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| Mr Don Collier | CA (SA) CFA | Chairperson & Hon Treasurer |
| Ms Nombeko Mlambo | BA BEd MEd | Vice Chairperson |
| Mr Lindsay Bateman | B Comm CAIB (SA) | |
| Ms Janis Berard | BA TTHD | Hon Secretary |
| Dr Joe Chikombola | MSc PhD (Ped) | |
| Ms Cathy Clarke | BA | |
| Ms Elaine Deas | ||
| Mr Anthony Dietrichs | COSATU | |
| Ms Nolitha Fakude | BA (Hons) (Psych) | |
| Mr Daniel Johnson | BA (Hon) | |
| Ms Vera Lawrence | MSc HDE | |
| Ms Monica Stewart | AB MPA (Hons) (USA) | |
| Mr Tony Yengeni | MP | |
| Adv Wallace Mgoqi | B Soc Sc LLB | Hon President |
The year 1998 has been one of the most financially difficult periods BSDC has lived through and by March it appeared as if there was little hope for the Centre. Funding had almost completely dried up, despite all our efforts, and we were struggling to live from day to day. Furthermore, all around us, other NGOs were fighting a similar battle and many were being forced to close. In this frightening scenario it was imperative that we face reality and make some brutal decisions in order to survive and continue operating for the sake of our learners.
It became apparent to us that the evening classes were no longer fulfilling their intended function and that there was increasing student absenteeism and demotivation. The prime reason for this was the intensity of the course, in that classes were held 4 evenings a week from 17h45 – 20h15 for the duration of the provincial school year. As the majority of the students were holding down jobs of some kind during the day, the time commitment proved too great for many of them. For this reason we therefore decided to discontinue evening classes in their present format and consider the possibility of running short modular courses that could become self-funding.
We moreover decided that, in order to further cut our current operational costs, we would need to temporarily reduce the number of day classes, and therefore enrolled only one class of 15 students for the July – December period. This also enabled us to focus on re-working the curriculum and course content to be more outcomes based and to update it to meet the needs of business. Simultaneously with cutting our costs we went through a strategic planning exercise and set ourselves a fundraising target which we committed to attaining before the end of the year if we were to open our doors in 1999. With resolute purpose we persevered in our mission and are happy to report that we succeeded in reaching this target.
Our partnership with the National Access Consortium Western Cape (NACWC) continued with semester Office Skills courses in Worcester and at Somafho in Guguletu, though a one year pilot N2 Business Studies course at St Gabriel’s in Guguletu, and through the semester Introduction to Travel & Tourism course. These ran successfully and a total of 150 students graduated from these courses in 1998.
Much to our disappointment the NACWC informed us towards the end of the year that they would only be providing financial support for the Introduction to Travel & Tourism courses in 1999. With no other funding available we thus had no option but to close the two Guguletu programmes. We felt a great responsibility towards the Worcester programme, however, as we had built up a sound and trusting relationship with local business and the community in the two years that we had been operating there. The black community, especially, was deeply unhappy that we would have to close because, as they said, BSDC was running the only affordable training of its kind in the area and to close would deprive the youth of a chance to gain relevant, practical skills for office employment. Rather than close permanently, we therefore decided to temporarily suspend the Worcester programme at the end of 1998 until such time as we could raise sufficient funds to re-open the programme.
The success of BSDC’s training lies in the emphasis on the personal development of each student as an individual, the practical nature of the courses and the after-care service offered by the student affairs division which assists and supports students in their job search. None of this would happen without the selfless hard work and dedication of BSDC staff who, despite the stresses and financial uncertainties of working for an NGO, are firmly committed to uplift those who are most disadvantaged and make a difference in the “new� South Africa. The Board of Directors would like to say a big thank you to all of them for everything they continue to do to fulfil the mission of BSDC.
It is heartening to reflect that, in the twelve years of BSDC’s operation, we have trained over 1,000 students and that approximately 80% of them have become employed in the business environment and that every one of these is supporting on average 7 - 10 non-working dependents. Job creation and employment is one of the biggest challenges facing South Africa today, and the major solution to our soaring crime rate. BSDC is proud of the role it has played over the years in training those with no hope to become productive, economically active citizens who are able to contribute to the growth of our country.
| Mr Don Collier | Barbara Molteno |
| Chairperson | Manager |
Vocational training in South Africa continues to undergo structural and educational change. Changes in the further education and training sector are designed to better address the needs of both potential employees and employers. This report outlines how BSDC is addressing this change and tables our progress.
We have upgraded our computer training. We train our learners in Windows 95 and MS Word 97 as well as offering a short introduction to MS Excel 97. The focused Research Skills Course that was introduced has proved very successful. The aim of this course is to develop information gathering and presentation skills and to further develop, practise and emphasise skills learnt in Communication, Lifeskills and English (i.e. confidence, assertiveness, organisation, interaction, group dynamics). This course, together with Communication and English, will eventually form one course under the umbrella Business Communication. Assessment procedures have been changed so that learners’ final assessments are made up of a percentage of class assignments, projects, mid assessment and the final assessment.
Teachers meet regularly to discuss course content and plan changes for 1999. As yet the national standards setting body for commerce has not been established. Once this is fully functional we will be better informed about the process of registering our courses with SAQA. The needs analysis carried out earlier in the year continues to inform the changes we implement at BSDC. We are developing modules in business writing and frontline skills for in-service training in the corporate environment. These are being developed in partnership with Gonda Coetzee of Flags Skills Development Programmes.
Whenever possible teachers attend workshops and training to assist and inform the work we do at BSDC and to ensure that we keep abreast of developments and changes.
