OVERVIEW
OVERVIEW Dispersed-air-flotation rig with shear-induced flotation. more than R1.6-billion in e-learning over the last five years in response to Covid and the demands of remote learning. A total of 1 290 schools within the province now have broadband connectivity and there are 1 316 with computer labs and 9 992 smart classrooms (SOPA). The CHIETA SMART Skills Centre has been launched in Saldanha Bay. The Chemical Industries Education and Training Authority intends for the R3-million facility to help citizens learn digital skills. The University of Cape Town joined the trend with the creation of an online high school. The school hopes to close the opportunity gap for poor students in under-resourced areas. The University of Cape Town has more than 21 500 students, 720 permanent staff and 39 A-rated researchers (40% of South Africa’s total). In 2024, a donation of R200-million from the Donald Gordon Foundation to the university’s Neuroscience Institute was announced. Stellenbosch University is linked to Stellenbosch’s growing reputation as a technology hub. The University of the Western Cape is home to several national research bodies. These three institutions, plus the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, produce approximately 12 000 science, technology, engineering and mathematics graduates every year and host 11 000 students from other African countries. University education is available in George through the Nelson Mandela University (NMU): Saasveld is home to the School of Natural Resource Management and the York Street Campus delivers ONLINE RESOURCES Apprenticeship Game Changer: www.westerncape.gov.za Centres of Specialisation: www.dhet.gov.za SA Renewable Energy Technology Centre: www.saretec.org.za TVET colleges: www.tvetcolleges.co.za courses in business and social science, accounting and business management. Unisa, the country’s biggest distance-learning institution, has a campus in Cape Town and a service centre in George. SARETEC offers industry-specific training in a new economic sector. The South African Renewable Energy Technology Centre is managed by the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (Bellville campus) but it collaborates with several other institutions and private companies. A Centres of Specialisation Programme has been introduced by the Department of Higher Education and Training to tackle priority skills. The College of Cape Town TVET concentrates on plumbing and automotive motor mechanics. A welding academy in Thornton has been opened with support from the merSETA (Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services SETA). Outside of the Cape metropole, Boland College looks after Stellenbosch, Worcester, Paarl and Caledon, while the Southern Cape College covers a wide area, from George to Beaufort West. The West Coast College also has a big catchment area. Two business schools have taken up new premises in Cape Town. Henley Business School is offering four of its accredited qualifications, three at undergraduate level, and its honours-level Postgraduate Diploma in Management Practice from its Brickfield campus in Woodstock. Students at the Regent Business School in The Boulevard Office Park also have full access to the iLead lab and Black Umbrellas business incubation hub. ■ WESTERN CAPE BUSINESS 2024 40 PHOTO: SAIAMC
WECBOF makes it happen! The Western Cape Business Opportunities Forum (WECBOF) provides a platform for businesses to establish and maintain contact with fellow entrepreneurs; to have access to opportunities, information and training; and to have representation on a number of relevant forums of government and other associations focussed on growing and enhancing the commercial sector, with a specific focus on small-, medium-, and micro enterprises (SMMEs). WECBOF is widely recognised and respected as a powerful voice for business in the Western Cape; we are a provincial service organisation with our focus and attention firmly on the national and international business pulse. CALL US TODAY. +27 21 946 2519 office@wecbof.co.za www.wecbof.co.za www.facebook.com/wecbof/ @wecbof A powerful voice for business. Where entrepreneurs excel.
