‘South Africa talks a great deal but lacks a great deal of implementation capacity.’

This was the opinion of Professor Tshilidzi Marwala, Rector of the United Nations University and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, during a policy debate around unemployment held at the University of Pretoria’s (UP) Future Africa Institute in Hatfield, Pretoria.

The debate, themed ‘Rethinking traditional approaches to tackling unemployment in South Africa: Exploring feasible, well-designed grant-based approaches for the unemployed to complement active labour-market policies’, was hosted by Southern Africa – Towards Inclusive Economic Development (SA-TIED) programme and independent research forum Econ3x3.

SA-TIED is a programme that looks at ways to support policy-making for inclusive growth and economic transformation in the southern Africa region through original research in collaboration with the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), South Africa’s National Treasury, the International Food Policy Research Institute, and other governmental and research organisations in the region.

Econ3x3 is an independent forum for critical public debate on unemployment and employment, income distribution, and inclusive growth in South Africa, and it publishes accessible research-based contributions and expert commentaries.

The debate at UP encouraged an analysis of the success of grant-based approaches to tackling unemployment in other developing countries.

Participants suggested that South Africa could learn from other countries by assessing the relationships between grants and active labour market policies and how, collectively, these can boost employment.

“Many of the things I heard during this debate are quite important, and they are worth repeating, but I have to add that this is not the first time I am hearing these sentiments,” said Prof Marwala, who is also a UP alumnus and the former Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Johannesburg.

We are starting not from point zero but from negative.

“My message to South Africa and South Africans is that it is time to implement. We do talk quite a great deal about implementation capacity. We need to start doing things. And I am reminded of what the first Prime Minister of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, once said: ‘Like never before, we need thinkers of great thoughts; like never before, we need doers of great deeds.’ It is time for us to start doing.”

He said South Africa’s struggles with implementation stem from a pressing shortage of technical capacity, which can be easily seen in the inadequate skill sets among the country’s political groupings.

“Go and look at some of the layers of our government. Go to local governments. I come from Limpopo province in Thohoyandou, and we can see that we need engineers to be able to run that municipality,” Prof Marwala said.

“Where will we get them because we do not train enough technically skilled people in South Africa? They do not want to go and live in rural areas, and we need to change that mindset. But we also need to expand our training process.”

“Secondly, organisational and managerial skills are something that we need to develop actively, but we need to start at a young age. The idea that somebody can suddenly start knowing what needs to be done when they have just graduated from university is false.

“Education starts in our homes at the earliest of ages, and we need to be actively involved in making sure that we have a cohort of cadres who are equal to the task when it comes to confronting the problems that we are facing as a society.”

Discussing timelines for when South Africa should implement solutions, Prof Marwala said: “We obviously ought to have known in the past. Today is too late. It needs to have been done in the past. When should we start? We should start now. And we should know that we are beginning not from point zero but from negative. We have lost time. We have lost ground. This is urgent. Our people want jobs. Our people want prosperity. We need to have good roads. We need to once and for all replace informal settlements with decent living areas for our people. We need to fix our education and health systems.

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Nelson Mandela University has launched a multi-year global Giving Campaign, to raise R30 million to support four projects, based on empowerment and social redress.

University Vice-Chancellor Professor Sibongile Muthwa is leading the campaign with the endorsement of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, whose Mandela Month theme for 2023 is “Climate change and food security”.

Prof Muthwa explained that funds raised would go towards projects that address student hunger, bursaries, support a greenhouse project and empower sustainable community food kitchens.

“We are launching this fundraising drive in the build-up to international Mandela Day on 18 July. It is an opportunity to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s most beloved statesman and global icon, someone who became the world’s moral compass.”

Prof Muthwa said the story of how Mandela, a young man born in a remote rural village, became one of the greatest statesmen of the 20th century was one of overcoming hardship and never losing sight of hope.

“It is a story that inspires generations of young people the world over.

“We are seeking your help to provide opportunities for thousands of young people who, because of their social circumstances, are faced with hardship and adversity.

“Who knows? With your assistance we could be nurturing the next generation of Nelson Mandelas.”

The new campaign is over and above the University’s day-to-day fundraising initiatives, which range from raising funds for postgraduate bursaries, to capital projects such as new buildings and laboratory equipment.

Globally, student numbers at universities have significantly increased. This has also been the case in South Africa.

However, government subsidies to universities in South Africa have been declining in real terms, made worse by, among other factors, rising inflation and the effects of COVID-19.

“This is why all universities need to raise third stream income. It helps to maintain high quality education, as well as broaden the net to accommodate academically deserving students who cannot fund their studies,” said Prof Muthwa.

