MISA Apprenticeships and Experiential Learnerships

Written by Thabo MokoenaSenior Education Editor

Reviewed & verified by Naledi KhumaloSenior Admissions and Bursaries EditorVerified

The Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA), a government component in the Ministry for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, is recruiting unemployed young people for two skills programmes in the 2026/27 financial year. The Apprenticeship Programme trains artisans in five trades. The Experiential Learnership Programme gives technical graduates a two-year internship and gives students the practical months their diploma or degree still requires. Everyone who is selected is placed at a municipality that MISA has identified, not at MISA’s head office in Centurion. Applications close on 28 September 2026 at 16:00.

Five trades on the three-year apprenticeship

MISA describes the apprenticeship as a three-year learnership that leads to artisan status. The trades on offer are Electrical, Plumbing, Bricklaying, Motor Mechanic and Diesel Mechanic. Apprentices sign a three-year learnership contract with MISA, then spend the learning period at a host municipality, with on-the-job training at the municipality and off-the-job training towards the trade. MISA aims the programme at unemployed youth from TVET colleges and other accredited training institutions who already hold a qualification that fits the trade. It welcomes applicants from historically disadvantaged communities but says the programme is not limited to them.

The advert does not state a stipend or allowance amount for either programme, and MISA says plainly that it does not guarantee a job once a learner qualifies.

School and college results MISA accepts

For Electrical, Plumbing and Bricklaying, the advert accepts any one of these:

• full N2 Engineering (four subjects) with the trade theory, for example Engineering Science, Industrial Electronics, Mathematics and a fourth subject linked to the trade;
• a SETA quality-assured technical trade theory programme deemed equal to NQF Level 3;
• a relevant Engineering NC(V) certificate with seven subjects at NQF Level 3;
• technical Grade 11 with Maths, Science, a language and a related theory subject;
• a relevant N6 certificate or National Technical Diploma (T, S and N streams).

For Motor Mechanic and Diesel Mechanic the entry point is technical Grade 12 with Maths, or N2 Engineering with the motor or diesel trade theory, or N3 Engineering (four subjects) including Diesel Mechanic Trade Theory.

Two-year internships for technical graduates

The Experiential Learnership Programme is a work-based internship for unemployed graduates of universities, universities of technology and TVET colleges who need workplace exposure to get into the labour market. MISA limits it to technical fields that matter to municipal infrastructure operations and maintenance. The three application streams in the advert are electrical (reference 2026a), civil (2026b) and town planning (2026c). MISA’s own work in municipalities relies on engineers, town planners, project managers and other built-environment professionals, which explains the mix.

Placements for students who still need work-integrated learning

The same programme takes students who must complete between 12 and 24 months of practical work before their institution will award the qualification. These applicants add one extra document: a release letter from their university or college approving the work exposure. Applicants in both streams must be willing to rotate or relocate to other municipalities, or to private-sector organisations, if MISA decides that gives better exposure.

Picking a municipality from MISA’s needs list

The application form asks for the province and the municipality where you want to be placed, and MISA encourages people to choose the area where they already live to keep travel and accommodation costs down. The places available come from MISA’s consolidated needs analysis for 2026/27, published as “Participating Municipalities 2026/2027”. It lists municipalities in all nine provinces with the number of learners each wants per discipline and trade. Numbers vary widely: Vhembe District in Limpopo asks for 50 plumbing apprentices and 40 civil learners, Alfred Nzo in the Eastern Cape for 20 in each of several disciplines, while many smaller municipalities want one or two. Some municipalities list only learnership places and no apprentices, so check the list before you write a municipality on the form.

Reference numbers and the mailbox for each one

Each trade and discipline has its own reference number and email address. Put the reference number and your chosen municipality on the application form, and send the package to the matching address only.

The MISA application form, the advert and the municipality list are on the MISA Apprenticeship and Learnership Programmes page. If you cannot download the form, MISA will send it on request from misarecruitment2026@misa.gov.za. The form must be completed in full, sections A to F. Attach, as one package in this order:

1. the MISA application form showing the reference number and the municipality;
2. a CV;
3. certified copies of your qualifications;
4. a certified copy of your South African ID;
5. proof of residential address;
6. for work-integrated learning only, the release letter from your institution.

MISA does not accept faxed, posted or hand-delivered applications, and incomplete packages are not considered.

Checks, a medical and the 90-day silence rule

Shortlisted candidates go through suitability checks covering qualifications, employment history, credit, criminal record, company directorships and references, and successful candidates must pass a medical fitness test. Fraudulent documents lead to disqualification, as does canvassing for preferential treatment. MISA only contacts successful candidates; if you hear nothing within 90 days of the closing date, MISA asks you to take it that the application was unsuccessful. Enquiries go to Ms Nobuhle Latha on 012 848 5529, Ms Thulisile Mosoeu on 012 848 5515 or Ms Kelebogile Mekwa on 012 848 5300.

MISA also runs a separate bursary scheme, covered on our MISA bursary page, and the agency’s background is on its provider profile. For other routes into a trade, see artisan bursaries and the trade test route and plumbing bursaries.

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