Education and training

Training is a key provincial priority.

The provincial government saw to the training of 190 teachers through the Continuous Professional Teacher Development Programme in 2017/18. Training was also provided to 53 curriculum advisors in mathematics, science and technology (through the Continuous Professional Development Centre) and 1 141 teachers were trained in numeracy and mathematics teaching strategies.

In 2017, libraries were constructed in Eldorado, Rooiberg and Ramokgopa with the following villages due to receive libraries in 2018: Phokwane, Maphalle, Zamani and Mahlabathini.

The province’s relationship with Cuba is paying off handsomely in that 145 graduates of the medical student programme were working as doctors in the province in 2018. A further 328 students are currently studying in the Caribbean.

Tertiary education and training

There is a plan to establish a Manufacturing Support Centre to make sure that the right skills are being taught to support industry. Participants include the Limpopo Tooling Initiative Advisory Board, the Technology Information Agency and universities.

Impala Platinum, with Limpopo subsidiary Marula Platinum, has a partnership with the National Department of Minerals and Energy and the Da Vinci Institute for Technology Management, which focuses on the training of black women in the mining industry.

The Medupi Power Station Joint Venture (Grinaker-LTA, Murray & Roberts and Concor) has a training facility where about 1 300 local people have been trained to qualify for jobs on this complex building site.

De Beers has established a Skills Development Centre linked to its Venetia Mine. The centre caters not only to mine employees, but also for local school pupils and adults from the community of Alldays.

The Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University is now an independent university in Gauteng Province and Limpopo University

ONLINE RESOURCES

Limpopo Department of Education: www.edu.limpopo.gov.za National Education Collaboration Trust: www.nect.org.za Turfloof Graduate School of Leadership: www.ul.ac.za

SECTOR INSIGHTS

Local doctors trained in Cuba are working across the province.

has a separate Medical School. The University of Limpopo is organised into four faculties: Humanities, Management and Law, Science and Agriculture and Health Sciences.

University of South Africa (Unisa) has a regional support centre in Polokwane and agencies at Makhado and Giyani.

The University of Venda for Science and Technology (Univen) is situated in Thohoyandou. Univen has eight schools, with Environmental Sciences, Agriculture and Rural Development and Forestry illustrating the practical emphasis of the institution. The university has invested more than R1-billion over the last decade in new infrastructure.

There are seven Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges in Limpopo: Capricorn College, Lephalale College, Mopani East College, Mopani South College, Sekhukhune College, Vhembe College and Waterberg College.

The Turfloop Graduate School of Leadership (TGSL) is based in Edupark, Polokwane, and offers three master’s degrees.

SALGA Limpopo

A pilot project is promoting rural densification.

The South African Local Government Association is an autonomous association of all 257 South African local governments. SALGA comprises a national association with one national office and nine provincial offices. The SALGA Limpopo Provincial Office is in Polokwane. Membership of the association is voluntary.

Targeted rural densification programme Densification is about increasing the intensity with which land is used. The aim is to create more compact and sustainable settlements by building more on a smaller geographic footprint. Population distribution has a major impact on the provision of public amenities and facilities such as transport, utilities and social infrastructure.

In Limpopo, Thulamela Municipality in the Vhembe District Municipality is being piloted for this project. Thulamela is in the far north-east of the province and borders the Kruger National Park. The town of Thohoyandou is a regional centre.

Current challenges Unserviceable locations. Due to the remoteness of some of the settlements, service installation is exacerbated by treacherous terrain. Spatially disoriented and economically unviable locations. Dispersed rural areas are on the periphery of economic opportunities. One-dimensional rural development approach. The current approach is inordinately focused on capital investment, with little attention given to addressing structural challenges. Discretionary land allocation. There are instances of outdated methods in the allocation of land by tribal authorities.

Rural densification benefits Higher densities lead to higher population thresholds which increases social returns on infrastructure investments. Higher densities also create

CONTACT INFO

Acting Provincial Executive Officer, Ledile Molope Physical address: 125 Marshall Street, Private Bag X9523, Polokwane Tel: +27 15 291 1400 and 082 268 5163 Fax: +27 15 291 1414 Email: lmolope@salga.org.za and mraboshakga@salga.org.za

SALGA Limpopo has appointed a new Acting Provincial Executive Officer, Ledile Molope.

more viable private investments and the cost of basic infrastructure is considerably reduced in a dense development.

Higher densities create viable social services based on minimum population threshold standards, whereas dispersed settlements are inextricably linked to poverty and underdevelopment. An added benefit is that higher densities create a significantly lower environmental footprint.

SALGA’s value proposition All work on this project is internally sourced, which is the first time a specialised service of this nature has been done internally without the aid of a service provider. Cost saving for municipalities can be achieved in township establishment applications and support is offered directly and quantitatively.