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Manamela: Access alone won’t transform African universities

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Manamela: Access alone won’t transform African universities

By Charmaine Ndlela

Higher Education and Training Minister Buti Manamela has called for a fundamental shift in how African universities approach equity, warning that access alone does not guarantee true transformation.

Delivering a keynote address at the Africa Universities Summit 2026 in Nairobi, Kenya, on Monday, Manamela said higher education systems across the continent must move beyond enrolment figures and confront deeper inequalities in leadership, employment outcomes and inclusion.

ALSO READ: Santa Shoebox Project opens 2026 applications for schools, ECD centres

Speaking under the theme “Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Gender Equality in African Higher Education,” Manamela emphasised that education systems are inherently political.

 “There is no neutral education system. Education either reproduces the world as it is, or helps us transform it,” he said.

Using South Africa as a case study, Manamela highlighted significant gains in women’s participation in higher education. In 2023, women made up 62.7% of university enrolments and 65.4% of graduates, reflecting what he described as the impact of “long struggles for access, democracy and redistribution.”

However, he warned that these gains tell only part of the story, “the correct question is not whether women have made progress. Clearly, they have. The question is whether our systems are producing genuine equality.”

Manamela pointed to a growing concern around male disengagement, noting that fewer men are entering and completing higher education, raising broader social questions about schooling, identity and economic participation.

Despite women dominating enrolment and graduation figures, they remain underrepresented in positions of power.

ALSO READ: SA takes first place at African Spelling Bee, world champs up next

In 2023, women accounted for only 33.8% of professors in South African universities.

 “The lecture hall may have feminised, but the senior chair has not,” Manamela said.

He stressed that equity must be measured across the entire system  from access and completion to employment and leadership.

The Minister also highlighted trends in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), where women again form the majority of enrolments. However, men still dominate certain skills programmes, reflecting ongoing gendered labour-market pathways.

 “The real problem is not women’s progress. The real problem is a society that still produces unequal destinations,” he said.

Challenging long-held assumptions, Manamela noted that women are no longer absent from Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) fields in South Africa, adding that women slightly outnumber men in both enrolments and graduates.

However, he cautioned that representation does not equal equality, particularly in areas such as specialisation, research leadership and pay.

Manamela described the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) as a key instrument of gender transformation. In 2023, 67.4% of NSFAS beneficiaries were women, receiving the majority share of funding.

 “Access to funding does not automatically produce equality in life outcomes,” he said.

The Minister raised concerns about the slow pace of disability inclusion in higher education, noting that students with disabilities make up just over 1% of total enrolment.

He stressed that inclusion must be built into institutional design rather than treated as an afterthought.

Broadening the discussion, Manamela noted that South Africa’s female-majority enrolment is not reflective of the rest of the continent. Across sub-Saharan Africa, women remain underrepresented in higher education, with roughly 80 women enrolled for every 100 men.

He cited Kenya as an example, where tertiary enrolment stands at 13% for men and 10% for women, underscoring ongoing access challenges.

ALSO READ: North West education targets R24m in staff debt

 “Africa is not one gender story,” he said.

Manamela urged universities to adopt a more rigorous and transparent approach to transformation, including publishing annual data on enrolment, retention, completion, employment outcomes and leadership representation.

He also called for stronger alignment between higher education and broader social systems, including labour markets, communities and public policy.

 “The higher education question is inseparable from the social question,” he said.

In closing, Manamela emphasised the need for a balanced and inclusive approach to equality that does not pit one group against another.

 “Not equality for women at the expense of men. Not concern for boys as a backlash against women’s progress. Not access without success. Not inclusion without power. But real equality,” he said.

The Africa Universities Summit 2026, which brings together higher education leaders from across the continent, is set to conclude tomorrow.

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Santa Shoebox Project opens 2026 applications for schools, ECD centres

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Santa Shoebox Project opens 2026 applications for schools, ECD centres

By Levy Masiteng 

The Santa Shoebox Project has officially announced that applications for its 2026 campaign will open on 7 April and close on 23 April.