She appealed to all stakeholders to donate any amount to the campaign, “as every cent counts”.

The campaign will benefit four projects aimed at helping students and the broader community: deal with financial exclusion challenges, student hunger, provision of community kitchens and a greenhouse project tackling unemployment by supporting a group of technical and vocational education and training college graduates with a greenhouse and community food systems project, using environmentally sustainable technologies.

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University of Pretoria Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Tawana Kupe has resigned suddenly.

He leaves the university on 31 July, six months before his term was scheduled to conclude in January 2024, said UP Council Chair Kuseni Dlamini in a communication to staff.

“While the process to find his successor will begin immediately, appropriate interim arrangements that will help facilitate the smooth functioning of the institution will be put in place,” he said.

Dlamini said he was confident that these interim arrangements, coupled with the expertise and dedication of the UP staff, would enable the university to operate at the highest level.

“We all remain committed to upholding the university’s mission, values, and long-term objectives and will work tirelessly to maintain our momentum,” he said.

On behalf of the Council, Dlamini thanked Kupe for his contributions to UP during his tenure.

Kupe officially stepped into his role on 14 January 2019, declaring: “It is an honour and privilege to take over the reins at this proud institution at such a key moment in South African and global history” following the resignation of former Vice-Chancellor and Principal Prof. Cheryl de la Rey, who took over as head of the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.

Prof. Kupe holds BA Honours and Master’s degrees in English from the University of Zimbabwe, as well as a DPhil in Media Studies from the University of Oslo in Norway. He served as Executive Dean of the University of the Witwatersrand’s Faculty of Humanities for six years after serving as the Head of the then Wits School of Literature and Language Studies. He was also the founding Head of the Media Studies Department.

On 1 June, UP announced that it had improved its position in the 2023 Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings, rising to position 69 (up from the 101-200 band in 2022) out of 1 705 universities in 115 countries.

UP is also ranked in the Top 20 universities in the world for two SDGs, with a notable 4th place in the world (out of 960 ranked universities) for SDG 8, “Decent work and economic growth” (maintaining its top 50 global placement for SDG 8 from 2022) and 14th place for SDG 5, “Gender equality” (first appearance).

“Once again, UP has proved to be one of the leading universities not only in Africa but also in the world for impact towards the SDGs,” said Kupe at the time, acknowledging that it was a collective achievement from academic and professional staff, students, and partners at all levels.

Prof Kupe could not be reached for comment.

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This free-to-develop technology enables a tree or rural landmark to broadcast a Wifi connection providing access to a pre-loaded package of educational content.

“There is an urgent need to improve access to education for these children. For many children their classes are taught gathered under the shade of a large tree, so ‘Trees of Knowledge’ seemed a natural technical extension of this existing system,” Sachiti said.

The Wifi connection and content come from a micro-computer molded into the landmark to protect it from theft or damage.

Anyone within a roughly 100m radius can then access the content on any mobile device free of charge. Users can also charge their phone by plugging it into the accompanying solar-powered battery charging station.

The micro-computers will run on the power equivalent of a small rechargeable battery and can run for years without maintenance. All the user needs is a wifi-enabled device such as a phone, tablet, laptop or computer.

There is no need for the phone to be connected to a carrier or any network provider, removing the issue of expensive data charges.

The technology uses a basic computer like the Raspberry Pi computers which have been used in refugee camps in Lebanon by UNICEF as part of its Raspberry Pi for Learning initiative.

Globally there are 258 million children out of school and UNESCO’s new report Education Progress highlights that the problem is particularly acute in Sub-Saharan Africa where the population of primary-school-aged children has doubled since 1990 and 1 in 5 children of primary school age are out of school.

However, this is also a region witnessing rapid growth in smartphone adoption. Already more than 23% of people in Sub-Saharan Africa have access to a smartphone – a number which is estimated to rise to 39% in the next five years.

“One of the challenges in providing education through smartphones is that, while many people have access to a basic smartphone of some description, in many areas 3G coverage is still patchy.

The data costs are high for most people and in rural areas keeping the phones charged is a problem when there is limited or no electricity. Trees of Knowledge aims to address all these challenges.”

Sachiti added: “Every day millions of children walk for hours to get to school in the hope – often a vain hope – that they will find a teacher present at their school. In other cases, children are unable to attend school because they need to take care of the family’s cattle or support their families in other ways.“

Sachiti believes that Africa’s burgeoning tech ecosystem can play a vital role in this collective effort commenting:

“While many programs already exist to fix this problem, it is still not enough. With the growth of the developer community in Africa, I believe we have the opportunity to simply release the technology and let local communities build it themselves. If this technology reaches one or two more children, then I feel it would be a success.”

