Kaizen Institute South Africa is proud to partner with the South African Council for Graduates (SACGRA) in taking on two MERSETA interns for a year of upskilling and development.

SAGRA is a graduates council established to grow a high calibre of youth and the advancement of graduate cooperatives as viable economic entities. This is done to fast track job creation, foreign direct investment and skills transfer to grow the economy in municipalities and rural areas.

Each year the council looks for potential employers to host graduates for a period of 12 months (university) and 18 months (TVET College).  SACGRA then pays a monthly stipend directly to these graduates to help employers to boost their skills development programmes.

According to KIZA director Deborah Patterson, a very fruitful meeting was had between KIZA and SACGRA CEO, Mr Thamsanqa Maqubela, where common goals were established especially around the drive for growing small businesses for the purpose of job creation in South Africa.

“The taking on of interns within the SACGRA program is the next step in the development of a capable team to assist SMMEs who cannot usually afford consulting rates but so desperately require support,” Patterson says.

“This is even more critical after the devastation caused by the hard lockdowns while the country tries to fight off the CoVID- 19 pandemic.

We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship between KIZA and SACGRA and foresee the potential to make a real difference,” Patterson concludes.

Caption: MD Mbuso Nkosi and director Deborah Patterson receive a Host Employer Award from SACGRA CEO Thamsanqa Maqubela.