For people with disabilities, the progression in the IT field over the past years have had an important impact as technology in the employment sector opens a whole section of skills well suited for disabled persons.

About 1.6 million South Africans’ first language is Sign Language – which means more people share this language than those speaking in Swazi, Ndebele, Tsonga and Venda. Soon Sign Language will have to become the 12th Official Language of South Africa.

With the possibility of up keeping your skill levels through e-learning, many workers don’t need to leave the office or home as long as they have a PC. Volkswagen is doing just that – they have started a year-long learnership in End-User Computing for ability-challenged workers.


Volkswagen of South Africa empowers disabled learners
Volkswagen of South Africa has offered a lifeline to 60 disabled young adults by
launching a one-year learnership in End-User Computing, specifically for people with
disabilities. Successfully completing the course could lead to full-time employment
within the automotive manufacturer’s national Dealer Network.
Volkswagen of SA Dealer Academy Manager Helen Hemsley explained: “The White
Paper on an Integrated National Disability Strategy (1997) states that ‘…an estimated
99% of disabled people are excluded from employment on the open labour market…’
as their physical access to both services and opportunities pose vast problems.
“To help address this challenge, Volkswagen of SA, through its Midrand-based
Dealer Academy, has launched the End-User Computing learnership.”
Set up with funding from a R26-million Merseta grant awarded to the company last
year, the learnership forms part of Volkswagen of SA’s People for the Future project,
a commitment to invest in a broad range of internal and external skills development
initiatives between 2006 and 2010.
The End-User Computing learnership, structured around a National Certificate in
Information Technology – End-User Computing (NQF Level 3 and SAQA
accredited), consists of four months of classroom tuition covering fundamental, core
and elective studies, and an eight-month practical workplace component.
“Dealerships within the Volkswagen of SA network will have the opportunity to
assist in the learners’ development by providing them with an enriching workplace
environment in which to practice their newly acquired skills,” Mrs Hemsley added.
The programme kicked off in January and is managed by the Shangri-la Community
Development Project.
Tragic circumstances turned to opportunity by Volkswagen of SA learnership
Learnership candidate Nokuthula Mthembu, 23, of Nkandla, in KwaZulu-Natal, has
been given a lifeline by her selection to the course.
Paralyzed in an attack that left her mother dead and Nokuthula and her brothers
orphaned, the little girl was sent from pillar to post for schooling, at times enduring
ill-treatment. She matriculated from the Philadelphia School for the Disabled in
Soshanguwe, Pretoria, in 2007. Desperately poor and with no opportunities for work
or further study, Nokuthula had no choice but to return to her family home - a hut in
the mountains of Nkandla – to try and eke out an existence.
Nokuthula’s plight first came to the attention of Richards Bay recruitment agent
Brenda Delport, when she visited her father in Ngwelezane Hospital, near
Empangeni, about ten years ago. Mrs Delport explained: “She was in the same ward
as my father and had been shot and paralyzed. The nurses said that her family was too
poor to visit her. I couldn’t believe that a little girl had to go through such trauma on
her own.”
Nokuthula did not understand English, but shared her story through an interpreter, one
of Mrs Delport’s employees, Maricia Ngema, who later became very involved with
Nokuthula and her brothers by helping to deliver supplies sent by her employer.
After matriculating, Nokuthula’s fate appeared to be one of continual hardship.
Behind the scenes however, the Volkswagen Dealer Academy had appointed Shangrila
to manage its disability project. Shangri-la, in turn, contracted project management
company Bamboo Rock to source learners. Bamboo Rock obtained Nokuthula’s
contact details from the Philadelphia School. The brief was for Gauteng-based
learners but the school, as fate would have it, mistakenly included Nokuthula’s
number.
“Out of the blue, help came in the form of a phone call from the Bamboo Rock
project,” said Mrs Delport. Nokuthula asked her to enquire further and they
discovered that it was an opportunity to participate in a learnership at the Volkswagen
Dealer Academy. Mrs Delport was told that if she could provide copies of
Nokuthula’s matric certificate, her Identity Document, a one page Curriculum Vitae
and banking details, she may be able to join the programme.
Several Good Samaritans stepped in to ensure that the documentation was obtained
and delivered, and with the news that Nokuthula had been accepted, came the task of
finding transportation to Johannesburg, accommodation, as well as a few corporate
outfits. It was decided that Nokuthula’s brother, Bongani, would be her guardian.
In a letter to Volkswagen of SA Managing Director David Powels, Mrs Delport
wrote: “The Lord has truly worked in so many ways here because all these events are
nothing short of miracles. Nokuthula is going to receive a stipend from Volkswagen
every month. She has found accommodation with meals provided and daily transport.
To top it all, Nokuthula now has the opportunity to learn new skills and hopefully to
secure employment for herself next year. A whole new life has started.
“I would like to personally thank you and your company for your commitment shown
in offering the learnerships to the group of disabled learners, who would otherwise
probably have had to wait a very long time for any opportunity whatsoever, not to
mention a sterling opportunity such as this,” she added.
Nokuthula said she was “enjoying the course” and hoped to complete the learnership,
to be more employable with her new set of skills.
She explained: “I have had a hard background and this learnership has given me a
chance to achieve my own goals and dreams that I never thought I would. I would like
to thank Mr Powels for the opportunity.”
Mr Powels said he was saddened by Nokuthula’s story but hopeful that she would
benefit from the programme. “We should all realise how privileged we are and what
our company is able to do for the broader community through the skills programmes
that we offer,” he stated.

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