The pre-loaded educational content is likely to be largely video-based and would be free to access by anyone at any time.

Whilst the system can work with existing educational content packages, ultimately Sachiti hopes that ultimately, content will come from local educators.

Sachiti was educated in Zimbabwe before moving to the UK where he started his first technology company at aged 19.

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The Ekurhuleni Community Enterprise Development Fund has reached the closing date for two of its four funds, with about 5000 people attending a total of seven information sessions hosted since its launch in December, and 3500 forms taken by acknowledged individuals, rather than random distributions.

The R 300 million fund comprises the Phanda Fund, the Ximilani Fund, as the Fetola A and B Funds, which are run in partnership with the National Empowerment Fund (NEF). Applications for the first two funds, for which the 3500 forms were distributed, have now closed while those for the Fetola are still open.

Caiphus Chauke, Head of Department at the Economic Development Department in the Ekurhuleni Metro says they will now assess the number of actual applications but are concerned with the quality rather than the quantity of applications.

Chauke said submissions will initially be examined to see whether it involves female, youth and people with disability.

Applications will then undergo a rigorous three stage assessment looking at the strength of the business plan, an inspection of where the business will be run as well as an interview with potential entrepreneur.

“Economic transformation is an imperative and SMMEs are key drivers and contributors to job creation and economic progression,” Small Business Development Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said at the time of the fund’s launch.

“We need to create an enabling environment for their growth and sustainability, through the right policies and targeted support mechanisms to ensure their participation.

Availing information on funding, reducing the cost of funding and bringing business support services closer to communities are some of the measures to unlock funding bottlenecks.”

Also at the launch, Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina urged residents and City based businesses to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the fund, noting that it is a critical pillar of the City’s ten point economic plan and promised residents that applications will be handled in a fair and transparent manner.

The Gauteng provincial government also views small business as key drivers of economic growth and job creation and in its recently unveiled budget reiterated its commitment to pay invoices within 30 days and made special allocations to various departments for the payment of
outstanding invoices.

The Funds and how they work

·  The Phanda Fund aims to support the development of community enterprises in the form of individual entrepreneurs, small, micro and medium enterprises, cooperatives, and informal traders located within the City of Ekurhuleni. This focuses on the township economy, industrialization, business services, environmental services and human development. The thresholds for this fund are from R50 000 to R1.5 million. 

·   The Ximilani Fund is designed to syndicate with registered organisations, organised business formations, associations and/or chambers of commerce located within the City. The funding thresholds for this fund range from R50 000 to R1.5 million. 

·   The Fetola A Fund seeks to partner on a 50-50 cost and risk sharing basis with development finance institutions, state-owned enterprises, corporate social investment partners, enterprise and supplier development, and private funds. Ideal partners are those organisations that exist for the sole purpose of developing black businesses. The funding range for this is from R100 000 to R6 million. 

·   The Fetola B Fund is a soft loan that is exclusively reserved for Ekurhuleni-based entrepreneurs. The minimum application is R250 000. This Fund is aimed at black-owned businesses, individual entrepreneurs, small, micro and medium enterprises as well as potential industrialists and will be administered by the NEF

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The Department said it has on a number of occasions clarified the matter, and went further to provide details of what is contained in the ‘sexuality section’ of the curriculum.

“The core aim of the CSE is to ensure that we help learners build an understanding of concepts, content, values and attitudes related to sexuality, sexual behavior change as well as leading safe and healthy lives,” said Elijah Mhlanga, Head of Communications at the DBE.

“In seeking to find a comprehensive and all-encompassing curriculum that seeks to address real world challenges and issues faced by learners in their day-to-day lives, the Department has through various consultation platforms allowed for the evolution of the content within both the Learner and Teacher Guides.”

The Department added its approach is informed by comprehensive research, Mhlanga added.

He said the 2016 rigorous scientific review of International Technical Guidelines on Sexuality Education found that:

– CSE does not sexualise children
– Sexuality education does not increase sexual activity, sexual risk-
taking behaviour or STI/HIV infection rates. On the contrary, CSE
delays sexual debut and promotes safe sexual behavior;
– Increases knowledge of different aspects of sexuality and the
risks of early and unintended pregnancy, HIV and other STIs;
– Decreases the number of sexual partners;
– Reduces sexual risk taking;
– Increases use of condoms and other forms of contraception.

