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
