By Lebone Rodah Mosima

Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Blade Nzimande has warned that artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies could usher in new forms of colonialism in Africa unless their development is governed by an ethical framework.  

Nzimande made the remarks in his closing address to the Human Sciences Research Council’s (HSRC) annual conference in Ekurhuleni.  

He said AI could not be properly understood without examining the social relations and power structures shaping technological change.

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“These narratives sometimes tend to represent technological change as if it evolves outside of social relations and power structures in which it is expressed,” he said.

He said the social sciences and humanities had a critical role to play in examining the promises and dangers of technologies including AI, robotics and bioengineering, as well as the political economy underpinning their development.

Citing US sociologist John Bellamy Foster, he said that the fetishisation of technology could obscure the economic and political forces driving inequality, ecological destruction and threats to democracy.

“We know from history that all the great leaps of technological change, from agrarian to industrial societies to the digital age – are not only the result of specific choices by dominant forces in each historical period, but have also been accompanied by new forms of inequality and social exclusion,” he said.

Nzimande also raised concerns about the effect of technology on mental health and social relations.

“A good case in point is the contradictory impact of social media on communities, including rising levels of suicide and depression in certain demographics,” he said.

He highlighted South Africa’s high suicide burden among young men and said government needed to better understand and address the problem.

Nzimande also questioned how society should value human intellectual labour compared with machine-generated work, particularly in education, the arts and culture.

“If AI becomes smarter than us, in more fields than narrow intelligence domains like chess or mathematics, should we allow it into other areas of human agency?”

He also criticised the influence of powerful technology executives in shaping visions of society’s future.

“It is perhaps not surprising that many of these techno oligarchs have amassed spectacular personal wealth and are often ardent sponsors of right-wing political and social movements across the world,” he said.

Nzimande said an ethical framework for AI would need to address inequality, neo-colonialism and international conflicts rather than treating technological development as politically neutral.

“It must speak against the use of digital tools such as AI in the genocide in Gaza, the invasion of Venezuela, and the Middle East,” he said.

He said such a framework should not be shaped only by governments and experts, but should also include civil society, labour movements and grassroots organisations.

Nzimande said the International Union of Scientists planned to hold a global people’s summit on ethical AI in South Africa in May next year, with the aim of adopting a People’s Charter on ethical AI.

“I wish to commend this effort and hope that it will galvanise as wide as possible a cross-section of social forces, especially from the global south and the wider African continent for this important task,” he said.

He also pointed to the department’s efforts to place science, technology and innovation more centrally within government and society.

“To be sure, when we refer to science here, we refer to both natural and social sciences. We have to remind people of this all the time, as well as humanities, with particular emphasis on transboundary and interdisciplinary knowledge as critical to the future of the national system of innovation,” he said.

Nzimande said the 2019 White Paper on Science, Technology and Innovation and the Science, Technology and Innovation Decadal Plan 2022–2032 recognised the importance of indigenous knowledge systems and ensuring marginalised communities were included in innovation and development.

“Our department has also been looking into programmes to develop African languages through machine learning tools – now widely available – and their integration into our education system.”

He said the HSRC had a central role to play alongside the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, National Research Foundation, universities and other institutions in monitoring the social consequences of technological change.

“For too long, science and technology have been the preview of elites and experts. We need to find a way of bringing this closer to the people.”

He said the social sciences and humanities were crucial to preserving human qualities such as care, solidarity, cooperation and compassion as machines became more embedded in everyday life.

“After all, these human traits, perhaps uniquely human, have been the key to our survival and eventual flourishing as a species for over 300,000 years of human evolution.”

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By Thapelo Molefe

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in the Eastern Cape has criticised the provincial departments of Education and Transport over a scholar transport crisis that has left more than 200 learners at home for more than two weeks.

In a statement on Monday evening, the party said it met with affected parents at the Rhubusana District Office on Friday, where officials led by Acting District Director Vuyiseka Siciko committed to taking urgent steps to ensure the learners returned to school from Monday.

However, the EFF said parents were again left frustrated after the commitment was not fulfilled.

“Instead, they have once again been met with excuses, delays and shifting explanations from government,” the party said.

The EFF accused the Department of Transport, which it said is responsible for the administration and funding of scholar transport, of failing to provide a solution to the crisis.