As the organisation celebrates its 20th anniversary, it said it is inviting educational institutions serving vulnerable children to become beneficiaries of its initiative, which delivers personalised gift boxes filled with sanitary items, stationery, treats and toys.

Interested schools and ECD centres are asked to apply by registering or logging into their profile on the official Santa Shoebox website and completing the online beneficiary application form in full.

“Incomplete applications will not be considered, and no changes can be made once submitted,” the organisation said.

To be considered, applicant institutions must demonstrate the ability to distribute personalised shoeboxes reliably to each listed child and align with the project’s values and goals.

Importantly, applicant institutions should not be receiving similar support from other organisations, and all applications will be assessed against specific criteria.

By mid-June, applicants will be notified via SMS whether they have been successful.

In a statement, the organisation said applications are open to schools and ECD centres that maintain official class lists identifying children by name, age and clothing size, as each shoebox is individually prepared.

“The project prioritises learners in pre-school, Grade R, Grade 7 and Grade 11, which are key transitional stages in a child’s educational journey,” the statement reads.

It added that both urban and rural areas are encouraged to apply, but preference will be given to rural facilities serving vulnerable children who have not previously received shoeboxes.

According to the project’s CEO, Deb Zelezniak, the need for initiatives like this remains urgent in a country marked by deep inequality.

“The G20 Global Inequality Report highlights a stark divide in educational opportunity: while a child from a wealthy family has a one-in-two chance of studying beyond secondary school, those odds drop to one-in-40 for boys in poverty and a startling one-in-100 for girls,” she said.

She also emphasised the importance of early childhood development in breaking cycles of poverty.

“We’re seeing a very stark chasm of opportunity in South Africa. What is particularly concerning is that we have 8.8 million children in rural communities where ECD centres often operate in survival mode without basic infrastructure or educational materials. That’s where we step in and help.”

Founded in 2006, the Santa Shoebox Project has distributed more than 1.35 million shoeboxes to children in need, while also supporting education through infrastructure upgrades, reading corners and teacher development programmes.

The organisation said the project is open to South African beneficiaries only and that, from 2026, Santa Shoeboxes will no longer be distributed in Namibia.

“The shoeboxes provide practical necessities many families cannot afford, ensuring children feel seen and valued. We look forward to partnering with facilities that share our commitment to uplifting South Africa’s youth in 2026,” Zelezniak said.

The statement also invited members of the public across South Africa to volunteer.

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Weekend Roundup | Jansen says postgraduate education needs reset, eThekwini students rally against GBVF and more

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Weekend Roundup | Jansen says postgraduate education needs reset, eThekwini students rally against GBVF and more

Read: Jansen says postgraduate education needs reset

South African universities need to recover the intellectual purpose of postgraduate education, resist xenophobia in the academy, and improve the quality of supervision, Professor Jonathan Jansen said at a national higher education colloquium this month.

Jansen, a distinguished professor of education at Stellenbosch University, made the remarks while delivering the keynote address at the third Enabling Quality Postgraduate Education colloquium, held in Gauteng on March 16 and 17.

The colloquium brought together academics, postgraduate supervisors, and higher education specialists to examine how to strengthen research culture and postgraduate training across the country.

For the full story, click the link below:

Jansen says postgraduate education needs reset

ALSO READ: Chiloane wants stronger school sports drive to grow Gauteng talent

Gauteng MEC for Education, Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation Matome Chiloane used the Gauteng Sport Indaba in Boksburg this week to call for wider school sport participation, stronger talent pathways and more investment in township facilities.

Speaking at the indaba, Chiloane said Gauteng needed a more integrated approach to sport from school level upward.

“This Indaba anchors a clear vision, which is a seamless, integrated, and lifelong pathway for every citizen,” Chiloane said.

“This vision requires data-driven decision-making, strong governance, inclusive facility planning, and a united focus on literacy, equity, and building a business case for funding sports and recreation in the province.”

