The Community and Social Services includes services which
are provided by government and others that are initiated by communities and
NGOs. In addition, these have been the sectors in which significant job
creation has taken place in recent years. Sub-sectors that have potential for
development include the education and training services, which have to be strategic in nature to counter the skill
shortage in the country.
The finalists in this sector are KwaZulu-Natal Graduate
School of Business, East Coast Radio, KZNonSource, ManagementCollege
of Southern Africa (MANCOSA) and the SA Sugar Association.
The Graduate School of Business is a dynamic learning
environment that encourages student participation in the classroom and within
certain governance structures. The facilities are modern and warm, making
learning a fun experience. The School has a 350 seater auditorium, a ground
floor lecture theatre that seats 110, a lecture theatre that seats 70, two 30 seater
training venues, 10 study rooms, a 35 seater LAN and a Library Resource Centre.
Wireless Internet is available throughout the building.
The highly qualified lecturing staff bring with them many
years of business and academic experience. A core of full time academics is
supported by skilled practitioners from the public and private sector. The full
time staff keeps abreast of the ever changing environment by conducting regular
and relevant research and by providing consulting and training services to
industry.
East Coast Radio is KwaZulu-Natal's leading English
commercial radio station and the second largest regional station in South Africa
with 2.1 million multi-cultural listeners.
The adult contemporary format, incorporating hits from the 70s, 80s, 90s and
current hits, means that people in the target market are comfortable with the
sound of the station. The on-air presenters speak a common east coast language,
successfully binding the stations cross-cultural market. The extensive listener
research conducted by the station on a weekly basis assists Programming, Music
and Marketing personnel in keeping the station on track as far as listener
satisfaction is concerned.
The ManagementCollege of Southern
Africa (MANCOSA) is a private Higher Education institute registered in terms of
the Higher Education Act (Act 101 of 1997). It was established in 1995 as a
post-apartheid empowerment institution offering affordable and accessible
management education primarily to persons previously denied access to
post-graduate education. MANCOSA's presence in the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) bears testimony to its commitments to the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and its commitment to the
region.
MANCOSA has developed extensive experience in working with a
wide range of learners over the past 14 years in delivering a range of
international and local management education programmes. MANCOSA and its
programmes are accredited and quality assured by the Council on Higher
Education (CHE). The South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) has recorded
MANCOSA's programmes on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). These
programmes cover the areas of business administration, commerce, tourism
management, functional management and leadership and range from Certificates to
Masters Degrees. MANCOSA is registered (Registration number OOHT03) with the
Department of Education (DoE).
The South African Sugar Association (SASA) provides a range
of specialist services that enhance the profitability, global competitiveness
and sustainability of the South African sugar industry. These services include
research, cane testing, national marketing, international marketing, finance
and administration, and external affairs.
The sugar industry's focus on producing a high quality, profitable and cost
effective product is complemented by its focus on sustainable development. The
all- encompassing approach includes land reform, education and training, social
investment, and the promotion of sound and sustainable practises.
In addition to initiatives undertaken as an industry,
the South African Canegrower's Association and the sugar milling companies
undertake development projects and are involved in Broad-based Black Economic
Empowerment through a range of important initiatives. The sugar industry is a
major contributor to rural development, often neglected in an urbanising
society.
Winner
KZNonSOURCE, an eThekwiniMunicipality initiative
is equipped with highly professional and qualified staff focused on developing
the Call Centre Industry. The contact centre industry in KwaZulu-Natal is estimated to comprise of 65
to 75 contact centres, have 8 000 seats and employ 7 200 agents. The average
contact centre size is slightly larger than that in the Western
Cape, although both local regions currently lack
large scale investments such as those that have been made in India and the Philippines. The KwaZulu-Natal industry can be considered to
have a very strong captive, domestic market orientation when measured by call
volumes. While the local industry is a beneficiary of the outsourcing and off
shoring trends, these trends are some
way from dominating the local industry
The key strategies of KZNonSOURCE include:
Creating
an environment conducive to the establishment of call centres,
Market KZN as the preferred
destination of call centres, and
Offer one stop facilitation
service to prospective call centres
