Our Story
Lephalale FET College is located in the town of Lephalale, formerly known as Ellisras, a periurban area in the west­ern or bushveld region of Limpopo. The closest large town is the provincial capital, Polokwane (formerly Pietersburg), some 27Skm away and the next FET college campus is some 180km away in the town of Mokopane (for­merly known as Potgietersrus). This makes Lepha­la le College an important resource in the western region of Limpopo.

The college was established in 1979 with the joint funding of Iscor and the then Department of Edu­cation and Culture. It is a standalone college, but to increase its reach it has established satellite campuses in the areas of Modimolle, Amandel­bult / Northam, Thabazimi and Libertas in the Wit­poort/Seleka district.

The college is surrounded by game farms and nature reserves, making tourism and gaming key industries in the area. In the beginning of 2002 the college undertook research into the need for employees for these industries. It was found that they were fastgrowing sectors. This led to the es­tablishment of the college's Skills Training Centre. Its main objective is to provide training for work­ing in the ecotourism and hunting industries and to provide the unemployed with an opportunity to obtain qualifications and jobs.

The college also offers Open Learning opportuni­ties in Business Studies, Educare and Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET). The college has a student support centre where learners can study, take out reading material, use the computer, fax and copy facilities and consult a clinic sister and social worker. This facility won the 2003 Ministerial Award as the Best Student Sup­port provided by a FET college .

Number of Students
Headcount: 2 836
Full-time equivalents: 913

Location
Western Limpopo

Campuses
Lephalale with satellites in:
- Amandelbult/Northam,
- Modimolle,
- Thabazimbi and
- Libertas in the Witpoort/Seleka area.

Critical Skills
Business Studies and En­gineering, short courses in basic computer literacy and the skills needed to run a game farm successfully. The college also offers courses in key areas such as accommodation services, Educare and ABET.

Key Strengths

• Positive atmosphere within the college;
• efficient management;
• strong co-operation between the coun­cil, management and staff;
• good results;
• good infrastructure and facilities;
• good co-operation with industry and the community, financially strong;
• well-qualified staff;
• a proper support system for staff; appropriate placement in learning areas;
  
• affordable class fees;
• focus on the needs of the community;
• student motivation and a bursary system.
  
• The college has a sound reputation and community, staff and students are proud of it.
  

Industry: The Grovos Training Centre pro­vides facilities for students to witness dem­onstrations of equipment that they use in their different trades. The college pays the centre for these facilities.

Government Departments: The Limpopo De­partment of Welfare provides a welfare worker to attend to the needs of students, while the college provides training to staff members when neces­sary.

Tourism: Lephalale provides students, facilities and lectures to undergo Recognition of Prior Learning assessment in Tour Guiding. The Drum­beat Academy provides assessors, moderators, training material and programme approval from the Tourism and Hospitality SETA. Students' fees are divided between Drumbeat and the college.

SETAs: The Integrated Nature-Based Tourism and Conservation (INTAC) Management Project is a three-and-a-half year project to train 6 500 people from communities close to nature-based tourism areas. The training has been focused on unem­ployed people, new small and medium enterpris­es in the tourism industry, community leadership and public management authorities involved at the project site. The training has focused on areas such as tourist guiding, customer service, small ac­commodation management, front-of-house service, reception, food preparation and cooking and conservation management.

The college has been providing the facilities and lecturers and Waterberg consortium was the ser­vice provider. The Department of Labour has been funding INTAC through the National skills Fund and the Tourism and Hospitality SETA provided accreditation and quality management. The pi­lot phase of the project, completed in 2003, was implemented at 10 sites in seven provinces. They were the Kgalagadi Trans-Frontier Conservation Area in the Northern Cape, the Greater Addo El­ephant National Park in the Eastern Cape; River Rafters in the Eastern Cape and Thunga-Thunga Tourism Route, also in the Eastern Cape.

Mining: The Amandelbult mine sends students to the college for training and makes facilities avail­able for training. In turn, the college provides lecturers.

Municipality: Many institutions and companies have joined hands with the Lephalale Municipality in the fight against HIVlAids. The college is part of this forum. When an event is hosted by the college, the forum will arrange speakers or a drama on the topic of HIVI Aids. A facilitator provides a workshop to students during their first trimester/semester at this college. A clinic sister from the municipality also visits the college once a week to attend to the sick.

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

Telephone
014 - 763-2252/763-2254

Fax
014 - 763-2253

Postal Address
Private Bag X210
Lephalale
0555

Email
raath@z.co.za

Website
www.ellisrascollege.co.za