Advisory Committee ensures CPUT achieves unique entrepreneurial curriculum
The Entrepreneurship and Business Management Department has appointed an Advisory Committee to provide mentorship and coaching to staff and students.
The fourth advisory committee to be constituted was established at a virtual meeting recently. Its members include a representative from the Small Enterprise Development Agency, three entrepreneurs, a business consultant, a Technical Vocational Education and Training College executive and an academic or director of a centre for entrepreneurship,
The committee’s chairperson is Sinethemba Mali-Bolo, a CPUT alumnus who currently works as a Country Environmental Advisor at Shell.
According to the CPUT policy, advisory committees should meet at least twice a year and their members are invited to serve on the committee by the heads of department.
The chairperson and vice-chairperson are elected bi-annually by members, adds the policy.
The chairperson must be a person external to CPUT.
The Entrepreneurship and Business Management Department Advisory Committee assists the staff to influence, build and deliver academic positions for institutional change, where is required in the department, through methodology and processes directed at achieving a unique and distinctive entrepreneurial curriculum, says the department’s Head, Prof Chux Iwu.
Iwu adds that the committee assists the department and university in promoting entrepreneurship programmes as well as building and strengthening an interactive communication strategy involving both staff and students.
“[The committee] looks at a strategy of creating an inclusive and diverse learning space that will build the capacity of learners to be socially responsive entrepreneurs in line with global trends,” he elaborates.
“[It] acts as a sounding board for new developments, ideas, innovations in teaching and learning practice, research and community involvement.”
The committee interrogates the department’s curriculum design and its assumptions with particular reference to methodology in order to guide and influence the curriculum design and implementation of a learning methodology that equips learners and academics to fulfil their potential.
Iwu says the committee assists and contributes towards situating ethics as a key consideration in the practice and development of entrepreneurship, especially within the African context.
It is also charged with the task of building bridges between key companies and students, facilitating exchange, partnerships, internships as well as influencing the creation of events and round table discussions on entrepreneurial topics.
“[It is] the board to provide strategic guidance on envisaged strategic intent of the department in repositioning itself within the Business Faculty- noting internal and external stakeholders,” he adds. “[It] reviews the strategic and operational business plans of the department and ongoing performance achievements.”
Alumna makes her mark in agriculture sector
Alumna Keatlegile Mnguni is making her mark in the male-dominated agriculture sector.
Journalism alumnus pens debut book
Following 21 years of reporting and editing stories for newspapers, journalism alumnus, Gasant Abrader’s debut book tells the stories of South Africans through the eyes of an editor.
Former student in professional soccer league
A former Tourism Management student, who plays for a National First Division soccer team, says Varsity Football played a huge role towards him becoming a professional football player.
Bizana Pondo Chiefs player, Bravo Maseti, played in the CPUT first team which made it to the national finals of the University Sports South Africa (USSA) tournament in 2012 and 2014. In 2014 he was the team captain under coach Phila Mabesi.
Maseti was born in Fort Beaufort in the Eastern Cape but grew up in Plettenberg Bay.
He says that Varsity Football afforded him an opportunity to play competitive soccer. “We used to play USSA qualifications with other Varsities in the province. When you qualified for [the] USSA national tournament, you play [in] a national tournament which is more competitive and organised.”
The soccer star adds that playing in the national finals of the tournament is where players have to prove that they belong in a professional set-up as the tournament is very tough.
He says he has vivid memories of when he played in the USSA national finals in 2012 at the University of the Western Cape where the CPUT team managed to qualify for the Varsity Cup.
“And in 2014 when we were coached by Phila Mabesi and I was the captain of the team, we managed to qualify for the USSA nationals which where hosted by the Durban University of Technology. I was also selected for a national team.”
He currently plays for Bizana Pondo Chiefs which at the beginning of the 2020/2021 season was promoted to the GladAfrica Championship, the second tier of South African soccer.
Besides playing soccer, Maseti runs coaching clinics and is studying towards a coaching qualification. He is also a personal trainer.
“It is the talent in me that motivated me to play soccer. A talent that I was given by God and I use it to praise Him.”
He adds that the challenges of playing the sport include being nervous before the commencement of games and stressing over the opponents’ match tactics.
