Top fashion designer empowers EC youth
Programme expected to create job opportunities, produce entrepreneurs
Eastern Cape-born fashion designer Sonwabile Ndamase, who made a name for himself as the man who designed the famous “Madiba shirts”, has been transferring his design skills to 170 young women and men from various areas across the Eastern Cape.
Ndamase, who is head of the South African Fashion Designer’s Academy, began the training in May.
The programme, which is a learnership carried out in partnership with the Services Seta, is aimed at equipping the youths with both theory and hands-on experience to nurture their careers, and give them a chance to build successful fashion brands.
Despite a few hiccups along the way, Ndamase said he was happy with their progress.
“Since we started the programme, the students have not received their stipends from the Seta.
This has caused frustration for some students but it hasn’t stopped their progress, especially the students in Mnquma municipality,” he said.Mnquma municipal spokesman Loyiso Mpalantshane said the initiative was just one among a number of skills and entrepreneurship development programmes the municipality had extended to young people in the area in an effort to address social challenges such as poverty and joblessness.
The courses are accredited on NQ level 5 (tertiary) and the students will attend lessons once every two weeks until November.
“Thirty percent takes place in the classroom and 70% is work place experience. The students are doing their workplace experience now, they are busy with research,” he said.
Ndamase said as an Eastern Cape-born designer, he was always looking for ways that the people from his home province could benefit from such initiatives.
“Even the facilitators that we use are from the Eastern Cape.
“I could have brought down people from Gauteng but that would not have been fair.
“As Nelson Mandela used to say, one must be the change in one’s community.
“There must be a Mandela in every one of us.”
One of the students from Mnquma, Phumza Mdenene, holds a diploma in fashion design from Walter Sisulu University.
She said she was happy to be a part of the programme.
“Instead of us waiting for the government to create jobs for us, we are being equipped with skills to become our own bosses. The things that I am getting from this programme will change my life,” she said.
Another student, Ntomboxolo Caji, said the past two months had been really informative.
Ndamase said by the end of the course the students would have gained enough knowledge and expertise to be able to start their own ventures or join formal employment...
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