He said too many pupils were falling out of organised sport because schools remained heavily concentrated around a narrow set of codes.

For the full story, click the link below:

Chiloane wants stronger school sports drive to grow Gauteng talent

ALSO READ: eThekwini, DUT students rally against GBVF in awareness hike

eThekwini Municipality and activist group Mzansi Act Now led a four-kilometre awareness hike on Saturday with 50 female Durban University of Technology students in a campaign against gender-based violence and femicide.

The initiative, led through the municipality’s Community Services Committee, aimed to educate and empower young women while linking physical activity to advocacy, awareness and healing, the city said in a statement.

The municipality said the session focused “not only on physical wellness, but also on promoting healing as a critical component of long-term solutions to gender-based violence”.

“We are excited to be partnering with Mzansi Act Now and various stakeholders in delivering youth development programmes where participants can grow, support one another, and learn together,” Community Services Committee Chairperson Councillor Zama Sokhabase said.

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OPINION| SA’s real EdTech revolution must start with the forgotten classroom

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OPINION| SA’s real EdTech revolution must start with the forgotten classroom

By Dr Mario Landman

South Africa currently operates in a volatile and disruptive environment, where the promise of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) frequently clashes with the harsh realities of the digital divide.

While global conversations are dominated by high-tech features like immersive learning and automated grading, many South African students continue to face unreliable connectivity, frequent power cuts, and outdated hardware.

Pouring resources into cutting-edge technology that only benefits a few risks deepening existing socioeconomic fractures and leaving “forgotten classrooms” further behind.

However, a new wave of context-specific innovation is proving that high impact does not always require high bandwidth.

The “digital divide” in South Africa is characterised by uneven access to information and communication technologies, particularly in rural and underprivileged communities.

For these students, the high cost of data and access to adequate devices are major barriers to academic success.

True innovation in this context means “designing for disruption”, creating tools that assume power and internet access will fail. This approach moves away from heavy, bandwidth-intensive applications toward lightweight, “offline-first” solutions that utilise caching and low-bandwidth content.

Designing for disruption

A primary example of this locally responsive innovation is The Invigilator App ™.

Developed by South African entrepreneurs, the app was born from the realisation that international proctoring solutions were often unsuitable for the local landscape because they required high-speed internet and high-end devices.

Instead, The Invigilator App is mobile-centric, designed to run on entry-level smartphones that are far more accessible to the average South African student, while also offering a lightweight desktop version for PC use that can operate on relatively low-specification devices.

To maintain academic integrity in remote environments, the app utilises advanced AI and machine learning to simulate the presence of a physical invigilator.

It performs random checks throughout an assessment, including facial recognition to verify identity and liveness, GPS tracking to identify proximity-based collusion, and audio analysis to detect unauthorised conversations.

Crucially, the app is engineered to be data-efficient and features offline capabilities, allowing students to complete their examinations without a constant internet connection and syncing their data once they reconnect. This ensures that a student’s geographical location or financial status does not prevent them from earning a qualification of integrity.

Inclusive pedagogy

Beyond assessment, tackling inequality requires a shift toward inclusive pedagogy.

AI-driven tools are now being used to provide multilingual support in all 11 official South African languages, which is a vital intervention for students who often struggle when transitioning from home-language instruction to English in the foundational phase.

By using advanced natural language processing, these tools ensure that linguistic diversity and inclusivity become an asset rather than a barrier to learning.

Furthermore, predictive student support systems are being deployed to monitor real-time engagement and performance data. These tools are built on the principle of “intelligence augmentation,” using data to identify at-risk students far earlier than traditional methods would permit.

By bridging the “recognition-to-response gap,” these systems allow educators to provide essential mentorship and psychosocial support to combat high dropout rates.

The development of these tools follows a “teacher first, tech second” philosophy, ensuring that technology empowers educators rather than replacing them.

In this model, the human remains the central instructional decision-maker, while AI handles administrative burdens and provides insights that a human might miss.