Maseti sees himself coaching a team in the next five years, whether in the GladAfrica Championship or the Premier Soccer League, the topflight of national soccer.
Funny alumnus chuckles at humorous CPUT
Alumnus Sibusiso Mtyiwazo, who is affectionately known to his fans as Kumkani Sibu, is making headlines in the stand-up comedy industry.
“At first it was just an extramural activity, just like others went to rugby or debate,” says the funny Mtyiwazo. “I went to comedy clubs and stand-up comedy venues at Lower Main Road just down the road from my res (Catsville) at the time.”
Subsequently, he got better at making people laugh and received raving feedback from audiences. “Then I thought, ‘Oh well, why not push it as a side hustle’”.
He began his career in the entertainment industry as a Radio Personality on Campus Radio and that gradually led him to comedy. The first time he got on stage to perform was in 2015 just to try it because of friends’ pressure on him to try it out.
He was a CPUT student when he decided to commit to a career in stand-up comedy. The Public Relations (PR) Management graduate adds that a lot happens at CPUT in a period of a year and that this provided him with “comedy material”. “Other comedians asked me to give it a shot because they had enjoyed my set when I got on stage the first time.”
He says studying PR helped him a lot in his chosen career. “In PR we cover a lot when it comes to Branding, Events, Communications and dealing with an audience, so every once in a while, I get to use what I studied in my stand-up career like when organising a comedy show or ideas in promoting myself as a brand.”
Mtyiwazo graduated with a BTech degree in PR in 2019 after obtaining his National Diploma in 2017.
He says he enjoys doing what he loves, which is making people laugh. “Just watching my audience laugh feels some kind of way that can’t really be expressed in words.” He adds that comedians are great human beings who have a strong bond with each other.
The star says the national lockdown regulations have hurt him financially. “With all the events being cancelled, including comedy shows, it's been hard for comics to survive, [something] which leads to most comedians getting eight to five jobs.”
To make ends meet during these challenging times he has been working as a Boilermaker Assistant. Mtyiwazo also hosts #ConversationsBetweenCreatives, a radio show on online station GainRadio International.
To follow Mtyiwazo on social media his Twitter and Instagram handle: @sbuda_love, on Facebook: Kumkani Sibu or search @Sibu.Mtyiwazo. His work is available on Tiktok @Kumkani_Sibu and on
Youtube: https://youtu.be/ 2uk17dnguqc
First alumni webinar attracts global audience
Alumni from across the globe recently tuned in for the Advancement Department’s first Alumni webinar, which placed the spotlight on Staying alive in the current labour market crisis.
Alumni officer Valerie Deelman said the lockdown which followed the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic had affected the lives of most people and forced people to adapt to the “new normal”.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has rocked the foundations of the world – economies are struggling, unemployment figures have escalated as a result of companies closing down, staff are being retrenched, demand for products/services shrunk and the number of Covid-19 infections and deaths continue to rise. So, we decided to engage with our alumni through hosting a webinar on ‘Staying alive in the current labour market crisis’”.
The Alumni Office invited Dr Liiza Gie, Head of Department: Human Resource Management at CPUT, SA Board for People Practices Master HR Professional in Learning & Development and an alumna, to collaborate in hosting its first alumni webinar.
Along, with Gie, two other alumni, communication professional and entrepreneur Kim Webster and the founder of Red Village, a 3D printing technology company, Luvuyo Ndiki completed the list of guest speakers.
Gie’s presentation centred on Employability in I4.0 (Industry 4.0) while Webster’s talk centred on: Coping with the new normal/Surviving Covid-19. Ndiki, whose company was recently featured on BBC world news for its innovative biodegradable products made from sugarcane and corn-starch, delivered an inspirational message.
Participants in the event received a virtual welcome from Calvin Maseko, Director: Advancement Department, while Deelman officiated as programme director with the support of colleagues Helena Pietersen and Nadine Waterwitch.
“Our guest speakers connected well with the audience in the virtual space and their presentations were well received. Our participants eagerly posed their questions and comments on the chat platform,” Deelman said.
A second webinar is planned for later in the year.
City of Cape Town aids students in need
A donation by the City of Cape Town, including essential food items and hygiene products, will greatly benefit students in need.
