In a momentous stride towards empowerment, CPUT has signed a historic Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with Sanlam, formalising a collaboration for shared goals and success towards advancing the financial empowerment of the CPUT Community.

Brightness Mangolothi, Director: Centre for Diversity, Inclusion Social Cohesion (CDISC), said this strategic partnership is focused on empowering the university community with financial literacy and aligns with CPUT’s Vision 2030, which also advances redress. “Sanlam’s’ commitment to transformation is informed by the universal insight that everyone deserves an equal chance and opportunity to live a better life.”

Vice-Chancellor Prof Chris Nhlapo, who signed the MoA, stated that CPUT has developed a strong relationship with Sanlam over the years. He further highlighted how CPUT has utilised Sanlam's expertise in investments, such as retirement fund and creative projects that also involve students. “You were always behind us.”

Nhlapo continued: “The key today is around the whole question of financial education and financial literacy. It's so important, it's apt, it is coming at the right time for both staff and students…Quite frankly, the wisdom around money is so important, around wealth generation, sometimes to break a poverty circle, it’s so important, so that we can actually also talk about generational wealth as a people, it’s so important, and I am looking forward to that capacitation of our people.”

Mangolothi said that financial literacy is a critical enabler of equity and inclusion because it empowers individuals to navigate economic systems confidently and sustainably. “Advancing financial literacy is not just an economic intervention; it is a social justice imperative that strengthens diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging while supporting the university’s sustainability agenda. Importantly, financial support initiatives help break poverty cycles and achieve financial stability.”

She added that CPUT has more than 30 000 students and that over 70% of CPUT students depend on National Student Financial Aid Scheme funding. Mangolothi noted that the Western Cape and Eastern Cape are the university’s main recruitment regions and have the highest proportion of Quantile 1–3 students. “This highlights the need for sustained financial aid strategies to ensure equitable participation and student success.”

Zikhona Plaatjie, the CDISC Stream Coordinator, Monitoring and Evaluation, noted that this partnership marks the dawn of a transformative journey dedicated to enriching financial inclusion and literacy within the university community. The partnership does more than create opportunities; it inspires a future where every individual has the knowledge and resources to succeed. This collaboration lights the way to financial empowerment, cultivating a generation ready to shape their financial futures. The initiative also supports multiple global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 4 (Quality Education), and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth).

“By embedding financial literacy within the broader empowerment agenda, the partnership contributes to long-term economic resilience for students and employees alike,” Plaatjie said.

Tumiso Mfisa, Stream Coordinator: Gender Equality, Diversity & Inclusivity, said this partnership reflects CPUT's commitment to growing its own talent and demonstrating practical pathways for upward mobility. Mfisa noted that Sanlam has shown incredible patience and dedication throughout this process. “Their generous support highlights their genuine commitment to making this collaboration a success. We are deeply honoured and grateful to Sanlam for their partnership. Under the leadership of our Vice-Chancellor, we have indeed become an attractive university for meaningful collaborations like this.”

He also highlighted Sanlam’s commitment to delivering tailored, high-quality financial education programmes, and “we recognise the important role CPUT will play in enabling, promoting, and jointly evaluating these initiatives to ensure their lasting impact”. 

Reflecting on the collaboration, Nhlapo said: “I hope this partnership will grow in leaps and bounds because of what we are doing; we are formalising something that we have been doing with Sanlam for years. We are now putting it on paper to ensure that we communicate and commit.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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For the students of the Faculty of Informatics and Design at CPUT who entered the Sanlam Creativity for Progress Competition, Wednesday,15 October was one nail-biting day. After a morning and afternoon of presenting their business proposals to a judging panel, they received the news of who had won the R10 000 prize money.

The annual Creativity for Progress Competition, sponsored by Sanlam, is open to South Africa's foremost academic institutions and this year’s theme was “A better life for people in informal settlements"". Student teams of up to four members were required to conceptualise and present a project or business proposal that provides innovative solutions leading to improvement such as better living conditions, better medical facilities, access to water and access to electricity. The solutions had to be practical and possible to implement.

After weeks of hard work, all the students deserved to win but it was a team called United Four that was selected as the CPUT winners. The United Four team consists of Jason Pereira, Karel Strydom, Marjo Cilleirs and Bobby Moeng, all BTech Information Technology students.

“The 3 keywords that our proposal was based on are 'empowerment', 'wellbeing' and 'sustainability',“said Jason Pereira, team leader. “We looked at the problem of global warming and the impact it is having on harvest yields. We also found out in our research that fertilised has increased in price by 300% of the past 6 months. We offered an alternative which individual small subsistent farmers and gardeners could use to grow fruit and vegetables, making compost out of decomposable human waste.”

The team admitted that the biggest obstacle to the innovative idea is the ‘gross factor’ but as United Four member, Karel Strydom explained Asian people have been using human waste for thousands of years with great success according to their research.

“It is a free resource so cost implications are low and it is a way to ensure that human waste is not discarded into nearby rivers, a contaminating drinking and bathing water in many informal settlements.”

The judging panel included Prof Johannes Cronjé, Dean of the Faculty of Informatics and Design, Bart Verveckken, CV Botha, Dr David Boonzaier and Roelf Mulder all of CPUT. Eugene Grobler, and Danie Viljoen joined the judging panel from Sanlam

The next step for United Four is to compete against the other 15 teams selected from the other participating universities in the national heat of the competition where 4 semi-finalists will be chosen. Should they clinch the top prize they stand to win R100 000 for the team and R150 000 for the faculty. The other 3 finalist teams will each receive R30 000 and the faculties R50 000 each.

As for practicality and sustainability, Strydom said, “The challenge lies in convincing people, and we would like to do further research to see what the perceptions of people are.“

The Faculty of Informatics and Design is convinced that if any team could unite a plan and perception making it practical, it is the United Four.

By Monique Boucher

Written by CPUT News
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A project, which was initiated by a CPUT lecturer and focuses on the 50th commemoration of District Six being declared a whites-only area, continues to gain exposure.

Surface Design lecturer Penny George initiated a partnership with the District Six Museum, which saw 50 local and international artists participating in the compilation of a print exchange portfolio under the theme: Remembering 60 000 Forced Goodbyes.

Last year marked 50 years since the apartheid government declared District Six a white area under the Group Areas Act on 11 February 1966.

“I had previously done a print exchange and wanted to do one again. My colleague Micah Chisholm does a lot of community work with the District Six Homecoming Centre and we explained what the portfolio was about and we partnered with them on the project.”

George said support for the project was received from Sanlam, CPUT and a range of other sponsors.

The portfolio of 50 prints was exhibited at the District Six Museum Homecoming Centre in November and December 2016.

The portfolio was also exhibited during the recent Woordfees in Stellenbosch.

“One major outcome of doing a print exchange is that all the participating artists and all the supporting organisations each get a box of portfolios, containing all of the participating artists’ work. This means that each of the artists received all 50 prints.”

George said plans for more exhibitions of the portfolio were in the pipeline, including at international venues.

“The portfolio box is easy to send off and to exhibit at any gallery. There are many possibilities for this collection.”

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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