Ikakanyeng High School was named the Northern Cape champions in the 2019 Eskom Simama Ranta Schools Competition, with Colston Intermediate School and Floors No 2 High School clinching 2nd and 3rd prizes respectively.
At a ceremony held in the Ikakanyeng High School hall yesterday, Eskom, in partnership with the Education with Enterprise Trust (EWET) officially handed over the cheques to an understandably excited group of learners and teachers, complete with a ululating crowd from the three different schools.
Simama Ranta, which means “empowering the South African economy”, initiated by the Eskom Development Foundation in collaboration with EWET, aims to identify and acknowledge South African schools that are leading the way in education initiatives aimed at entrepreneurship. This, with the intention of encouraging learners to become employers rather than employees.
As the Northern Cape champions, Ikakanyeng High School walked off with the big R50 000 prize for their initiative of making vases and flowerpots from recycled paper and old clothes. Their efforts go beyond just being a school project. They positively impact the community, both environmentally and economically. Through the sale of these products to the general public as well as the district Department of Education, they assist their unemployed post-matric alumni by involving them in the project. The alumni would then earn a stipend while exploring other gainful employment opportunities.
Ms Idah Mphahlele, a passionate and committed teacher at Ikakanyeng High, and the facilitator of the entrepreneurial club, moved the crowd to tears when she explained how hard the learners worked on this project, often until very late at night, as no class-time was ever sacrificed. Where learners were still working late into the night, community members supplied dinner, while other teachers availed their personal transport to make sure every learner was delivered safely home.
Schalk Kabo, a learner at Ikakanyeng, who was also the programme director for the event, echoed the sentiment of other learners across the country, speaking of the benefits of this project. “It helped change my attitude towards my studies and the teachers and I am now doing so much better. The project has shown me that anything is possible.”
Colston Intermediate School and Floors No 2 High Each won R25 000 and R10 000 respectively for their projects.
Onkgomoditse Serathi, representing Colston Intermediate as the 1st runner up, spoke highly of the experience gained in entering this competition, particularly having been able to travel to Gauteng to represent the Northern Cape during the adjudication rounds. “We may not have won 1st prize, but the lessons we learned from our deliberations with other school clubs around the country, helped us expand our entrepreneurial programmes at our school. We now not only run a successful tuck shop, but we have also established a knitting and crochet club with the elderly in our community,” said a very confident Serathi.
Thandiwe Nkambule, Eskom Northern Cape Senior Manager, Asset Creation, was encouraged by the commitment of the learners and teachers.
“Amid growing concerns for the unemployment rate in our country, and more importantly, in the youth sector, we are encouraged by the spirit of entrepreneurship that we have seen in this competition, year after year. SMEs, and the sustainability of this cohort of the market, is becoming increasingly critical in our quest to strengthen the SA economy. To this end, the Eskom Development Foundation has a strong vested interest in the establishment and growth of small and emerging enterprises. We are committed to making a meaningful and sustainable contribution to the social and economic development of our country.
“Furthermore, we take our responsibility to develop South Africa’s knowledge economy very seriously and we will continue to work towards building a healthy, educated and skilled population that is positive about the future of our country and capacitated to lead lives they can value,” she said.
Ikakanyeng High School have been prize winners for three years running, having been provincial runners up in 2017 and 2018. This year they have laid down the gauntlet and set their sights firmly on the national trophy, that also comes with a very handsome R100 000 cash prize for the school.
Uma Mahase, EWET Project Manager, in her closing remarks during the official cheque handover, committed to spreading the message of this project to every corner of the Northern Cape and expressed her desire to see more schools take up the challenge and raise the bar.
The 2020 competition is now open to South African intermediate and secondary schools that run entrepreneurship clubs that teach learners the basics of starting and running a business while also responding to the immediate community’s social and economic needs.