Additionally, the rise of portable micro-credentials allows for flexible, stackable learning outcomes that respond directly to the needs of the 4IR labour market, providing students from disadvantaged backgrounds with clear signals of their expertise to potential employers.

National Policy Framework

For EdTech to truly function as a scalable and inclusive solution, it must be supported by a robust national policy framework.

Current efforts by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) are beginning to prioritise ICT infrastructure and digital literacy through strategic public-private partnerships.

Initiatives like the distribution of mobile devices to funded students and the rollout of fibre connections to technical colleges are critical steps toward ending bandwidth poverty.

Ultimately, the goal of EdTech in a developing nation should be to empower educators and students through technology that respects their constraints. By focusing on low-bandwidth, high-impact tools — like The Invigilator App and offline-capable learning platforms — South Africa can ensure that the technological revolution becomes a bridge to equity rather than a wall of exclusion.

True progress lies in celebrating contextual innovation and rewarding the creativity required to make learning accessible for all.

Landman is Executive: Educational Technology and Innovation in the Academic Centre of Excellence at The Independent Institute of Education.

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Jansen says postgraduate education needs reset

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Jansen says postgraduate education needs reset

Staff Reporter

South African universities need to recover the intellectual purpose of postgraduate education, resist xenophobia in the academy and improve the quality of supervision, Professor Jonathan Jansen said at a national higher education colloquium this month.

Jansen, a distinguished professor of education at Stellenbosch University, made the remarks while delivering the keynote address at the third Enabling Quality Postgraduate Education colloquium, held in Gauteng on March 16 and 17.

The colloquium brought together academics, postgraduate supervisors, and higher education specialists to examine how to strengthen research culture and postgraduate training across the country.

Jansen opened with a warning about the impact of anti-foreign rhetoric on universities, saying academic life depended on the free movement of scholars and ideas.

“I never thought the day would come when I would see my government issuing blatantly xenophobic statements about foreign nationals who teach and do research on our campuses,” he said.

“Xenophobia has no place, whether on the streets or in the halls of the academy,” he added.

He said universities could not treat knowledge production as a closed national project. “None of us has developed knowledge in isolation from people in other countries,” he said, adding that South African institutions had to remain open to intellectual exchange across borders.

Jansen’s remarks came after Parliament in February questioned universities and TVET colleges over their employment of foreign academics, warning institutions not to use “internationalisation” as a pretext to sidestep immigration and labour laws.

The higher education and home affairs committees said foreign appointments had to match genuine scarce-skills needs and “must not disadvantage South Africans”, while committee chair Tebogo Letsie said institutions had to show why foreign academics were needed and comply fully with the law.

In March, the Department of Higher Education and Training was ordered to submit a detailed list of foreign academics employed at universities and colleges, amid fallout from an SIU probe into corruption in visa and permit processing.

Higher Education Minister Buti Manamela adopted a more qualified stance than some MPs, saying South Africans “must be prioritised in employment opportunities” and that internationalisation was “not a loophole to bypass local employment”.

But he also said foreign nationals made up about 12% of permanent academic staff at public universities and that there was “no evidence of systematic displacement of South Africans in permanent academic posts”.

Committee demands list of foreign academics after SIU flags visa corruption

At the colloquium, Jansen then turned to what he said was a more basic question: what postgraduate education is actually for.

He said universities too often fall back on narrow, instrumental answers linked to labour market needs, research methods, and professional preparation, while neglecting deeper intellectual goals.

Distortion of priorities

He warned that financial pressure was distorting academic priorities. “In real terms, government spending on higher education has steadily declined,” he said. “Departments, therefore, feel pressure to produce more master’s and doctoral students simply to sustain themselves.”

That pressure, he said, could erode standards. “At its worst,” Jansen said, “the entire process of postgraduate education has been corrupted in a relentless quest to maximise income and research outputs.”

He was highly critical of practices he said undermined academic integrity. “Do not claim authorship on your students’ work,” he said. “You are paid to supervise that student. It is the student’s work.”