The party said the Department of Education had at least attempted to intervene, but accused Transport of showing a lack of political will to resolve the matter.

The EFF said the problem was not isolated, pointing to previous scholar transport disruptions in Buffalo City that it claimed had affected thousands of learners and resulted in lost teaching time and missed examinations.

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It said the continued disruptions showed the need for a more reliable scholar transport system for learners, parents and transport operators.

“Scholar transport is not a favour to poor and working-class children. It is a responsibility of government,” the party said.

The EFF said the affected learners were approaching the final stages of the academic year and could not afford to lose more school days.

The party said it would confront the departments of Education and Transport on Tuesday and demand a permanent solution.

“We will not accept another meeting that produces another promise while learners remain at home,” it said.

The EFF also called on the Department of Transport to account for its handling of the scholar transport programme and said the government must ensure that the learners return to school.

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By Charmaine Ndlela

The University of Johannesburg (UJ) has been ranked number one in South Africa in 10 academic subjects in the latest ShanghaiRanking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS), with eight of those subjects also taking the top spot in Africa.

The results, released on Tuesday, place UJ among the leading universities globally across a range of disciplines, including engineering, education, business, management, political sciences and the natural sciences.

UJ was ranked number one in South Africa for Hospitality and Tourism Management, Earth Sciences, Political Sciences, Education, Business Administration, Management, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Telecommunication Engineering, Food Science and Technology, and Biotechnology.

Eight of these subjects also ranked number one in Africa.

The university’s strongest global performance came in Hospitality and Tourism Management, where it was ranked 19th in the world.

UJ Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Letlhokwa Mpedi said the results demonstrated the university’s research strength across a broad range of disciplines.

“These results speak to the depth and diversity of research excellence at UJ. Being ranked number 1 in South Africa across 10 subjects, with eight of these also leading Africa, demonstrates the strength of our academic enterprise across a remarkably broad range of disciplines,”  Mpedi said.

He said the rankings also reflected the university’s continued performance in established areas while highlighting emerging areas of research.

“Our continued global top 20 position in Hospitality and Tourism Management, together with the return of Political Sciences and the debut of Biotechnology, shows both the sustained quality and the evolving nature of our research strengths,” Mpedi said.

UJ was ranked in 15 of the 57 subject tables included in the 2026 GRAS.

The university secured second place nationally in Geography, Sociology and Chemical Engineering, while Economics was ranked third in South Africa.

Much of the bibliometric data used in the rankings, including research output, citation impact and international collaboration, covers the period from 2021 to 2025, while other indicators draw on faculty, awards and academic leadership data extending into 2026.

ShanghaiRanking assesses universities according to academic disciplines using indicators covering research output, research quality, research impact, international collaboration and the strength of academic faculty.

The ranking evaluates universities across 57 subjects in the natural sciences, engineering, life sciences, medical sciences and social sciences.

According to ShanghaiRanking Consultancy, the 2026 edition includes nearly 2,000 universities from around 100 countries and regions, covering about 20,000 subject units.

The assessment uses nine objective indicators grouped into five broad categories: world-class faculty, world-class research output, high-quality research, research impact and international collaboration.

The rankings are compiled using bibliometric data from sources including Web of Science and InCites, with publication thresholds varying according to the subject being assessed.

ShanghaiRanking first introduced global rankings by academic subject in 2009 before officially renaming the ranking the Global Ranking of Academic Subjects in 2016.

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By Charmaine Ndlela

The Soshanguve Engineering School of Specialisation has partnered with the Shoprite Foundation to launch a practical agriculture project aimed at equipping students with essential farming and sustainability skills.

The new school vegetable garden features two horticultural tunnels and a sustainable borehole, offering Grade 9 students a hands-on learning environment for agricultural science and sustainable farming. 

The facilities were officially launched at the school on Tuesday.

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Forty Grade 9 learners will use the tunnels for training in soil science, crop rotation, compost production, irrigation, and pest and weed control.

The Soshanguve expansion follows Shoprite Foundation’s first horticultural tunnel project at Oosrand Commerce and Entrepreneurship School of Specialisation, where about 5 000 units of produce have been harvested over the past two years for the school’s feeding scheme and sale to the surrounding community. More than 1 700 learners have received agricultural training.  

