South African Business 2018 edition

SPECIAL FEATURE
Roof maintenance specialists Topps Group South
Africa has developed a detailed training module
where roofers and waterproofers can attain qualifications
while learning about the characteristics
of the products they will apply to roofing surfaces.
The programme is delivered by the company that
applies the roofing products after their staff have
been trained by Topps.
Volkswagen South Africa has several skills and
training programmes which include the Commercial
Trainee Programme, the Graduate Trainees, Further
Education Training and Wanderjahre programmes.
In the motor manufacturer’s home town of
Uitenhage, Volkswagen has five learning academies.
Open to employees and suppliers, the academies’
programmes are SETA-accredited. and offer a range
of courses available through workshops, exercises,
e-learning or on-the-job-training.
Higher education
With the inauguration of the Sol Plaatje University
(Northern Cape) and the University of Mpumalanga,
every province now has its own university, of which
there are 26 in all. The Sefako Makgatho Health
Sciences University has also opened in Gauteng.
There are three categories of university: universities
offering only degrees and post-graduate
courses with a strong research component, comprehensive
universities offering a mix of degrees
and diplomas and universities of technology, formerly
known as technikons. There are also 87 registered
and 27 provisionally registered private higher
education institutions.
Universities of technology have a specific focus on
educating young people in fields that will enhance
the country’s economic performance.
Some of the courses can be very demanding.
Among the new courses on offer at the Cape
Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) are diplomas
in geomatics (one of South Africa’s most
sought-after skills to aid surveyors, town planners and
civil engineers), clothing and textile technology, and
horticulture and landscape architecture. CPUT also
offers a range of short courses, allowing employed
people the opportunity to get up to speed in an area
of specialisation or to understand new developments
in a particular field. Sometimes an employer will ask
CPUT to structure a course for a group of employees,
for example, in ICT. These courses do not earn candidates
diplomas, but may be used to gain credits.
Traditional universities are also aware of the need
to align their courses and research programmes with
the needs of the economy.
There are three World Health Organisation (WHO)
Collaborating Centres at UWC and the Centre of
Excellence in Food Security (with Pretoria University)
is funded by the National Research Foundation
and the Department of Science and Technology.
Biotechnology and food security come together
in the Plant Biotechnology Research group at UWC,
which studies ways of developing crops that can
resist drought.
This kind of focus on specific challenges facing
society in South Africa is an example of universities
working to make their research relevant.
The University of Cape Town is offering a course
in Health Innovation that encourages talented young
South Africans to find solutions to the country’s
health problems. Another UCT degree that tackles a
specific challenge faced in the South African economy
is a master’s in Sustainable Mineral Resource
Development.
Private colleges such as MANCOSA (Management
College of Southern Africa) often specialise in particular
fields. In this case, a range of certificates, diplomas
and degrees in business, commerce and
administration is presented at five sites around
South Africa.
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