In 2023, Sol Plaatje University in Kimberley celebrated its 10th anniversary. The first student body was all of 124, but enrolment is now over 5 000 as the institution’s offering and reputation has also grown.
Sol Plaatje University (SPU) is named after the great intellectual, writer and advocate for equal rights. One of Plaatje’s books, Native life in South Africa, tells the story in harrowing detail of how black South Africans were thrown off their land as a consequence of the 1913 Land Act. He was also a novelist, a translator and one of the founding members and first Secretary-General of the South African Native National Congress (SANNC), which became the ANC.
With a brand-new university in the province, it was fitting that the Premier elected to lead the province after the elections of 2019 should be Dr Zamani Saul. Already the holder of a PhD in law, two Master’s degrees and a BProc, Dr Saul is studying towards a second PhD. On his watch, education has been a key priority.
In his final State of the Province Address in 2024, Dr Saul reported that construction of 19 new schools began during his term of office, eight of which have been completed. R274-million was spent on refurbishment, upgrades and maintenance and 74 schools received sanitation upgrades. Significantly, the Premier stated, “The proportion of persons aged 5-24 who attended an education institution increased from 64.2% to 70.3% in 2022 in the Northern Cape.”
Dr Saul also announced a skills-development and bursary programme to the value of R210-million in partnership with MERSETA. Since 2019, the provincial government’s partnerships with SETAs have benefitted 14 800 young people.
Speaking in the context of bursaries, Dr Saul says, “At the heart of a modern, growing and successful province is education. We won’t be able to modernise the province if we do not place emphasis on the education of our children.”
Steps have been taken to modernise the sector, with tablets loaded with Edu-Kite software being distributed to Grade 12 students in 2023, a Coding and Robotics pilot to be rolled out at 173 schools and another pilot that will see five classrooms around the province converted into cyber labs with modern equipment.
Corporate social investment (CSI) programmes of big solar park and wind farm companies are improving the conditions of educational facilities and giving opportunities where none existed before.
University
At the celebrations surrounding SPU’s 10th anniversary, Kumba Iron Ore and De Beers Group, two of the biggest mining companies active in the province, donated R20-million and R5-million towards the university’s Lesedi La Afrika Fund will support scholarships and social impact projects. The fund has set a target of R100-million.
Qondakele Sompondo, Director for Institutional Advancement at SPU, said the funding would make a significant impact on the lives of the youth of the Northern Cape.
In 2024, representatives from Kolomela Mine, one of Kumba’s properties, were investigating the possibility of SPU setting up a Learning Centre in the small town of Postmasburg. In addition to catering to existing SPU students, the centre will allow residents to attend SPU short-course offerings and participate in SPU’s online Talent Pipeline Programme.
SPU has a staff complement where 60% of its academics have PhDs. The academic programme is housed in four schools: Education; Humanities; Natural and Applied Sciences; Economic and Management Sciences. Bachelor’s degrees are offered in education, science, science in data, ICT, heritage studies, commerce and arts. A diploma in retail business management (three years) and a one-year higher certificate in heritage studies completes the prospectus.
Skills and TVET colleges
The Northern Cape Urban TVET College comprises three campuses in Kimberley: City Campus, Moremogolo Campus and Phatsimang Campus where teacher training is done. At City Campus, students have access to three departments: business studies, engineering studies and a business unit that organises short courses in partnership with various public and private partners.
The Northern Cape Rural TVET College has campuses at Kathu, Upington, De Aar, Kuruman and Namakwaland. These colleges offer students courses in finance, economics and accounting; engineering; IT and computer science; management; hospitality; marketing; and tourism. NCR TVET College has a variety of part-time programmes and short skills programmes delivered in the form of learnerships, internships or apprenticeships. This enables adults and employed people to study after hours or to do enrichment courses.
The Provincial Government of the Northern Cape runs several skills programmes, including the Artisan Construction Programme, a three-year incubation programme aimed at young people, the Phakamile Mabija Apprenticeship (artisan incubation programme) and the S’hamba Sonke Contractor Development Programme.
Sol Plaatje University is teaching data analytical skills to undergraduates and many of them are moving into the financial sector on graduation. Another area where these skills are in great demand is radio astronomy. One of the world’s great scientific ventures, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope project, has been established near Carnarvon and the amount of data that it will generate is so great that it is difficult to comprehend. Many data analysts will be needed.
Artisan training has also benefitted from the presence of the SKA in Carnarvon. The new technical training centre has trained students as electricians, fitters and turners, in instrumentation, diesel mechanics, in IT and boilermaking, as well as in carpentry, plumbing, bricklaying and welding.
With support of the SKA, Carnarvon High School is the only school in the area offering mathematics and science.
