Joel Dikgole, Chief Executive Officer of the Wholesale and Retail Sector Education and Training Authority, told graduates from the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences that doing good in society makes one feel better.

Dikgole was a guest speaker at last evening’s graduation ceremony where about 500 students were awarded diplomas and degrees.

He added that in order for the graduates to move forward and be happy they need to give back to their communities.

“Be part of something and don’t stand for yourself alone,” he said.

He said that graduates should figure out what their calling in life is and do something about it as nobody can tell them what it is.

“Your real job is to find out the reason why you are here today and do something about it,” he said.

He commended the graduates for taking the opportunity in life to absorb knowledge and expressing their eagerness to move to the next level of knowledge.

He added that the partnership between CPUT and his SETA, which saw the establishment of the only W&R SETA Research Chair in South Africa, will produce graduates who meet the sector’s demographical profile and its need for skills.

“There’s a need for universities to have partnerships with SETAs to ensure that students are empowered with skills needed in that sector,” he said.

Written by Kwanele Butana

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Wholesale &Retail (W&R) SETA CEO Joel Dikgole had some sobering words for Faculty of Business graduates today. In his address to the latest crop of graduates from the Entrepreneurship, Event Management, Retail Business Management, Real Estate and Sport Management Departments, Dikgole drew attention to the scourge of poverty and unemployment in South Africa.

“With unemployment running at 25% and service delivery protests happening with alarming regularity, graduates must come up with innovative solutions to tackle these challenges.” Dikgole says that no country in the world can overcome such social ills without investing in skills development and education of all its citizens, as countries like Singapore, Japan and Korea did to become the economic giants they are today.

Dikgole’s sentiments were made a reality recently when the W&R SETA invested over R11 million to establish Africa’s first Wholesale & Retail (W&R) Leadership Chair in Africa, to be based at the CPUT. It is a direct result of the SETA’s initiative to cooperate with universities to encourage the production of academic and applied research in this sector of business.

Another highlight of today’s ceremony was the awarding The Vice Chancellor’s Medal to Nyasha Felistas Chikovo. Nyasha, who hails from Zimbabwe, registered for her National Diploma in Retail Business Management in 2010. She achieved distinctions in 28 out of the 30 modules she completed in her National Diploma and BTech degrees.

Graduates from the Building, Chemical Engineering, Cartography, Civil Engineering, Surveying, Construction Management and Quantity Surveying Departments are set to receive their diplomas and degrees this evening. The graduates are all from the Faculty of Engineering, who will be hosting this eight graduation ceremony on the Bellville campus.

Written by Janyce Weintrob
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