Anele Binase

When Anele first applied to TECSAT for a bursary, he wrote in his letter : “I aim to work in one of the biggest mechanical industries in the country, and I will because I am a hard worker and I am not afraid to learn. I am sincerely pleading for your bursary aid. Please help me fulfil my dreams”.

His dreams have certainly come true, because after completing all the practical and theory levels of the Motor Mechanics trade at the College of Cape Town , Anele was offered not one but two opportunities, at Barloworld and at the South African Police motor workshops. He chose the latter, and this decision has served him well, as he has been through their whole apprenticeship programme and is now a fully qualified motor mechanic in a well paid position. He is very happy in his job and his superiors speak most highly of him.

This young man has come a long way from his home town of Cradock, where he and his sister were raised by a single mother on a pension of R500 per month, after their father passed away when they were young. He is very grateful for the opportunity given to him by TECSAT and SSACI, and says that the bursary made a great difference in his life.

 
Sisacela Nqini

Originally from the Eastern Cape , Sisacela finished her schooling in Cape Town, achieving impressive C-aggregates for Maths and Science. This did not help her to get a job, however, and she only had occasional work for three long years while trying to find funds to study. Her parents did not care for her from a young age, although they kept her younger siblings, which caused her a great deal of pain. She was brought up by her grandparents and other relatives, who could not pay for her to study.

When she heard about TECSAT she applied for a bursary to study Electronics at college, as she had always been interested in Science and how things work. She was a very good student who passed all the theory levels right up to N6 – an achievement not reached by many, as well as two levels of Practical. She was then offered a job as a technician at MTC Repairs, a computer and printer repair company, where she has been happily employed for the past year. Her willingness and ability to learn all aspects of the business have impressed her employer immensely.

 
Jonathan Harmse

Jonathan is from the small town of Worcester in the Boland. He and his three younger siblings lived with his mother after his parents' divorce. His father suffers from diabetes and has been unemployed since 2002, and was later diagnosed with cancer as well. It was a daily struggle for his mother to raise four children on her small pension.

After finishing a technical matric in 2000, Jonathan tried to find a work for over a year, but was turned down every time. There were also very few opportunities in Worcester . His mother made sacrifices to enable him to register for the first level of the Boilermaking course at Northlink College in Bellville, and he also had to find money to board near the college. The Practical fees were very high, and Jonathan turned to TECSAT for assistance. He was a good candidate for the SSACI project as he was an exceptional student who achieved distinctions in his studies, as well as having an excellent attendance rate.

After finishing his Practical and theory courses with top marks, he was accepted onto a learnership offered by the large firm, John Thompson Engineering. He has now been there for two years, has passed his trade test and is a fully qualified artisan on their permanent staff. His boss says he is their best worker and they wish they had ten of him! Success has not gone to his head, however, as he still boards in a hostel so that he can save some money while also helping his mother and siblings with daily expenses.

He feels that being awarded the TECSAT / SSACI bursary was a huge stepping stone in his life and a great honour which he has to live up to. It enabled him to discover himself and his capabilities and taught him to work hard in life if you want to achieve.

Hilton Ockhuis

Hilton grew up in the small West Coast town of Clanwilliam . His mother has occasional seasonal work on a farm, and his father is disabled due to a heart condition. With five children to support money was always scarce, but in spite of this Hilton finished matric in 2000 with good marks. He stayed at home for more than a year as there were no funds to study and no prospects of work. He eventually came to Cape Town desperate to find a way to study his chosen career of Welding. He stayed with a relative and made enquiries at the College of Cape Town about the course. A lecturer allowed him to help out in the workshops to raise enough money to register for the course, and also referred him to TECSAT for a bursary, where he was accepted onto the SSACI project from January 2003. He wrote, “I was overjoyed to receive the news and wish to express my sincere thanks to the sponsors for the opportunity. It is a dream come true”. His later letters also expressed his gratitude and consciousness of the privilege of receiving the bursary.

The SSACI bursary assisted him to complete five levels of Practical Welding as well as his N1-N3 theory certificates, and he achieved excellent results throughout, finishing in April 2005.

Ferdinand Willis

Growing up in a home where alcohol was abused made life very difficult for Ferdinand, with relationships becoming so strained that he eventually went to live with his aunt in Eerste Rivier. He managed to finish matric, and with no support from his parents it was clear that he would have to look after himself. In spite of his upbringing he has an amazingly positive outlook on life, as well as an outgoing personality and good communication skills. He survived by buying and selling fabric offcuts as well as casualling at Shoprite, until he found a job in a plastics factory, but it was low-paid with no prospects for advancement.

His dream of studying Electrical Engineering was realised when he enquired at the Bellville campus of Northlink College , and also heard about TECSAT. When accepted onto the TECSAT / SSACI project he wrote, “I have to thank you most whole-heartedly for accepting me as a bursary holder, and I would also like you to convey my appreciation to the sponsors”.

