A few years ago, Sipho Mbongo was a young man with a matric certificate, a big dream and no clear idea of how he would get there. Today, he is a firefighter in Qatar, working in one of the world’s most demanding emergency response environments. But his journey...
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Publications, News, and Media
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Blog
How the Workplace Is Evolving Across Generations
May is Workers’ Month in South Africa, prompting a conversation about what the modern workplace really looks like today. From new perspectives on work-life balance to the rise of digital collaboration, the workplace has changed dramatically. Conversations with...
Protecting Learners in a Digital World: Understanding the Risks Behind the Screen
Learners today spend a large part of their daily lives online. Many use cell phones and other electronic devices for schoolwork, research, and communication with teachers. While these tools support learning, they also expose learners to social media and online...
Teaching Through Fear: The Hidden Mental Health Toll on South Africa’s Educators
Each morning, teachers like Winnie Titi enter classrooms filled with promise – and uncertainty. For many South African educators, fear has become as familiar as chalk and textbooks. As the country observes Mental Health Month this October, it’s time to confront...
Staying Safe from Job Scams: What Every Young Jobseeker in South Africa Needs to Know
In today’s digital age, job opportunities are just a click away. From online portals to social media, vacancies are advertised everywhere. Unfortunately, this convenience comes with a growing danger: scams, phishing emails, and fraudulent job offers targeting young...
The Value of an Inclusive Workplace
For generations, women were excluded from professional roles and decision-making positions, with barriers that limited their growth and opportunities. Today, as we celebrate Women’s Month, we are reminded about how far we have come, and how important it is to create...
Celebrating Women Entrepreneurs: Driving Inclusion and Innovation
8 March 2025 On International Women’s Day 2025, we honour the trailblazing women entrepreneurs who are redefining industries and driving meaningful change. As participants in the Black Umbrellas Programme, these inspiring women have demonstrated resilience,...
Celebrating Black Umbrellas Top Entrepreneurs of 2024
South Africa’s entrepreneurial landscape continues to shine, thanks to individuals whose determination, innovation, and passion for business growth and community upliftment inspire industries and create lasting impact. At the forefront of this progress are the...
Navigating the Final Stretch: CRET advises how matriculants can prioritise mental health amid exam pressure
23 October 2024 With the 2024 National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams starting on October 21, South Africa’s Grade 12 learners are under mounting pressure. As the final stretch approaches, many are feeling the weight of expectations, which can take a serious toll on...
Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation pays it forward through staff initiative Sinika
The Sinika initiative is a staff-driven, staff-giving programme of Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation and its partner entities that was established in 2018. “Sinika,” which means “we give” in several South African languages, represents the everyday...
The imperative for supporting women entrepreneurs
16 July 2024 Women face significant barriers in the realm of entrepreneurship, including access to finance, networking opportunities, societal norms, and mentorship. Securing funding and investment can be particularly challenging, limiting their ability to grow their...
EDITORIAL | Free State’s interventions in public schools could help other provinces
But questions remain about whether the schooling system is set to ensure only the best pupils make it to matric — disadvantaging many others 22 January 2024 – BY TIMESLIVE PREMIUM EDITORIAL As another new school year begins, what has become clear is that...
Further Education and Training Options Besides Matric
6 September 2023 In August this year the Department of Basic Education reported that over 279 000 students enrolled for the May/June matric examination rewrite. However, this represented only 60% of the candidates who were eligible to rewrite. This is concerning as it...
Thriving Against the Odds: Women Entrepreneurs in the Black Umbrellas Programme
09 August 2023 As we celebrate the role of women in society this Women’s Month, Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation focuses on inspirational women in its small business incubation partner entity, Black Umbrellas. Earlier this year, Zandile Gqoboza, the Foundation’s Research...
Ways for Students to Manage Their Time
01 August 2023 Time management is important for students, to balance their studies and other daily activities. It refers to the process of organising and planning how to arrange one’s time between different activities. Managing time well is something that can be...