MarketPlace Academy, the Foundation’s implementation partner, also trains educators as facilitators and supports the addition of an accredited plant production part-qualification to the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), giving learners the opportunity to leave school with practical skills in addition to their matric qualification

“Learners already study agriculture at school, but an accredited plant production part-qualification also requires practical work,” CEO of MarketPlace Academy Chantyl Mulder said. 

“The tunnels give them a place to do that work. That means they can leave school with matric and a recognised qualification that gives them a first step into the industry.”

School principal Mashiane Tladi said the project represents a new chapter for a school that has built its reputation around engineering, automotive studies and innovation.

Speaking at the launch, Tladi highlighted the transformation of the school over the years, saying it had gone from recording a 35% matric pass rate in 2017 to achieving a 100% pass rate in 2025.

He said the school had also improved its bachelor pass rate from 47% to 67%.

“[S]teadily, together, we are going to make sure that we lift the flag,” Tladi said.

He said learners were also participating in engineering, STEM, coding and robotics projects.

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The school has also produced projects that have competed internationally, including a solar-powered train and an electric vehicle.

He said learners had travelled to China and other countries for competitions and partnerships, while others were preparing for upcoming STEM competitions.

“We are a willing team. Excellence is our motto,” he said.

Tladi said the horticultural tunnels could help change how learners and the community view agriculture.

He said the school wanted the project to grow beyond simply producing vegetables for its own use.

“We are aiming big. We are looking forward to growing this vegetable garden to an extent that it also benefits not only the school but also the community.”

He said the school hoped learners would eventually see agriculture as an entrepreneurial opportunity.

“We are looking forward to expanding to other vegetable gardens so that our learners can also use this as an opportunity for entrepreneurship and take it as a business,” he said.

He said agriculture could also become a career option for learners who had previously not considered entering the sector.

The school hopes to share the skills and technology developed through the project with neighbouring schools.

Shoprite Foundation director Maude Modise said the initiative was designed to give learners practical skills that could help them beyond school.

She said young people needed exposure to skills that could give them greater opportunities in the job market, while also opening doors to entrepreneurship.

“Gone are the days where we only knew that we wanted to go into higher education. These days one needs to hone in on practical skills that actually give you more leverage in terms of applying for the job market,” Modise said.

Modise said the project could serve three purposes: skills development, supporting school feeding and creating fundraising opportunities.

“You cannot always rely on donors to come and give you money. This is a way for the school to actually generate its own funds,” she said.

The vegetables grown by learners could also supplement the school feeding programme.

Modise said the practical experience was important because learners could see the entire process of food production rather than only learning about it in a classroom.

“You learn in class that this is how you grow a crop. You plant it, you water it, and then you harvest. But the practical implication of it is actually a totally different way,” she said.

A Grade 10 learner, Puleng Mchunu, said that the project has already changed the way she thinks about food production and waste.

Mchunu said learners had been exploring ways of collecting vegetables and bottled water while reducing waste.

She said the garden could also help the school reduce its reliance on buying vegetables for its cafeteria.

“What I’ve learned is that there are many ways we can take care of our vegetables. Growing our vegetables can help us decrease waste from school,” Mchunu said.

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She said the project showed learners that agriculture could be used to solve practical problems within the school and community.

“At the engineering school, what we need is a manual to solve problems. So we are finding this as a way to solve food problems and stop wasting most of the income from our food,” she said.

While Mchunu was still unsure whether she would pursue agriculture as a career after matric, she said the experience had made her more open to the possibility.

“When I went to the greenhouse, I saw food. It was amazing. You just feel calm and relaxed, so I might consider it,” she said.

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By Charmaine Ndlela

Dozens of Denel Technical Academy (DTA) apprentices staged a protest at the Denel facility in Kempton Park on Monday, demanding answers about months of delayed and incomplete stipend payments.

The apprentices also demanded clarity over outstanding accommodation and transport payments, as well as their registration with the Transport Education Training Authority (TETA).

The National Skills Fund (NSF) acknowledged that payment problems remained and said it was looking for an “alternative mechanism” to pay learners whose attendance records were missing.

Over 700 learners are enrolled in an NSF-funded skills development programme through DTA, where they are being trained in aircraft and engineering-related trades, including Aircraft Avionics, Aircraft Mechanic, Fitter, Structural Worker, Electrician, Fitter and Turner and Welding.