The Department consulted extensively on CSE, and remains open to further consultation and engagement on this matter. Curriculum development is an ongoing process and inputs are always welcome, said the DBE

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Delivering the keynote address at the NIHSS Annual Doctoral Conference Gala evening, Nzimande said he was pleased to see “first-hand, the efforts, impact and change that the Institute is making to the higher education landscape and in the humanities and social sciences in particular.”

The minister’s spirited address belied the fact that he had landed from the US only two hours before his appearance at the OR Tambo Centre at the Birchwood in Ekurhuleni.

Emphasising and re stating the need for “high standards” in all areas of academia, Nzimande pointed to the NDP which calls on the higher education sector to produce more than 100 doctoral graduates per million per year by 2030.

In line with the dictates of the current and envisaged technological advancements under the rubric of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), the minister said his Department has established a Ministerial Task Team on the 4IR to provide “critical policy advice and interventions” required to ensure that our post-school education and training system is able to “effectively respond and also take a lead in many of the envisaged technological advances.”

Nzimande said the transformation of race and gender should extend beyond the demographics of students, academics and researchers.

“Our humanities and social sciences must also always assist us in understanding contemporary challenges we are facing in society and seek to assist in advancing solutions to those problems.”

The challenge, he added, “is how do we do this without sacrificing depth and rigour in the work that we do.”

The Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister said the findings of a study into what is retarding the production of South African black women academics is imminent, and that he intends to make the results public.

Nzimande said its important to “open the much needed dialogue and debate on how to accelerate transformation in our academia and research communities in our universities.”

He acknowledged that a lot has been done, but added that there is also a clear need and urgency to significantly accelerate transformation in the racial and gender profile of our academic and research communities.

“Both curricula and the nature of research questions must be framed such that they help overcome patriarchy and racism in broader society, including in the very halls of academia and research,” Nzimande added.

Nzimande said the gains made by the fees must fall campaign to increase funding for undergraduate students has had the “unintended consequence of taking all of student funding into undergraduate at the expense of post-graduate student funding.

“Yet the very increase in undergraduate students and throughput is soon going to increase the demand for postgraduate student funding, on top of the very existing reality of inadequate funding in this regard.”

“I therefore would like to challenge you today as graduates that you must continue on your path to be producers of new knowledge and high-level skills,” he told the doctoral graduands.

“You must continue to assist our country as experts in finding new local and global applications for existing knowledge and innovation that will change our country for the better.”

And while an organization like the NIHSS should foster freedom of choice in the research that is funded, Nzimande underlined that it “must catalyse a social science that seek to foster and support the building of a more just society.”

This, the minister added, is also closely linked to the debates around the “necessity of the decolonization our academic and research institutions, their institutional cultures and curricula.”

A key objective of the higher education ministry is to tackle the institutional inequalities in our university system, Nzimande added, especially that between historically advantaged and disadvantaged institutions,

“But I do not see this task as simply that of less advantaged institutions catching up with the more advanced ones.

“The Historically disadvantaged institutions must develop their own niche areas and make new contributions in knowledge and innovation as part of their own upliftment. But of course this will require focused government support, as well as inter-institutional support and cooperation.”

Again underlining the need for maintaining high standards, Nzimande took a swipe at what he termed “so-called analysts who get their analysis from newspapers.”

He further bemoaned the trend where those ‘analysts’ morph into ‘professors.’

“What are they professing,” Nzimande asked animatedly, much to the delight of the audience.

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The Choir hails from a small town in Limpopo and since its inception in 2009, “have profoundly affected the lives of the choristers and demonstrates the potential of any human being to achieve excellence no matter their background, education or place of birth,” reads their official website.

A powerful rendition of Toto’s ‘Africa’ propelled the group to the final.

From its humble beginnings as an after-school activity, the choir has evolved into a truly outstanding professional ensemble.

For their AGT quarter-final appearance, the Ndlovu Youth Choir had the audience in raptures with a U2 ‘Beautiful Day‘ cover.

For the struggling community of Moutse, a dusty village about 200 kilometres from Polokwane, hope and inspiration has come in the form of Ndlovu Youth Choir.

The choristers has captured the imagination of South Africans and the world through their awe-inspiring and mesmerising performances on the world’s biggest talent platform.

Nokthula Maphanga was full of praise for the choir which was formed 10 years ago through the Ndlovu Care Group Centre, as a healing programme for the impoverished community.

She’s the guardian for 17-year-old Nonhlanhla Somo, who’s also competing in Los Angeles.

“There’s hope even when there’s nothing. There are children who want to change things and they don’t want to be teenage moms,” EWN reported.

The group was founded by Dr Hugo Templeman in 2009.

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