He also condemned “salami slicing”, where one study is broken into several smaller papers, saying: “You take a small piece of research, and you churn it into several mediocre articles. That is not scholarship. That is gaming the system.”

Jansen said the purpose of postgraduate study should be broader than getting students over the line. “The purpose of postgraduate education is to cultivate the intellectual mind,” he said. “It should produce students who can think deeply within and beyond the confines of their field.”

He also challenged the traditional one-on-one supervision model. “No one supervisor, unless you are extremely arrogant, has the depth and the range of knowledge to educate the postgraduate student fully,” he said, calling instead for cohort-based models that expose students to wider intellectual communities.

The colloquium, held under the theme “Enhancing the Knowledge Project”, was the last in a three-part EQPE series led by Professor Sioux McKenna of Rhodes University with funding from the Department of Higher Education and Training.

It was implemented with the Community of Practice for Postgraduate Education and Scholarship, led by Professor Stephanie Burton of the University of Pretoria.

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eThekwini, DUT students rally against GBVF in awareness hike

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eThekwini, DUT students rally against GBVF in awareness hike

Staff Reporter

eThekwini Municipality and activist group Mzansi Act Now led a four-kilometre awareness hike on Saturday with 50 female Durban University of Technology students in a campaign against gender-based violence and femicide.

The initiative, led through the municipality’s Community Services Committee, aimed to educate and empower young women while linking physical activity to advocacy, awareness and healing, the city said in a statement.

The municipality said the session focused “not only on physical wellness, but also on promoting healing as a critical component of long-term solutions to gender-based violence”.

“We are excited to be partnering with Mzansi Act Now and various stakeholders in delivering youth development programmes where participants can grow, support one another, and learn together,” Community Services Committee Chairperson Councillor Zama Sokhabase said.

The city said the hike formed part of efforts to address gender-based violence through partnerships, strategic planning and educational programmes that encourage open dialogue.

According to the 2022 National GBV Study by the Human Sciences Research Council, more than 35% of South African women aged 18 and older have experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime.

The municipality said the hike marked its first monthly collaboration of the year.

“The Committee will table and discuss ways to strengthen this partnership and engage more Municipal Directorates to extend the programme’s reach to more universities, and both male and female students,” Sokhabase said.

Mzansi Act Now — a movement founded by South African men to combat GBVFA, champion youth and female development, and promote men’s health and wellness — welcomed the partnership.

The organisation said no individual, regardless of gender, should experience gender-based violence.

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Chiloane wants stronger school sports drive to grow Gauteng talent

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Chiloane wants stronger school sports drive to grow Gauteng talent

Lebone Rodah Mosima

Gauteng MEC for Education, Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation Matome Chiloane used the Gauteng Sport Indaba in Boksburg this week to call for wider school sport participation, stronger talent pathways and more investment in township facilities.

Speaking at the indaba, Chiloane said Gauteng needed a more integrated approach to sport from school level upward.

“This Indaba anchors a clear vision, which is a seamless, integrated, and lifelong pathway for every citizen,” Chiloane said.

“This vision requires data-driven decision-making, strong governance, inclusive facility planning, and a united focus on literacy, equity, and building a business case for funding sports and recreation in the province.”

He said too many pupils were falling out of organised sport because schools remained heavily concentrated around a narrow set of codes.

“We might be losing some of our kids because we expect them to perform in football or netball as a form of recreation. So if they are not in the school team for either sport, they are out, and in this way we miss the talent,” he said.

The call aligns with national school sport resolutions adopted in 2023, which urged closer implementation between the sport and basic education departments, stronger monitoring, educator-led school sport, formal training programmes, and the introduction of Physical Education as a stand-alone subject.

Chiloane said access to sport also had to be widened in poorer communities.

“Our former Model-C schools have facilities that just need upgrading — but in our townships, that’s where investments must be focused, so we can get these learners involved,” he stated.