The programme forms part of a sizeable publicly funded training initiative. The NSF previously said about R354 million had been approved for programmes administered by Phila Jordan Capital (PJC), including aviation and artisan training, with R156.5 million having been disbursed at the time the fund provided an update on the project.

Learners told Inside Education that payment problems had persisted for months, with some receiving only a fraction of their stipends and others claiming they had not been paid for certain months.

They said the delays had left some struggling to afford food and toiletries, while others faced uncertainty over accommodation.

One trainee, who asked not to be named, said learners from various provinces were particularly affected.

The trainee said some learners had also faced threats of eviction because accommodation payments were allegedly outstanding.

“We are terrified and scared of possible eviction because the rent is due,” she said.

Addressing the apprentices, the NSF Deputy Director for Regional Skills Development Monitoring and project manager, Londiwe Twumasi, said that the NSF was aware of the “difficulties” learners were facing.

She said the Fund was, however, bound by its internal processes and could not simply process stipends without evidence of attendance.

“We are bound by these processes that we cannot process when there is no evidence of attendance,” Twumasi said.

She said that the lack of attendance registers had become a challenge because some learners could not attend training due to circumstances beyond their control, including transport disruptions.

“Really, we cannot penalise them, whereas it was never their fault,” she said.

Twumasi said NSF management had escalated the matter to the Director-General of the Department of Higher Education and Training, who is the accounting authority of the Fund, because an alternative payment mechanism was needed.

“We have to now bring in the Director-General of the department. There has to be a submission to him that, DG, as an accounting officer, we have this dilemma,” she said.

According to Twumasi, the submission asks how the department can pay learners who did not attend during a particular period and therefore do not have attendance registers, while taking into account the circumstances that prevented them from attending.

She said the DG had instructed the NSF to find an alternative solution.

“But unfortunately for me, standing here, I have not been given permission to talk about that alternative,” Twumasi said.

She assured learners that the proposed solution was intended to allow them to receive their outstanding payments without putting the department at risk of breaching its financial and audit requirements.

Twumasi said the NSF had already made the proposal to the DG, but the submission was still being considered.

“It has to be done, but it must be done in the right way,” she said.

Twumasi said the NSF could not simply bypass its procedures because it had previously experienced problems after paying learners without sufficient supporting documentation.

She said that in an earlier NSF project, learners were paid despite the absence of attendance records.

The matter later became an audit finding after the DG sampled learners and requested documentation to verify the payments.

“We found that there was no attendance, but we paid a stipend. Now it’s an audit finding,” Twumasi said.

The NSF was then required to recover the money from the service provider.

“So we cannot repeat a mistake. Now that we’ve learned from the first one, now we have to find a way of dealing with the issue,” she said.

She acknowledged that learners had already been waiting for answers for several months.

“We are very much aware of how much this issue is affecting you,” she said.

The apprentices said they had received different amounts despite being part of the same programme.

One trainee said some learners received as little as R300, while others received between R1,600 and R3,000.

“We got our stipends on Friday whereas they promised to pay us on 17 August. Students taking classes at Denel got their stipends before us, while we are all funded by NSF from one group,” she said.

Another learner said the outstanding May and June payments remained a major concern.

“We demand our May and June stipends because it’s been six months now without them saying anything about it,” the learner said.

According to the trainee, the programme provides for an overall amount of R8,500 per apprentice, with R3,000 allocated to the learner for food and the remainder intended to cover costs such as accommodation and transport.

The learners said the failure to receive the full amounts had placed significant financial pressure on them.

Some also said they had left jobs to join the apprenticeship programme because they believed it would provide them with a pathway into the aviation and engineering sectors.

“Some of us left real jobs only to come here and suffer,” one trainee said.

The payment problems follow the NSF’s termination of its Memorandum of Agreement with PJC in May.

The Fund said at the time that it had ended the agreement because of repeated contractual non-compliance, learner welfare concerns, governance failures and concerns about the management and use of public funds.

The NSF said it had previously engaged with PJC over concerns relating to the implementation of the programme.

Among the issues raised was the relocation of learners between Johannesburg and Pretoria without prior consultation or approval from the NSF.

The Fund also raised concerns about delayed or non-payment of transport and accommodation service providers, which it said had disrupted the programme and affected learners.

PJC disputed the NSF’s version of events. The company rejected allegations of financial mismanagement and maintained that the relocation of learners had been discussed with the NSF. The Fund disputed that claim.

