerce graduates to be selected and trained and placed in Cape Town (60), Durban (60), Pretoria (44) and Johannesburg (136). GTH secured a contract to deliver this program known as Phase 4 of the GTH/Fasset Work-Readiness Program. This program, like the others, was also improved and refined. It now included better allowances for Learners, better quality meals, inclusion of computer skills and streamlined training content all geared only for the overall objective of creating black accountants in South Africa. Phase 4 was successfully completed with over 80% placed onto Learnerships and another 10% employed.

Since then we have successfully run our Work-Readiness Program and benefited 2600 Learners.

These graduates have been employed through all our offices in Cape Town, Pretoria, Durban and Johannesburg.