The commitment of our teachers and the dedication of our learners continue to ensure relevant and quality learning. BSDC is moving confidently and positively towards the year 2000.
Fleur Hanekom
Education Coordinator
Downsizing and restructuring within organisations together with the general economic climate has led to greater difficulty in placing our graduates than over the past 11 years. Nevertheless, we still managed to place on average 6 graduates per month, which means that we placed 52 graduates between January and September 1998.
Many of our Worcester students relocated to take up employment outside of the Western Cape while some are still being employed on a contract or temporary basis in Worcester itself, and a few have found permanent work locally, largely as a result of the work shadow programme.
All BSDC students do a compulsory 3 week practical work shadow training programme within various types of corporate business in commerce and industry. This exercise often leads to permanent employment for the students, once they have graduated. The ‘downside’ of this exercise is that occasionally, despite providing the ‘work shadow’ companies with specific mentorship guidelines, students are given very menial tasks to do instead of being meaningfully employed during their internship.
We sometimes encounter negative experiences when placing our students in the workplace, such as when the prospective employer finds the candidate unsuitable for permanent employment because of her/his indigenous accent. Other cultures in this country seem to forget that for the most part they are totally illiterate in the indigenous languages, and while accents from other parts of Africa are found to be charming and quaint and therefore acceptable, the local accent is not. This is totally deplorable and discriminatory.
After graduating, students are desperate to gain some working experience and to this end engage in voluntary work where they can. Most companies recognise this need and at least pay the students their travelling costs. There are, however some companies still exploitative enough to withhold even this minimal contribution and thus indulge in morally unfair labour practice.
During this year we were requested to present case histories of our graduate students’ employment and career paths to the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). This we did in order to gain COSATU’s endorsement of our bridging and training programmes. This exercise, and the function of our resource centre, which is part of the placement division, was instrumental in securing the endorsement.
The function of the resource centre is vital for the ex-students who return to the centre to use the equipment and other resources in order to maintain their skills during their job search. Once students have graduated, the struggle to embark on a meaningful career now begins and the resources which we make available to them, enable them to remain motivated and confident. It is from here that they continue their networking and job search.
We include herein extracts from a few selected BSDC graduate career histories, in their own words, which reflect the value of our training and the impact of the placement division in ensuring meaningful employment for our students:
Tammy Mungeka: “Most of the training was practical and, in addition to this, we were sent to commercial business for further training. This in turn helped me develop self-confidence and self-discipline, which is an essential characteristic when one seeks employment.
After completing a course at BSDC, they found me employment at Woolworths where I worked for six months as an administrative clerk in a temporary post. Thereafter they once more assisted me to find employment with the Western Cape Education Department, where I started as a grade 1 clerk. Now I’ve been with the Department for 3 years and have been promoted to the position of Senior Clerk. “
Ellen Pontshi:
I worked as a secretary at the Independent Development Trust after I had been placed by BSDC as a trainee secretary for six months. Within a few months I was working as Personal Assistant in the Chief Executive’s office. After the trainee period, I became permanently employed.
Today I am a proud and confident citizen furthering my studies by doing the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer course.�
Cecilia Lepheana:
“On 18 June 1997 I graduated from BSDC and by the end of July had got a job at Mastercard Foreign Exchange. After 3 months I was employed permanently. I have been with the company a year now and they have made me second in charge. On 3 July 1998 my supervisor went abroad on holiday until August and I was able to manage the branch successfully.�
Pearl Mbimba (now an entrepreneurial business woman):
“Before I came to BSDC I had worked as a casual cashier at the Hyperama. Because of the course I did at BSDC, I was promoted to Supervisor.
Now I am managing my own small business and it took me about a year to be fully experienced and to meet the demands of running a business. My business is to provide training in cashier work, which includes customer service, operating a speedpoint system and stock taking. I also assist my students in job seeking. I have a lot of students who attend the course and the business is growing day by day. “
Thandeka Mayisela
Elaine Deas
It is with pleasure that I present my report on the thirteenth year of activities of our Centre. Attached hereto and to be read in conjunction with this report are the audited Annual Financial Statements for the twelve months ended 31 December 1999. Finance
BSDC operated at a surplus of R77,712 for twelve nine month period under review as against a surplus of R19,666 in the previous year. Our accumulated funds at 31 December 1999 stood at only R103,530. Financing the Centre during the period was enormously difficult and fundraising continues to be an urgent and ongoing priority. I am happy to report that we have secured funding to finance our operations well into the year 2000.
We continue to be funded on the basis of private sector sponsorships. No direct state assistance is received for our core programmes, although we conducted a secretarial/office admin course on behalf of the Dept of Labour from July – December. Sponsorships are canvassed by us from business and funding communities and other supportive organisations. Students are called upon to pay only a nominal fee for their training. BSDC Courses
We continued to run our Office Administration courses this year and also introduced a one year pilot Business Practice course for 20 students. In addition, for the second year, Travel and Tourism training was conducted in partnership with the National Access Consortium, who funded the training. This consisted of 2 modules: a general introduction to travel and tourism from January to June; and a module comprising more specialised subjects, including Galileo, from July - December. 30 students enrolled for the introductory course and, of these,15 were accepted onto the second module. It will be interesting to see how these students are absorbed into the travel industry. Sponsors
I extend our very grateful thanks to our sponsors whose names are listed at the end of this report. Without their support the Centre would simply not be able to continue. The climate for fundraising in South Africa continues to be extremely difficult and this aspect of our activities absorbs an inordinate amount of staff time. We believe we should receive financial assistance from the State and are continuing our efforts in this direction.
Don Collier
Hon. Treasurer
BSDC Sponsors 1999