Denel was subsequently brought into the intervention aimed at rescuing the programme and allowing the 761 learners to continue their training.

According to information provided to Inside Education, contracts signed with learners were backdated to April to cover a period during which outstanding stipend payments had accumulated.

The NSF said the arrangement was intended to provide contractual cover for learners who had already been participating in the programme.

Denel said the process of absorbing a large number of additional learners had created administrative challenges.

A Denel technical representative, speaking on behalf of general manager Zandile Dotwana, who was not present during the one-on-one engagement with Inside Education, said the organisation had to load hundreds of additional learners onto its system after becoming involved in the programme.

The representative said Denel already had about 250 learners on its system or database but later had to process information for more than 700 additional learners manually.

“So, on the system that we had not worked those numbers, we now need to load the additional students onto our system, on a manual basis, which is something that we haven’t been doing. So the turnaround time becomes a serious matter,” the representative said.

Denel also said it had experienced problems with the information supplied by the service provider.

“Because the service provider did not give us the comprehensive information that we were supposed to receive, that affects the payment in August,” the representative said.

Denel said it had planned to make payments the previous Friday, but technical problems with its payment system caused further delays.

“This system that we load payment on had glitches,” the representative said.

The organisation acknowledged that communication with learners had also not been adequate.

“Our communication needs to be improved,” the representative said.

“And that’s what we plan to do after this discussion — having better communication with the students so that they are aware of the actions that we take.”

Some apprentices have also raised concerns about their registration with TETA, which they fear could disrupt their apprenticeship records, eligibility for trade testing and eventual certification as artisans.

Under the artisan training system, the relevant Sector Education and Training Authority plays a role in apprenticeship registration and the trade-test process, while successful candidates ultimately receive trade certification through the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations.

Learners placed at South African Airways Technical (SAAT) Hamba Nathi and Alpha have raised concerns about their registration status.

One trainee said some apprentices placed at SAAT were worried that their TETA registration had not yet been finalised.

“We are not even registered under TETA because Denel is refusing to pay South African Airways,” she said.

Denel acknowledged that the affected learners had not yet been registered with TETA but said the registration process had started.

The company said the outstanding registration matters would be resolved before the apprentices complete their qualifications.

Denel said it was working to ensure that the learners’ registration with TETA would not prevent them from completing their training or obtaining the necessary qualifications.

Some trainees said learners would prefer the NSF to pay them directly rather than relying on third parties to administer their stipends.

“We demand Denel to do things according to the law and according to what is written in the contract. Also, pay us on time,” one said.

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By Lebone Rodah Mosima

The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) and National Empowerment Fund (NEF) have committed an initial R100 million to a National Youth Fund aimed at expanding finance for youth-owned businesses as unemployment among young South Africans remains at crisis levels.

The two agencies signed a partnership agreement at the NYDA’s offices in Sunninghill, Johannesburg, on Monday, with NYDA Executive Deputy Chairperson Bonga Makhanya saying the NYDA would contribute R10 million and the NEF R90 million.

The agreement is intended to help operationalise the National Youth Fund, an initiative already provided for in the NYDA’s strategy, by combining NYDA grant support with NEF loan finance and business development assistance.

The partnership comes as South Africa’s official unemployment rate rose to 33.6% in the second quarter of 2026, according to Statistics South Africa. 

About 3.8 million South Africans aged 15 to 24 were not in employment, education or training in the second quarter of 2026. This is a separate measure from unemployment among the broader 15-to-34 age group, where about five million young people were officially unemployed. 

The NYDA said the fund would target economic opportunities across sectors including manufacturing, infrastructure, renewable energy, the green economy, digital industries, agriculture and small and medium-sized enterprises.

It is intended to support youth-owned businesses at different stages of development and help them grow, create jobs and enter established value chains.

Makhanya said the agreement demonstrated to young South Africans that the government was serious about expanding their participation in the economy.

He said the fund also raised the question of how government could move beyond fragmented interventions and develop a financing pathway capable of supporting young people to establish, grow and scale productive enterprises.

“The answer to that question was simply not another programme but a more comprehensive approach to funding in South Africa, which required us to project different stages of enterprise development from early stage support, business development to investment readiness and to large-scale growth capital,” Makhanya said.

