83 Kliptown Graduates Fan Hope In Their Community

March, 2020. Kliptown township is a place of infinite potential. With a population of approximately 44 000 people, high unemployment rate, high teenage pregnancy and high rates of HIV/AIDS, its people still remain hopeful.

“A few years ago, representatives from the township approached us asking for assistance. They believed that in order to combat some of these socio-economic ills in their community, education would play an integral part,” says Services Seta’s CEO, Amanda Buzo-Gqoboka.

“Initiative is a very attractive attribute. When faced with challenges, it is so important that we look around at what is available to us and try resolving these in creative ways,” she says.

The request was for financial support to run learnership programmes in business administration and a hygiene and cleaning programme. Beneficiaries included matriculants and young mothers in the community who had no matric. Services SETA responded with a grant to the value of R4 550 000 for 100 learners in the stipulated fields.

“Today, 83 of those learners are graduating, it has truly been a phenomenal journey to watch.”

The project, which commenced in November 2018 saw three training providers appointed, and 48 institutional partners who hosted learners for their practical work.

From the learners who benefited from the programme, 86% were female, one learner was disabled and 87% of the total group were classified as youth.

“It may not be easy, at face value, to understand the conditions under which some of these learners had to push to succeed in this programme. Their resilience and determination has already started paying off. Some of the learners have already been absorbed by companies such as Bidvest and Panarrotis,” she says.

The dropout rate for the programme was at a low 12%, 83% of the learners obtained their full qualifications and 5% obtained partial qualification.

“Today is about these learners, a showcase to their communities of how far hope can take you. In true African form, their achievement is something the whole community can boast about. It’s also evidence of how well the SETA system can work,” she says.