By Dineo Bendile

The Gauteng Department of eGovernment wants to help young South Africans claim their share of the digital economy through the rollout of a training programme that will provide functional Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills.  

The department has announced that the project, first mooted in 2023, will officially be launched in 2025 following a successful pilot in Sebokeng in the Vaal.

The training programme will see scores of Gauteng youth equipped with technical skills to repair digital communication tools such as cellphones, laptops and tablets.

The announcement was made by Gauteng e-Government MEC Bonginkosi Dhlamini, who has called for young residents of the province to prepare themselves to sign up for the programme once the official invitation for registration is made.

Dhlamini spoke during the eGovernment department’s Youth ICT Tech Expo in Alexandra in December, where he stressed the importance of South Africans having a piece of the digital economy pie.

“South Africans must occupy this space because ICT is the new gold,” Dhlamini said. “Most importantly, when we give you these opportunities, you must grab them with both hands,” he said.

Since its establishment in 2015, the Department of e-Government has embarked on a number of initiatives to improve the efficiency of provincial government services. This includes the provision of free wi-fi at various public sites across the province.

Alexandra, Johannesburg’s oldest township, is the latest area to benefit from the installation of free wi-fi at schools, clinics and community halls. Dhlamini and his e-Government team visited Alexandra to communicate the department’s various initiatives and how they would benefit residents of the area.

The MEC told Alexandra youths gathered at the Alexsan Kopano Resource Centre about the ICT training programme and urged them to seize the opportunity.

The cellphone repairs sector has been identified as an ideal opportunity for job creation, due to its generally low barrier to entry as well as the potential to make good profits.

Dhlamini said participants of the pilot training programme in Sebokeng earned between R15,000 to R20,000 a month from their cellphone repair businesses.

The Gauteng government says the project will stimulate the growth of local economies by creating an opportunity for young people, many of whom are unemployed, to become economically active.

“In the ICT industry, there are a lot of jobs and money to make. We want to train young people to fix iPads, cellphones and laptops,” Dhlamini said. “And you don’t need a matric to be trained to fix a phone.”

The MEC lamented that the cellphone repair industry was dominated by foreign nationals, who saw an opportunity in South Africa and had set up numerous shops across the country.

“It is wrong that the cellphone repair industry is in the hands of Pakistani nationals. It is wrong,” he said.

“We are not going to chase them away. We just want to train South Africans so they can set up and run their own businesses”.

Dhlamini cautioned South Africans against providing inconsistent, poor-quality services once they qualified to start their repair businesses.

He emphasised that a strong work ethic was the only way local youths could penetrate the market and have staying power against an already established network of foreign-owned businesses.

Negotiations are at an advanced stage between the department and local malls and shopping centres in the province, which are being lobbied to house newly graduated repair technicians once they start their businesses.

On completion of the programme, graduates will be allocated shipping containers that they will use to set up shop. These containers will be placed securely at malls and shopping centres to benefit from maximum foot traffic.

In addition to this, 20 people who show exceptional ability and interest in the field will receive specialised training as ICT engineers in China and India.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Johnathan Paoli

The National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa) has raised alarms over the Western Cape education department’s (WCED) decision to cut teacher posts, warning of devastating consequences for schools, particularly in impoverished and crime-affected areas.

Speaking to Inside Education, Naptosa executive director Basil Manuel expressed grave concerns about the cuts, emphasising their impact on already struggling schools.

“By reducing the number of posts in the basket you’re actually increasing the class sizes, and with an increase in class sizes, the obvious impact is on the quality of learning and teaching, but it is your poorest schools that bear the brunt of this,” Manuel said.

The WCED cited a R3 billion budget reduction from the national government, announced in August last year, as the reason for the cuts.

As a result, more than 2400 teacher positions have been eliminated, affecting schools in communities such as Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha.

Manuel stressed that poorer schools would bear the brunt of these changes, as wealthier institutions might have the resources to hire additional teachers to offset the losses.

Naptosa has been actively engaging with various stakeholders, including the Finance Minister, the Ministry of Education and the provincial education department, to address the issue.

The organisation also sought legal recourse, through the Legal Resource Centre, securing a partial victory when 500 teachers identified as eligible for permanent posts were retained.

However, Manuel pointed out that despite this progress, the overall reduction in teacher positions remained unchanged.

“This is an ongoing story. While the Western Cape has implemented these retrenchments, other provinces, having observed the fallout here, have managed to avoid similar measures. It’s unclear how they managed to save posts, but it underscores the need for increased investment in education nationwide,” Manuel said.

