Our Story
Capricorn College for FET derived its name from the geographical line the Tropic of Capricorn which cuts across Limpopo, South Africa's northern­most province. Two of the college's three campuses - the Polokwane and Seshego campuses are located in Polokwane (formerly Pietersburg), capital city of Limpopo, and in the Capricorn District Municipal­ity, one of six local governments in the province. The college has a third campus, Senwabarwana, in the Blouberg Municipality, which has jurisdiction over the towns of Mogwadi (formerly Dendron), Morebeng (formerly Soekmekaar), Alldays and Senwabarwana (formerly Bochum). Capricorn college was created after a merger of the former Pietersburg Technical College (built for whites in the heyday of apartheid), the former Bo­chum College of Education, a state institution built to train black teachers, and the former Northern Province Community College, created after an ear­lier merger between Tseke Maboe and Shikoane Matlala technical colleges.

Situated in a fast growing economic area where there is a shortage of skills, Capricorn College has positioned itself to offer programmes in line with the main industries and economic activities in the region, notably mining, tourism, construction and trade. For instance, the college is participating in the College Industry Partnership which, among other things, is involved in the development of re­sponsive mining programmes.

Rapid growth in the Blouberg Municipality, where the Senwabarwana campus is situated, has cre­ated the ideal environment to introduce business programmes. Thanks to its well-established links with the many lodges, hotels, industries, para­statals, government departments and businesses in Polokwane, where students can participate in experiential training, the college is set to make an impact on the region.

The government's recapitalisation programme will be used to develop the college's existing infra­structure, in particular, electrical, welding, vehicle servicing, fitting and machining workshops as well as science and computer laboratories. This is part of the college's preparation for an expected growth in student numbers from the region as well as from the neighbouring states.

Number of Students
Headcount: 5 500
Full-time equivalents: 3 568

Location
Limpopo

Campuses
Polokwane
Seshego
Senwabarwana.

Critical Skills
The college offers skills that match the needs of the main industries and ac­tivities in the area in which it is located, includ­ing mining, tourism, construction and trade.

Key Strengths
The college has strong partnerships with organisations such as the People's Information and Communication Technology Engineering Academy (PICTEA), a private institution set up to educate and train highcalibre engineers in the field of informa­tion and communication technology (ICT). In addition, its partnership with the Mining Quality Authority (MQA) has supported staff in developing learning materials and has yielded engineering bursaries for students. The location of Capricorn's Seshego and Polokwane campuses in Polokwane is another strength, making it easily accessible to stu­dents from the region and neighbouring states as well as for industry partners.

The college has partnerships with, among others, the Umsobomvu Youth Fund, the Mpumalanga Train­ing Trust, the Department of Labour, the Mining Quality Authority (MQA), the Pelindaba Skills Institute and PICTEA, a private, nonprofit institution that provides training in the ICT field.

Mpumalanga Training Trust: The trust proposed a partnership with Capricorn College for FET after it won a tender to train 76 women in construction. To train the students, the trust needed workshops that the college could provide easily. The partner­ship was later extended to train an additional 11 0 students in Plumbing and Bricklaying. This was part of a learnership funded by the Department of Public Works.

SABMiller: The college has entered into a partner­ship with SABMiller in Polokwane to train learners in packaging.

Umsobomvu Youth Fund: The fund has sup­ported the college in training 62 students in Boil­ermaking.

Mining Quality Authority and Pelindaba Skills Institute: The college has approached the Min­ing Quality Authority for help in developing programmes on mining and the Pelindaba Skills Institute, a nationally recognised training facility for technical and engineering skills, to assist in the training of academic staff. The college also partici­pates in the Mining Forum, which enables it to re­spond to training needs in the sector.

PICTEA: The college was approached by PICTEA to introduce an ICT Engineering Programme. Students with a Grade 9 certificate will be able to enrol for a threeyear introductory course that will introduce them to the world of ICT Engineer­ing. The course entails practical work to lay a firm foundation.

Partnership Unit:The college has also established a department that will focus on establishing part­nerships. Some of the priority areas include:

International Partnerships: The college is estab­lishing international partnerships. It has started talks with institutiohs in Australia and the United Kingdom to build links aimed at:

• Management
• Finance, Economics and Accounting
• Tourism
• Office Administration
• Hospitality
• Civil Engineering & Building Construction
• Electrical Infrastructure Construction
• Engineering and Related Design
• Marketing
• Office Administration

Telephone
015 - 297 8367/297 8389

Fax
015 - 297 5448

Postal Address
Private Bag X9674
Polokwane
0700

Website
www.capricorncollege.co.za