Gauteng supported 208 school leagues with 13,617 participants in the 2024/25 financial year and provided equipment and attire to 409 non-fee-paying schools, with soccer, netball, volleyball, and chess emerging as the most popular school league codes.

Chiloane said earlier talent identification could help Gauteng produce more top-level athletes over time.

“If we start now, in schools, identifying their talent, it gives us around 10 years to prepare for those Olympics,” he said.

“We still have time. So let’s be the first in Gauteng to get ready on the streets and set the scene for the Olympics to come.”

He also said sport spending was a broader social and economic investment, a theme echoed in official messaging around the indaba, which brought together government, federations and private-sector stakeholders to discuss the future of Gauteng’s sport system.

“Let this Indaba be a place where we build a house that is truly the foundation of champions and an economic hub for sports and recreation in the country and the province — a place for every citizen to enjoy their rights, participate, belong, excel, and thrive from cradle to the grave.”

The indaba came just over a week after Chiloane launched Vorentoe Sports School of Specialisation in Johannesburg, which the provincial government said was Gauteng’s 38th School of Specialisation.

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Court clears way for KZN’s controversial R2.5bn school nutrition programme

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Court clears way for KZN’s controversial R2.5bn school nutrition programme

Staff Reporter

The KwaZulu-Natal education department will press on with its R2.5 billion school nutrition programme after the Pietermaritzburg High Court struck off the roll an urgent bid by service providers to halt the awarding of contracts.

The programme provides meals to about 2.5 million learners a day in KwaZulu-Natal.

The court ruled in its favour on Friday and ordered the applicants to pay costs, allowing the programme to continue, while any remaining administrative and operational issues are dealt with through due process.

“This outcome means the Department can continue implementing the programme without disruption, while allowing space for due process to be followed in addressing any outstanding administrative or operational matters,” the department said in a statement.

The urgent application was brought by a group of service providers seeking to interdict the tender rollout. They argued that if the department were allowed to proceed with appeals currently pending with the provincial treasury, unsuccessful bidders would be prejudiced and left without recourse.

In their court papers, the applicants also raised allegations of corruption and irregularities in the tender process. These included claims involving a company linked to the mother of Education MEC Sipho Hlomuka, companies allegedly tied to politically connected individuals, and assertions that some firms were registered after the tender closed but still received contracts.

The department, in a replying affidavit by its director for nutrition, Thanduxolo Cele, said the application was flawed because it sought to stop the entire process, including clusters where there were no disputes.

Following Friday’s ruling, the department sought to reassure schools and families that the feeding scheme would continue uninterrupted.

“We must reassure all stakeholders — learners, parents, and schools — that working together with committed service providers, the School Nutrition Programme remains fully operational across the province,” the statement said.

“We remain firmly committed to ensuring that there are no interruptions to the programme and learners continue to receive nutritious meals daily.”

The department said there were “ongoing constructive engagements with all stakeholders” to ensure the programme functioned optimally and that it was already taking steps to tighten monitoring, improve procurement and payment efficiency, ensure accountability, and make sure service providers were paid on time.

“While the matter has been struck off the roll, our priority remains unchanged—ensuring that no learner goes hungry. We will continue to strengthen the implementation of the School Nutrition Programme and address any challenges with urgency and transparency,” Hlomuka said.

The department said it remained committed to adhering to procurement rules and regulations in delivering the programme as a vital support to teaching and learning.

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NSRI, Scouts roll out water safety, skills programme for youth

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NSRI, Scouts roll out water safety, skills programme for youth

By Charmaine Ndlela

The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) and SCOUTS South Africa Western Cape Region have launched a youth development programme that tackles high drowning rates in vulnerable communities, while opening doors to volunteering and lifeguarding roles for youth.

“The partnership addresses two linked challenges — high drowning rates in vulnerable communities and limited access to opportunities for young people who are not in employment, education or training,” NSRI Communications Manager Andrew Ingram told Inside Education.