Signs of a great future
20 June 2023 Sharlotte Mkansi, Youth and Skills Development Administrator of Cyril Ramaphosa Education Trust (CRET), a Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation partner entity, recently gained the thoughts of Vianka Gounden, a hearing-impaired student that CRET supports, about South...
Fostering an inclusive, empowered society through education and enterprise
Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation is an independent Public Benefit Organisation. It advances programmes that target socioeconomic challenges in education, small business development, youth development, social cohesion and nation building as well as those affecting children,...
Small businesses value expert guidance
9 June 2023 In a recent impact study conducted by Black Umbrellas, a Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation partner entity that implements an incubation programme to develop small Black businesses, emerging entrepreneurs cited gaining support from the business development...
‘’Where there’s a will, there’s a way’’: A Programme Manager’s on-the-ground experience of eradicating pit toilets
Feizel Mamdoo, Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation’s Communications Executive, sat down with Arnold Maluleke, a Programme Manager of its partner entity, Adopt-a-School Foundation, for an insight into his work eradicating pit toilets. As a youth, Arnold Maluleke dug pit toilets...
Thari Programme advocates for the protection of children during Child Protection Week
31 May 2023 By Bernice Maponyane, Programme Manager: Social Welfare, Adopt-a-School Child neglect and abuse are distressing issues that South Africa continues to grapple with. The country faces significant challenges in safeguarding children and ensuring their...
Make the digital world safer, more inclusive, more equal
08 March 2023 The United Nations declared its theme for International Women’s Day (IWD) on 8 March as “DigitAll: Innovation and Technology for gender equality”. Technology is of profound significance in today’s world. It has revolutionised virtually every aspect...
Don’t Give Up. Options are available for post school study and training
31 January 2023 Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation partner entity, Adopt-a-School, encourages all students who did not succeed in obtaining their matriculation qualification to not give up and to explore available options to continue schooling or training. “Failing matric can...
Taking care of your mental health today, to do better tomorrow
09 November 2022 The stress of exams during this time can strain one’s mental health. As students sit their final exams, Cyril Ramaphosa Education Trust (CRET) helped ease the stress and anxiety of its beneficiary students by convening an advice session with the South...
Effective ways to prepare for the exam season
09 November 2022 Exam season is upon us, and this time can be stressful for a lot of students. Cyril Ramaphosa Education Trust has compiled some helpful tips to assist students to revise and prepare for the exam room. Revision tips Make a realistic revision schedule:...
Business in the blackouts: How SMEs can be agile in the face of load shedding
03 September 2022 According to government estimates, load shedding can cost the country’s economy about R500 million per day. The effects of South Africa’s struggles with blackouts, especially impact micro to medium-sized enterprises that play such a...
Adopt-a-School Foundation’s Heritage
21 September 2022 In the storeroom of a school in Soweto, draped in cloth to protect it over the years from the dust, is a fax machine. Many may not to know what a fax machine is. At its height in the 1980s through to the early 1990s, it was a technological marvel for...
Psychosocial and care support services for learners in the spotlight at Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation’s Thari Programme Conference
13 September 2022 Psychosocial and care support services for learners was in the spotlight at the Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation’s Thari Programme’s Second Biennial Conference in Botshabelo township in the Free State on 9 September. Held in partnership with the National...
Inspired by the resilience of women
09 August 2022 By Mmabatho Maboya, CEO, Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation On 09 August 2022, we mark National Women’s Day, and extend the commemoration campaign to boost awareness of and mobilisation against gender inequality and its consequences for the entire month. August...
The plight of SA’s Young Entrepreneurs: A Reflection on Black youth and the realities of growing in business
In recent years, South Africa’s disheartened youths seem to be growing weary of an unnerving predilection by the public and private sectors to theoretically position young people as the drivers of economic transformation. In reality, the country still hasn’t managed...
Learners face a long walk to learning without shoes
14 July 2022 By Steven Lebere, Chief Executive Officer, Adopt-a-School Foundation For Mandela Month and as part of its 20th anniversary commemorations, Adopt-a-School Foundation is tackling the need of many school children for school shoes. School shoes are part of...
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