Matjhabeng girls receive BUSINESS training

Eighteen girls have been roped into the programme, which aims to train them to become future business moguls

Eighteen girls from the Matjhabeng Local Municipality bade goodbye to their families on Sunday as they left for a weeklong entrepreneurial girls’ camp that is being piloted by IMAC Services in Welkom.

According to Mirna de Hart, the owner of IMAC Services, the initiative is the first of its kind in the Free State. The camp is funded by International Labour Organisation (ILO) Women Entrepreneurship Development Challenge fund.

“This is a project for the development of entrepreneurial skills for rural girls in Matjhabeng Local Municipality.  Grade 10 female learners from four different schools in the municipality were asked to write a test to evaluate their entrepreneurial capabilities.

“The pupils whose test scores showed an interest in entrepreneurship will spend a week at a guesthouse in Odendaalsrus where they will be given the necessary skills to become successful entrepreneurs,” explained De Hart.

IMAC Services specialises in selection, development and training of staff for a wide variety of organisations, from the public and private sector, to multinationals, small business and cooperatives.

“The specific objectives we would like to reach with the camp are to firstly enable the 18 selected girls to realise their latent potential and develop their capabilities to meet the challenges ahead. Secondly, we would like to counsel and motivate them to seek independent, innovative and challenging career options.”

One of the parents who attended the send-off ceremony, Mantoa Mokoko, said she was happy that her daughter had received the life-changing opportunity. She thanked De Hart for affording girls from underprivileged backgrounds in the area the opportunity to become entrepreneurs.

“It is truly a gift from God. We believe that education can change one’s circumstances, but there is lack of information and finance in the township. I believe this opportunity will enable my daughter to know what resources she can use to make all her dreams come true,” said Mokoko.

Mokoko’s daughter, Mathomo, from Kutlwanong High School would like to own her own fashion boutique one day.

ILO senior technical officer for equity and entrepreneurship, Grania Mackie, said the organisation supports programmes, such as the girl’s camp, to encourage and promote women’s involvement in entrepreneurship.

“This is one of the main challenges in the world that ILO would like to address and rectify. We would like to empower young girls to become women who run successful businesses in South Africa.”

Other eminent people who were invited to address the girls and their families are Lebohang Shale from Harmony Gold, Kekeletso Ntsala from the department of economic development, tourism and environmental affairs (Detea) and Thabo Dlamini from FACE Impression Magazine.