Projects in South Africa
Local Leadership
Working with Rotary Clubs in South Africa, The Townships Project focuses on Building Better Businesses in several ways.
We work with Rotary and other local organizations to develop programs, services and events for small business owners to find financing, marketing, mentoring, accounting, and other skills and networking opportunities. Where possible we provide government-accredited training so that existing businesses can ultimately qualify for government contracts, with a particular focus on those that benefit women and children.
Examples of current projects include:
Early Childhood Development (ECD) Training
During 2023, in partnership with Sesgo Foundation and Charlottetown Rotary Club, training 50 practitioners in two separate 3-month sessions to qualify for a NQF Level 5 certificate. This certificate qualifies these ECD centres to apply for government funding on a per diem basis for the more than 1500 children they are caring for.
Studies have long proven the value of Early Childhood Development (ECD) in every child’s life. ECD is also foundational to building healthy communities. South African Rotarian Annemarie Mostert recognized an opportunity in the transformational potential of ECD.
In 2019, led by CEO Mostert, Sesego Foundation developed and ran an accredited ECD training program in Alexandra Township. Graduates of this training are now entitled to ongoing government-funds per child. The result is sustainable day care businesses, benefitting the women owners, the children and their parents. In 2020, The Townships Project provided funds to Sesego’s program in Soweto.
From 2021 to 2023, we were founding funders for three subsequent programs in the Township of Mathibestat near Pretoria, two of them with support from the Charlottetown Rotary Club in Canada.
During 2024 we funded two ECD business training programs near Lanseria outside Johannesburg, again with support from Charlottetown Rotary.
Building Better Businesses
In 2023, we were able to assist Nokwanda Mchunu, owner of Pink Print Farm Butchers, as she worked to restore her business after catastrophic flooding in 2022. We met Nokwanda at our first Building Better Businesses (BBB) Symposium held in 2018.
The BBB was at the heart of our work from 2018 to 2022. Two in-person Symposiums were held in 2018 and 2019, and two hybrid live/online Symposiums were held in 2021 and 2022 during the pandemic, with the purpose of empowering small business entrepreneurs in townships and rural areas. Speakers and sessions were focused on building the skills necessary for entrepreneurs to grow their businesses as they continue to be the key contributors to socio-economic development in South Africa.
Our work in this area continues through our partnership with Property Point, founded by Rotarian Shawn Theunissen. Last year we banded together with Shawn and his Head of Operations, Desigan Chetty, to support their outreach in Kagiso Township near Johannesburg. The initial phase of that partnership is described under Kagiso Female Plumbers. We anticipate that the business training opportunities of the Symposium will also continue and expand with this group.
Government-Accredited Skills Training
In 2023, we began a partnership with Property Point, supporting three female plumbing companies in Kagiso township, to upgrade their skills over a two-year training program.
In South Africa, SETA stands for Sector Education and Training Authority. SETAs focus on providing skills development and training to people employed or seeking employment in their sectors. SETAs are tasked with developing skills development plans in response to the skills needs in their sectors. Every industry and job in the country is covered by one of the 21 SETAs.
One of the functions of a SETA is to establish a learnership that has a structured learning programme and a practical work experience of a specified nature and duration. The learnership must lead to a qualification that is recognised by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA).
The Townships Project works with its partners to provide SETA opportunities for small business owners, with a special focus on women and youth. Earning SETA certifications can qualify business owners for government contracts and other earnings opportunities
Community Conflict Mediation
2021 marked 100 years of Rotary in Africa. To celebrate, local clubs created an ambitious plan to train 100 mediators: The African Rotary Community Mediation (ARCoM) Project. Our charity provided foundational funding to train youth and women from marginalized communities in mediation. Training was provided by the Rotary Vocational Training Team (VTT) in partnership with the Africa Centre for Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) and Unisa’s Institute for Dispute Resolution in Africa (IDRA).
On 25 March 2023, 66 individuals graduated from the ARCoM program conducted in partnership with Mediators Beyond Borders International. As professional mediators, graduates can expect pay for the work that many were doing informally without pay. Several Canadian Rotarians and directors of The Townships Project attended the graduation in South Africa virtually.
In October 2023, an application was made to Rotary International to form a Peace Building and Conflict Prevention group to continue this work in Africa and internationally. The Townships Project has completed its financial commitment to this program, but is gratified that support for this initiative is being widely taken up in Rotary in Southern Africa.