ALSO READ: SA takes first place at African Spelling Bee, world champs up next

“Many of these communities lack basic water safety knowledge and swimming skills, while young people also lack clear pathways into meaningful work or volunteering. This programme tackles both by combining drowning prevention with skills development and career pathways.”

The initiative, which started in February and will run until December, focuses on water safety, survival swimming and long-term skills development.

It was introduced during the Western Cape Scouting-in-Schools leadership training camp at the Hawequas Scout Adventure Centre in Wellington, where about 335 volunteer Scout leaders took part in water safety education and survival swimming exercises.

The programme is being delivered in partnership with the Scouting-in-Schools initiative, which focuses on young people not in employment, education or training.

ALSO READ: Schoolgirl fight sparks probe into violence at township school

NSRI Honorary Life Governor Keith Burchell said the initiative was designed to create a route for young people into the organisation.

“We wanted to create a pathway for young people to come into the NSRI whether as volunteers, lifeguards or even future crew. What we are seeing now is that pathway coming to life,” he said.

Project Manager Tasmin Kriel said the programme was about opening doors for young people while also benefiting communities.

“This is about exposing young people to opportunities they’ve never had before. It creates a journey from learning to swim, to volunteering, and potentially to a career in lifeguarding,” she said.

The programme also aims to build community capacity by equipping participants with skills they can pass on to others.

“Young people are trained in water safety and survival swimming, and then equipped to take that knowledge back into their own communities,” Ingram said.

“This means more people learning how to float, stay calm, and avoid dangerous situations in the water, all of which are proven to reduce drowning risk.”

Ingram said the initiative was designed as a long-term intervention rather than a once-off project, with participants moving through successive stages of training.

ALSO READ: North West education targets R24m in staff debt

“Participants move from basic exposure to water safety, to survival swimming, to instructing, and potentially into lifeguarding and NSRI volunteer roles,” he said.

He said the programme starts with an introduction to water safety and survival swimming, followed by efforts to build basic swimming ability and work towards required distances.

“From there, participants can progress into training as survival swimming or water safety instructors, gain practical experience in their communities, and ultimately move into formal lifeguard training,” he said.

“This creates a clear, step-by-step journey from beginner to professional capability.”

More than half of participants who initially identified as non-swimmers reported gaining confidence in the water after just one session.

Participants were not externally selected. After the initial training, they chose voluntarily to continue.

The next phase will see 192 volunteers continue their development, including delivering water safety presentations in schools and working towards instructor and lifeguard qualifications.

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Limpopo hands over new Baphuting community library

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Limpopo hands over new Baphuting community library

By Levy Masiteng 

The Limpopo Department of Sport, Arts and Culture has officially handed over the Baphuting Community Library under the Seleka Tribal Authority,  marking a boost for access to information in the area.

The opening of the new facility drew residents from Ga Seleka and surrounding villages, as well as traditional leaders and local government officials.

ALSO READ: SA takes first place at African Spelling Bee, world champs up next

The multimillion-rand library is equipped with a computer lab offering free internet access, a collection of fiction, non-fiction and reference books, dedicated reading room, and a fully resourced children’s section with educational toys to support early childhood development.

The department said that a qualified librarian had also been appointed.

During the ceremony, the department handed over sporting equipment as part of its drive to promote community sport.

Addressing the community, Limpopo Sport, Arts and Culture MEC Jerry Maseko emphasised the importance of safeguarding the facility and ensuring it benefits residents.

“This library belongs to the people of Ga Seleka. It must be protected, it must be used, and it must be accessible to every member of this community,” he said.

ALSO READ: Universities start autumn graduation season

He added that the appointment of a qualified librarian would ensure the centre delivers “services of an international standard and makes a meaningful impact in people’s lives”.

The department said the construction of facilities such as the Baphuting Community Library forms part of a strategy to bridge the digital divide and expand access to knowledge in historically disadvantaged communities.

“This is not just a building; it is an investment in education, access to information and the future of this community,” Maseko said.

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