He said the education department’s decision comes at a time when the province was experiencing population growth, driven by natural increases and migration, and that the reduction in posts meant schools would struggle to accommodate the growing number of learners, particularly in underprivileged areas.

“The ministerial spokesperson claims class sizes won’t be affected, but that’s simply untrue,” Manuel asserted.

He highlighted ongoing efforts to engage with the National Treasury and the Minister of Finance to secure additional funding for education.

Naptosa is also in discussions with the Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube, who has expressed support for preserving teaching posts.

“We meet her on Tuesday and hopefully we’ll hear a bit more about what she has managed to do,” he said.

Manuel said that as the academic year approached, the teacher job cuts underscored the challenges posed by budget constraints and the growing demand for quality education.

With vulnerable schools already stretched thin, Naptosa along with other education stakeholders are calling for urgent interventions to prevent further harm to the country’s education system.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Johnathan Paoli

The Department of Basic Education has recovered an overpayment of more than R21 million from the Mvula Trust, an implementing agent involved in one of its infrastructure projects during the 2022/23 financial year.

This recovery was confirmed by Minister Siviwe Gwarube, who responded to Parliamentary questions about financial mismanagement and the measures in place to monitor contractors and service providers.

Gwarube said that the department engaged implementing agents to manage the construction of new infrastructure and the maintenance of existing school facilities.

She assured Parliament that systems were in place to monitor these projects closely, with regular site visits conducted to verify that progress aligns with contractual obligations.

In the event of delays or issues requiring corrective action, Gwarube emphasised that the implementing agents bore the associated costs.

This policy was enacted in the recovery of the R21 million overpayment from the Mvula Trust.

Gwarube acknowledged that while delays and discrepancies could arise in large-scale infrastructure projects, the department remained proactive in holding implementing agents accountable for any financial irregularities.

The department’s infrastructure delivery model depends on implementing agents like Mvula, Coega Development Corporation and the Development Bank of Southern Africa to execute projects on its behalf, with the agents appointing professional service providers to design, monitor and administer contracts, ensuring quality and compliance.

However, accountability measures have been strengthened to mitigate the risk of financial irregularities.

Gwarube outlined several strategies to ensure the timely completion and quality delivery of school infrastructure projects.

The department holds regular progress meetings with implementing agents, addressing construction milestones, challenges and risks, with updates being shared with the Ministry, the Director-General (DG), and operational teams.

Department officials, including the DG, conduct site visits to verify that work aligns with contractual specifications, ensuring progress is on track and within agreed timelines.

The minister said with the recovery of funds and the implementation of enhanced monitoring strategies, her department aimed to ensure that South Africa’s schools received the infrastructure support they urgently needed, reaffirming its dedication to providing a conducive learning environment for students.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Johnathan Paoli

The Gauteng education department has denied malicious intent regarding the student funding concerns at the Gauteng City Region Academy (GCRA).

Speaking to Inside Education, department spokesperson Steve Mabona said the department was aware of the challenges and was doing everything in its power to deal with the situation.

“We acknowledge that we did experience some delays in making necessary payments to some institutions, which have already been resolved as payments were made accordingly,” Mabona said on Friday.

This follows the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) demanding the immediate removal of the GCRA CEO Percy Moleke, and a new leadership that reflected the aspirations of young people.

“This individual’s incompetence has caused unnecessary suffering to students, betrayed the trust placed in the institution and undermined its mandate to support youth development,” ANCYL provincial secretary Mpume Sangweni said in a statement.

Mabona responded to the calls for a change in leadership.

“We note their call for leadership change at GCRA, however, it must be noted that the department adheres to labour legislation to employ or dismiss employees, and such must always be respected,” he said.

The affected students include three top-performing medical students from the University of Cape Town, with the league claiming possession of an email sent by a fifth-year student to GCRA pleading for assistance regarding unpaid tuition fees.

Sangweni accused Moleke of sabotaging ANC-led initiatives, such as the Nasi Spani programme, which aimed to create opportunities for young people.

“The GCRA was established to transform the lives of young people, but under this leadership, it has become a symbol of inefficiency and betrayal,” Sangweni said.

In October last year, the Democratic Alliance called on provincial education MEC Matome Chiloane to launch an investigation into serious allegations of student bursary fraud and corruption involving senior department officials at the GCRA.

This followed reports that a group of anonymous department employees accused their Head of Department, Rufus Mmutlana, and Head of Human Resources, Kgabo Morifi, of running an elaborate scheme to coerce junior administrators into diverting payments and stipends intended for students.

