British IT for SA township.

Three years after the end of apartheid in South Africa, there have been few improvements in employment prospects for many black people, and little to relieve the grinding poverty in the townships in which they live. In the black and coloured townships around the town of Welkom, few people have a job, but it is here that a British company has chosen to try and teach the unemployed information technology skills in order to get them into work.

The Bernie Grant Communal IT centre was officially opened in May 1997, attended by the Tottenham MP after whom the centre was named. It was the brainchild of black British businessman Dr Kwamen Kubweza, and jointly funded by private business, the local government and British aid. It acts as a community resource centre to train unemployed adults and local school teachers, who in turn teach primary school children IT skills.

Project director Mr Kubweza believes he's in the right place at the right time. "If you look at South Africa, about 35m of the population are black and only about 5m are white, and if they're going to do any meaningful business the black population is going to be involved or businesses won't survive. They need black skilled labour so they can remain competitive."

Of the first 15 unemployed trainees, eight now have full time employment, despite international aid agencies giving the project until June 1998 to get one person full-time employment.