Over the next two years he completed three levels of Practical training as well as his N1-N3 theory certificates, with good results

After working briefly with an uncle who is an electrician, Ferdinand's entrepeneurial spirit led him into self-employment as a sub-contractor, where he does all the electrical work for the company Team Orange, amongst others. He can hardly keep up with the demand for his services, and now has two employees working under him. He also has a baby and is getting married soon, so as he says, “life is good!”.

Pumza Soko

Pumza completed matric in 2001 under difficult circumstances as she was diagnosed with a serious disease, ulcerative colitis, while at high school, and spent most of grade 11 and grade 12 in hospital undergoing treatment. Accounting was her best subject, so she was keen to study Financial Management.

As her father had been unemployed for two years and her mother was supporting the family of seven on her meagre domestic worker salary, paying college fees was out of the question. Pumza did a 6-month computer course while trying to find a bursary, and once she heard about TECSAT she applied for assistance and was interviewed just days after having major surgery.

She was accepted onto the SSACI project at the Muizenberg campus of False Bay College, completing her N4 and N5 certificates in Financial Management, and passing two N6 subjects of this difficult course. She wanted to complete the course but needed to start earning, so she accepted a job at Edgars as a sales assistant while looking for something better. Even this she regards as a positive experience as she says she was very shy and quiet, and working in retail taught her to deal with people and be more outgoing and assertive.

This has benefitted her in her new job in Foreign Exchange with Rennies Travel, which she obtained as a results of her studies in the Financial field. She is very excited to be working for an international company, supporting herself and also helping her family. She says that she would not have reached this point without the assistance of TECSAT and their sponsors, and is very grateful for the opportunity to improve her situation in life.

Nokuthula Makiwane

Nokuthula lives in the shack land area of Wallacedene, where her single mother struggled to raise six children on her domestic worker wage of R600 per month.

She finished school in 1999 and had to wait two years before her mother could save enough money to help her start at college. She applied to TECSAT during her first four-month course, and her excellent results ensured that she was accepted onto the SSACI project.

She was a diligent student who achieved consistently excellent results, and proudly obtained her N6 in 2004, as well as completing three Practical levels.

She was then accepted onto a learnership at Metrorail, which is recognised as providing excellent on-the-job training, and she is a top student on their programme. By the end of 2006 she will be a fully qualified artisan with Red Seal (internationally recognised) approval .

Nombeko Frans

Nombeko lives in a squatter area in Khayelitsha. Her mother is unemployed and her father only has occasional casual work. The income is unreliable, up to R1200 per month, which must support four adult unemployed dependants and two children at school.

She completed matric, and with the help of a TECSAT / SSACI bursary, N1 to N5 in Electrical Engineering plus two practical levels, at which point she found a job with Nampak Tissue. She is currently working as a machine operator, but has good prospects for promotion in the near future onto a structured training programme specific to this company, where she can more fully utilise the electrical knowledge she gained at college.

She is grateful to be working and says that having a regular income has enabled her to pay for her brother to start studying at technikon this year, which in the long run will provide more financial security for her family.

Unathi Nkwenkwezi

Unathi Nkwenkwezi was brought up by his grandmother, who was a domestic worker until retiring last year. He moved from a township school to a better school in an effort to improve his education, but at the end of grade 10 realised that he was not going to get a good enough matric pass to enter tertiary education and study his dream career – Electrical Engineering. With the help of a TECSAT bursary, he started studying in this field at an FET college, and right from the beginning achieved excellent marks. He completed N1-N6 as well as two languages which gained him his Senior Certificate and enough credits to enter technikon – an accomplishment not achieved by many college students. He is now doing very well and should finish his Diploma by the end of 2006. In his case FET college was a stepping stone to tertiary studies, and without the TECSAT bursary he would have had nothing but a mediocre matric pass with subjects not relevant to the career that interested him.

"I greatly appreciate what you have done for me by helping me reach my goals. By next year I will be finishing my Diploma in Electrical Engineering. I would like to salute you for assisting students to reach their potential."
 

Reagan van Wyk

Reagan van Wyk is from Roberston, a small town in the rural winelands outside Cape Town. He finished school in 2001 but with both parents receiving disability grants, and two younger children, he could not think about further studies. He could only find temporary work at Roberston Wineries during 2002, and then applied to TECSAT for a bursary. He was assisted for the two-year duration of the Legal Secretarial course at the Worcester campus of Boland College, finishing in December 2005.

The college requires students to do in-service training for short periods during their holidays - Regan did his at the magistrate’s court in Robertson. A few months after finishing his studies he landed the well-paid job of Senior Administration Clerk at the Magistrate’s court in Hermanus, where he now works in the civil department.

"I send this letter to TECSAT with joy to share with you that a dream has come true at last. I obtained a post in the Hermanus magistrate’s court, as Clerk of the Civil Court. I enjoy what I am doing and believe that I will make a success of my career. I just want to thank you for the fact that you believed in me. I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. You inspired me a lot because I realised that you care about me. I can say with pride that it was good to be a TECSAT student."