The Wholesale & Retail Sector Education and Training Authority (W&R SETA) has this year awarded bursaries to 316 CPUT students to the value of approximately R30 million.

  The students in the Retail Business Management Department applied for the bursaries after the SETA invited applicants in an advertisement published in national media.

“SETA adjudicates the applications and award based on merit,” says Advancement Director Calvin Maseko.

“The SETA then sends a list of the approved students to CPUT before coming to us for verifications.”

The SETA’s bursaries were awarded to CPUT students as follows:

303 undergraduate students got a maximum of R71 000 each;

Seven continuing students got a maximum of R71 000 each. Previously the SETA funded 96 students and out of the 96 the seven are still continuing with their qualifications;

Four PhD students, got a maximum of R250 000 each and;

12 Masters students got a maximum of R150 000 each.

“The PhD students are CPUT lecturers and this is highly appreciated because it motivates staff members to get higher qualifications,” says Maseko.

The initiative contributes to the university’s targets for the New Generation of Academics Programme.

CPUT has already made books and meals allocation to the students and the invoices were sent to the SETA.

“CPUT highly appreciates this partnership,” he says gratefully.   

Written by Kwanele Butana
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A ground-breaking facility offering management development programmes in partnership with the Wholesale and Retail Sector Education and Training Authority (W&R SETA) and CPUT was recently launched.

The facility features equipment like computers, an interactive data projector and other essential equipment valued at around R500 000 and will be used in the offering of essential short courses to retail industry workers.

The event hosted at the W&R Leadership Academy also saw more than 160 certificates awarded to employees of the 17 retailers who participated and completed the academy’s programmes in 2016. Mathealira Mokupo, W&RSETA Administrator, says the day was a milestone.
“Today we launch the seventh SETA simulation centre, the centre will not only be used for training purposes but also for assessment of RSM qualifications,” says Mokupo. 
“The academy plays a huge role as part of the Research Chair and is inclined towards the use of technology and innovation to improve the profession.”

Graduates were awarded certificates for completing the Retail Store Manager Qualification (Certificate in Retail Marketing) and the Retailing 1 course. Acting Dean in the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences, Willem Lotter, says the university’s W&R Leadership Academy started in 2016 and has a proud legacy because when his recently retired colleague Petrus Venter was still at the helm of the Retail Management department the course boasted a 100% employment record of his graduates.

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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In line with its strategy of going from good to great, CPUT has launched the first Wholesale & Retail (W&R) Leadership Chair in Africa.

The chair was established as a result of the W&R SETA's initiative to co-operate with universities to encourage the production of academic and applied research in this sector of business. The chair is fully funded by SETA to the tune of over R11 million.

Speaking at the launch earlier this week CPUT Vice-Chancellor Dr Prins Nevhutalu told the audience the institution was breaking new ground and changing the business scene.

The chair is Prof Roger Mason, who is expected to lead the university in curriculum development and help ensure that small businesses end up as big enterprises.

Mason told the audience his duties will bring South Africa in line with international practices in retail research and education.

“The Retail Department provides the W&R sector with a pool of national and international graduates that meets the sector’s demographic profile and development needs to develop their businesses, including expanding into Africa,” says Mason.

Delivering the keynote address, Zukile Mvalo, Acting Deputy Director at the Department of Higher Education and Training says he was happy with the tasks for chair as the National Skills Fund is meant to address the country’s critical skills shortages.

The invitation for the chair was put out to tender to all South African universities but was awarded to CPUT partly because the university is the largest centre for retail training in Africa. Its Retail Department has more than 800 students from National diploma level up to Doctoral degree level.

Besides publishing research articles in scholarly journals and industry publications, the chair builds an international collaboration network with industry, international universities and established retail research centres.

For more information about the activities of the chair visit its website.

Written by Kwanele Butana
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