“This was a very important conceptual choice because young entrepreneurs face different constraints at different stages, and we identified that our interventions alone address the very particular stage of their businesses which is a very valuable intervention.”

Makhanya said the NYDA was engaging other Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) to explore partnerships that could expand financing and business opportunities for young South Africans.

He said different institutions had distinct roles to play, with the NYDA able to develop a pipeline of young entrepreneurs while the NEF and other DFIs could provide specialised financial instruments and support businesses seeking to expand.

He said the NYDA’s Annual Performance Plan had set targets around accountability, governance and stakeholder engagement to improve coordination.

“We accept that our mandates are very broad. We are responsible for 25 million young people, and 25 million South Africans have a claim to this institution in any shape or form,” he said.

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“It becomes very difficult to serve all of those, and if you go a little bit deeper, about 3.5 million who are not in employment, education and training would argue to have a greater claim to this institution.”

He said the R100 million remained small compared with the wider financing needs of small businesses in South Africa, where estimates have placed the national MSME financing gap at about R350 billion.

“Young people have no assets, they have limited collateral, they have shorter business track records and a lack of capital to finance their capital expenditure needs,” he said.

“This is why one of the most important conceptual designs was to move away from the one-size-fits-all approach to youth enterprise finance.”

He said the fund should not merely finance youth-owned businesses, but should direct investment towards sectors capable of expanding productive capacity and creating jobs.

He said these included manufacturing, industrialisation, renewable energy, the green and digital economies, infrastructure, construction and creative industries, as well as mining, agriculture and agro-processing.

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Makhanya said the fund would be subject to governance measures intended to ensure public money was properly managed and reached young people who needed access to financing.

“This is a fund that must benefit the most dejected and downtrodden youth of this country, who have no hope in getting finance – by providing access to create a platform where those young people can access opportunities that they previously could not have access,” he said.

He called on businesses, banks and other institutions to contribute to the fund. 

“We are also saying to government institutions, including the PIC, the DBSA, and all other DFI’s that there’s a fund in South Africa that they can model, look at, or either pour into or create their own, but the NYDA is also there to ensure that we oversee and support the work of ensuring that there’s youth set aside across South Africa to grow youth funding in the country,” he said.

“We are also not stopping there, we are going to go to all provinces and municipalities and demand that they also set aside new funds in South Africa. Premiers, MECs who have monies for youth, the NYDA is there to work with youth and to show that we can create a pipeline and support many more young people.”

NEF board member Mohammed Bhabha said the agreement’s responsibilities included ensuring that public resources were properly managed and that the institutions reported on the results of their interventions.

He said improving skills alone would not solve unemployment.

“The economy must create opportunities for those skills to be used,” Bhabha said.

“Businesses must be able to grow, employers must create entry points into the workplace, and entrepreneurs must have a reasonable prospect of accessing customers.”

He said the partnership sought to combine the different capabilities of the two agencies, with the NYDA providing youth enterprise development, grant funding, training, mentorship and market-linkage support, and the NEF providing enterprise finance, investment assessment and ongoing business support.

“The partnership is intended to connect financing with this practical assistance,” he said.

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Bhabha also cited existing youth development programmes, including the EastCape Academy initiative, which supported 50 beneficiaries in the Painting Artisan Trade over six months.

“It speaks to what we mean when we describe the NEF as a funder with a soul,” he said.

“The Altitude Group Contact Centre programme provided 50 young people with practical workplace experience in communication and customer service. The pilot achieved full employment absorption and generated an additional 38 jobs.”

He said the City of Johannesburg’s Waste-to-Work Programme supported 210 beneficiaries through skills development and enterprise support.

Across the NEF’s skills development initiatives, Bhabha said 405 new jobs were created during the 2025/26 financial year.

He said the NEF planned to expand partnerships involving artisan, technical and digital skills as well as entrepreneurship programmes.

Bhabha said entrepreneurship was only one part of the response to youth unemployment because not every young person wanted to start a business, while successful entrepreneurs could themselves become employers.

“The partnership provides for a steering committee with representatives from both institutions,” he said.

“This should help the teams monitor progress, resolve difficulties and keep their respective responsibilities clear.”

Bhabha said the approach was aligned with the broader objectives of the government’s Transformation Fund by seeking to connect capital, business capability and access to markets while maintaining governance and monitoring outcomes.

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