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0 viewsWomen in South Africa have more freedom and opportunity than ever before. Although equality legislation has opened spaces for women to do exceptional things, South Africa still struggles to actualise these legal ideals.
This struggle to improve quality of life for women is reflected in how far the country has fallen in the Gender Empowerment Measure of the UNDP. South Africa dropped from 26th place in 2007 to 129th place in 2009. This ranking is evidenced by the rate of unemployment in South Africa which is at least 10% higher for women than for men.
Twenty-four year old Emma Gadla from Khayelitsha used to be one of these women. After matriculating, she just sat at home. “I had no money to go to varsity and felt very depressed, ” confesses Gadla. She grew despondent for four years then decided to enroll with Bergzicht Training. Since then Gadla has flourished beyond her expectation.
Bergzicht is one of South Africa’s stalwart organisations based in Stellenbosch that provides accredited training for semi-skilled, unemployed people and helps their graduates find stable employment. Students can choose from 32 full-time courses which prepare graduates for work in the hospitality industry, home management, educare, catering and frail care sectors.
The Home Management division equips people for work in domestic, office and the hospitality cleaning services industry. The Frail Care division trains students to look after the elderly, terminally ill or the disabled in their homes or institutions. The Educare division enables students to care for young children and provides the necessary skills to run their own crèche. Literacy, financial management and other soft skills are also part of the curriculum.
Annually, Bergzicht trains 400 students on average, who predominantly are women from the Cape Flats, Boland and other outlying rural areas of the Western Cape. The weekly travel allowance that Bergzicht provides its students makes this training accessible to women from more far-flung areas. Since inception in 1992, Bergzicht has trained more than 10, 000 people and 89% of them found employment after graduating.
The Placement Bureau of Bergzicht made this impressive rate possible, which ensures that students find work after graduating. Prospective employers also access this unit to source competent and hard-working candidates. Bergzicht cultivates this relationship between students and prospective employers by strengthening their practical training through providing in-service learnerships at various businesses.
Most critically, Bergzicht is a stepping stone for women to further their training. This is what Gadla did. The St. Joseph’s Home in Cape Town offered her a bursary to qualify as a registered nurse after she graduated from Bergzicht. She studied there for 14 months and graduated with an Enrolled Nursing Auxiliary Honours in 2010. Gadla plans to further her education at the University of the Western Cape and now for the first time in her life “feels very independent. I don’t need a boyfriend to take care of me. My future is in my hands.”
Bergzicht is ensuring more stories like Emma Gadla’s around the country with their Support Centre Network. Launched in 2003, this division of Bergzicht shares its expertise with organisations wanting to start related training projects or establishes relationships with similar organisations. More than 30 other training centres around South Africa are part of the Bergzicht Support Centre Network. There are 21 in the Western Cape, nine in Gauteng, four in the Northern Cape, one in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal – even as far as Windhoek in Namibia.
Government should harness this national rural network of innovation which Bergzicht has helped support to give women and their families a chance for a better life!
Read about the creative ways South Africans solve public problems in The Citizen every week.