The institution has been plagued with numerous challenges ranging from mismanagement of funds to corruption and maladministration, with the Auditor- General previously recommending that the accounting officer open a case against Moleke.

Moleke was implicated in the tender fraud, corruption and maladministration of supply chain management procedures.

The league called for the appointment of a credible and qualified young person who would better understand the lived realities of the youth.

It encouraged any students affected to come forward.

Mabona said department wished to assure students that the matter was being managed accordingly, and it has communicated to the affected institutions not to withhold results of the students.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Johnathan Paoli

President Cyril Ramaphosa and Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Blade Nzimande have paid tribute to late education minister Prof Sibusiso Bengu. saying that he was a trailblazer in education.

“Prof. Bengu was a pioneering leader of our democratic dispensation and administration who led the transformation of education in a democratic government… where deep divisions existed about how far this transformation should go,” Ramaphosa said on Thursday.

Bengu, who was South Africa’s first democratic education minister and then the ambassador to Germany, died earlier this week. He was 90.

Ramaphosa praised the Education Act formulated under Bengu’s leadership as a cornerstone of the liberation project in addressing the legacies of the past.

He thanked the former minister for his patriotic and visionary service in developing the educational landscape.

“His legacy is entrenched through the Sibusiso Bengu Development Programme which seeks to advance the development of historically disadvantaged institutions in higher education as strong, socially embedded institution in a diversified post-school education and training system,” Ramaphosa said.

Nzimande praised Bengu’s role as vice-chancellor of Fort Hare University and playing a leading role in dismantling the apartheid edifice of South Africa’s education sector.

“As part of the Cabinet of president Nelson Mandela, he led the introduction of a number of foundational laws that helped to shape the policy and institutional architecture of South Africa’s school and post-school sector in the decades following the collapse of the apartheid system,” the minister said.

He praised Bengu’s facilitation of the South African Schools Act of 1996 and the policy recommendations of the National Commission on Higher Education that guided government’s efforts to reconstruct and transform the apartheid higher education system.

In addition, Nzimande welcomed Bengu’s role in the transition from the Tertiary Education Fund of South Africa to the now National Students Financial Aid Scheme.

In 2022, Nzimande approached the former minister on behalf of government to accept the renaming of what was then known as the Historically Disadvantaged Institutions Development Grant to be the Sibusiso Bengu Development Programme.

The programme is aimed at decisively redressing the inequalities that have negatively impacted the development and sustainability of institutions and seeks to enable them to respond to cross-cutting imperatives, including decolonisation in higher education, indigenous knowledge systems, the Fourth Industrial Revolution and digitisation.

“In Prof. Bengu our country has lost not only one of its most committed educationists, but also a model public servant and patriot, who even when his own health was waning, continued to serve his country and people with dignity and integrity,” Nzimande said.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Johnathan Paoli

The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) has demanded the immediate removal of Gauteng City Region Academy (GCRA) CEO Percy Moleke following a fee-crisis which has left a growing number of students without funding.

ANCYL provincial secretary Mpume Sangweni called the appointment of leadership that reflected the aspirations of young people.

“This individual’s incompetence has caused unnecessary suffering to students, betrayed the trust placed in the institution, and undermined its mandate to support youth development,” Sangweni said on Thursday.

The affected students include three top-performing medical students from the University of Cape Town, with the league claiming possession of an email sent by a fifth-year student to GCRA pleading for assistance regarding unpaid tuition fees.

Sangweni accused Moleke of sabotaging ANC-led initiatives, such as the Nasi Spani programme, which aimed to create opportunities for young people.

“The GCRA was established to transform the lives of young people, but under this leadership, it has become a symbol of inefficiency and betrayal,” he said.

In October last year, the Democratic Alliance called on Education MEC Matome Chiloane to launch an investigation into serious allegations of student bursary fraud and corruption involving senior department officials at the GCRA.

This follows reports that a group of anonymous department employees accused their Head of Department, Rufus Mmutlana, and Head of Human Resources, Kgabo Morifi, of running an elaborate scheme to coerce junior administrators into diverting payments and stipends intended for students.

The institution has been plagued with numerous challenges ranging from mismanagement of funds to corruption and maladministration, with the Auditor-General previously recommending that the accounting officer open a case against Moleke, who was implicated in the tender fraud, corruption and maladministration of supply chain management procedures.

The league said a credible and qualified young person must be appointed so that the GCRA better understands the lived realities of the youth.

It has also encouraged any students affected to come forward.

INSIDE EDUCATION