Northam Booysendal embarks on career awareness drive at Mashishing High and Skhila Secondary School

Northam Booysendal Mine visited Mashishing Secondary School on Thursday August 25 and Skhila Secondary School on Friday August 26 as part of its School Career Awareness Campaign in local schools.

The initiative aims to develop local communities by encouraging, educating, and sharing information about the Social Labour Plan (SLP), bursaries and career opportunities available at Booysendal, institutions offering these courses, and the requirements needed. This comes after Booysendal established a gap and the lack of information accessibility in schools, especially pertaining to tertiary applications.

The career drive was a partnership between the mine’s human resources development (HRD) and the stakeholder engagement department. Itumeleng Shaku, skills development facilitator at Booysendal, represented the HRD department and interacted with the learners, motivating them to study hard and apply for available bursary opportunities at Booysendal.

Jack Selowa, the stakeholder engagement co-ordinator at Booysendal, also took part in motivating the learners, sharing his career journey and why education is important.

As a business, Northam Booysendal stands by and practises its values, one of them being loyalty. Booysendal’s values reflect its role in the South African mining landscape and the business further gives preference to applicants from local communities.

Dunlop (DBP) Burgersfort joined Booysendal at the Mashishing High School event and handed out pens and rulers to the learners. DBP’s directors, Joyce Matjipa and Ophelia Manyiki, said their company sees it as a privilege to work with local communities and on projects like these with Booysendal.

The initiative also received support from the community representatives such as Lucky Mnisi, chairperson of the Amalgamated Forums of Thaba Chweu Local Municipality. This also included the support of South Stakeholder Engagement Forum leaders Marema Matentjie (chairperson of Shaga Community), Maxwell Mpho Phetla (chairperson of BBR Community Forum) and many other leaders from different communities.

Selowa further emphasised that Northam Booysendal strives to create opportunities for training and skills development, especially for its local communities in the Thaba Chweu Local Municipality.

“We are here for the students and to attract new talent, however, the matric learners must obtain excellent results, and we can develop their talent with the help of our bursaries,” said Selowa.

The principal of Mashishing Secondary School, Mary Maseko, gave her thanks to Booysendal and Dunlop for the visit and for coming to inspire the learners.
“I want you as the learners to look at our honoured guests today and see people in important positions, chief executives of companies and part of the management team of Booysendal. This can be you in a few years. To reach this status in life is achievable by studying and working hard. You are now going into the final phase of your school career by preparing for the matric exams. Keep the faith, put your heart and soul behind your exams and set out to achieve your goals,” said Maseko.

At Skhila Secondary School, an inspiring message was conveyed to the learners by the principal, Magdeline Khoza. She made it clear to the learners that studying for the final Grade 12 exams is not an option, but a duty.

She shared the passing rates of Skhila Secondary School over the past few years and mentioned that she is expecting nothing less than a 100% pass rate in 2022. “We are here to help you. You have extra classes, and you have the teachers here and our support. The record exam will give you time to prepare as if you are already studying for the finals. Use this opportunity to make sure you receive a matric certificate, not just to pass, but to pass with a bachelor’s degree, to continue to a tertiary institution. We want you to be successful in life. It is important that you and your family stand together to put everything into achieving the best possible results at the end of the year,” said Khoza.

Her colleague, Jacob Nawa (school governing body’s chairperson), urged the learners to further their education after matric. Nawa said that companies like Northam Booysendal are instrumental in motivating matric learners.

“There are large numbers of people within this industry, and it keeps on growing with each passing year. With all the different careers within the mining industry, there are so many opportunities. So, study hard, and consider the mining industry for your future,” concluded Selowa.
“We appreciate all the work that Booysendal are doing for our communities. Booysendal is always committed to bettering and building our communities. We encourage other businesses to get behind Booysendal and do the same. Together, leaders and businesses can build a better future,” said Lucky Mnisi, chairperson of the Amalgamated Forums of Thaba Chweu.

Northam Booysendal remains committed to uplifting local communities, especially when it comes to local youth development through education. The business has bursary opportunities open in the following fields: six spots in mining engineering, one in human resources, one in mining survey, two in metallurgy and one in geology.