An Impact Assessment of the DBSA/ SALGA ICT Internship Programme: A Case Study An Impact Assessment of the DBSA / SALGA ICT Internship Programme: A Case Study Mini- Dissertation by Reginald Sethole Legoabe Supervisor: Dr Jan Meyer Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA) Human Resource Management (HRM) North-West University (NWU) Graduate School of Business & Government Leadership An Impact Assessment of the DBSA/ SALGA ICT Internship Programme: A Case Study Abstract The aim of this descriptive and evaluative research study is to assess the impact achieved by the DBSA/ SALGA ICT Internship Programme, a national local government internship programme that was undertaken by South African Local Government Association (SALGA) and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) Development Fund in partnership with the South African Communication Forum (SACF), Department of Provincial and Local Government (DPLG) and SIEMENS Ltd Training Institute. A supply-side internship programme in nature, its strategic objectives were to train and equip young South Africans with ICT skills, give youth learners workplace experience in the ICT functional area within their respective municipalities, create employment opportunities for youth and economic development for local municipalities in alleviation of scarce-critical ICT skills to capacitate the local government sector. Forty (x40) learners from Further Education and Training (FET) Colleges were recruited from various rural municipalities to undertake ICT training with SIEMENS Training Institute and given workplace experiential learning with fifteen x15 host municipalities under the banner of the South African Local Government Association. This descriptive and evaluative study is undertaken in a case study format with particular interest in the retention levels of graduate learners endowed with scarce skills in the context of the skills challenges facing the local government sector. The study also focuses on unique challenges and interventional measures that could be undertaken by designers of public education and training programmes to ensure efficiency of internship programmes and optimal benefit of publicly-funded internship programmes to youth learners. This research study not only has internal validity in terms of the operational delivery of internship programmes but also external contextual importance for publicly-funded learning and placement programmes within the larger human resources development (HRD) domain and local government sector. In the process of conducting the study, stratified random sampling is utilised due to the multi-stakeholder nature of the programme. A stratified survey sample comprising fifty percent (50%) of the total survey population of forty (40) former ICT learners who participated in the internship programme is selected whilst a sample of sixty percent (60%) of the fifteen (15) host municipalities who participated in the programme is also selected using stratified random sampling. The findings of the study indicate that participation in the DBSA/ SALGA ICT Internship Programme has positively promoted the employability of former ICT learners. All ICT learner respondents confirmed current employment within the ICT functional area. Research findings indicate that the local government sector has derived short term retention and benefit from the programme but has not been able to retain the skills of the majority of former ICT learners in the long term. 2 An Impact Assessment of the DBSA/ SALGA ICT Internship Programme: A Case Study Although most of the former ICT learners have since migrated out of the local government sector, most former learners are still employed in the ICT field within the public sector and to some extent in the private sector of the South African economy. The study found out that most learners were able to assimilate and find employment within their host municipalities or were able to find ICT-related employment soon after graduation. The research findings of this impact assessment study indicate that the DBSA/ SALGA ICT Internship Programme has positively transformed young inexperienced graduates into responsible young adults through the development of key life skills and work experiences to enable them to successfully navigate the path between the classroom and the challenging world of work. 3 An Impact Assessment of the DBSA/ SALGA ICT Internship Programme: A Case Study Acknowledgements. This research document is not confidential. It may be used freely by the North-West University (NWU) Graduate School of Business & Government Leadership, the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), the South African Local Government Association (SALGA), the South African Communications Forum (SACF) and the Department of Provincial and Local Government (DPLG) to advance academic discourse within the domain of human resource development (HRD) and capacity building in the local government sector. I wish to thank the following persons for their permission and co-operation to proceed with this study:- - Ms. Malerato Tshwete – former Managing Director, South African Communication Forum (SACF) - Mr Reuben Matlala – former Programme Manager, now Divisional Executive, DBSA Development Fund - Ms. Mahlako Hlakudi - Chief Executive Officer, Titan Trade Technologies Holdings (Pty) Ltd - Mr Febridge Lebea – former Executive Manager: Information Technology South African Local Government Association (SALGA) - Ms. Innocentia Motaung former Manager: Skills Development South African Local Government Association (SALGA) - Ms. Busi Mdaka – Executive Manager, ISRDS Cooperative Governance & Traditional Affairs (COGTA) - All the former SALGA ICT Interns who participated in the study Many heartfelt thanks to my learning supervisor, Dr Jan Meyer as well as Professor Michael Temane and for providing me with invaluable support and advice. This report is a culmination of many sleepless nights and weekends on the road away from my family. In this regard, I humbly wish to thank my mother, Mrs Rosinah Legoabe and my later father, the great Wilfred James Matshupa Legoabe as well as my family for their constant encouragement. No amount of love and gratitude can be spared for the unwavering support from Linda Legoabe, my wife for her personal compromises and support as well as the memory of my father who passed away in August 2010. This work is dedicated to you in loving memory tlou ye kgolo. The fortnightly road trips to Mafikeng (sometimes in the coldest of nights) have finally yielded fruits. May eternal glory be to our Lord, Jehovah God Almighty without whose blessings, this work would not have come to fruition. 4 An Impact Assessment of the DBSA/ SALGA ICT Internship Programme: A Case Study Plagiarism Declaration. 1. I know that plagiarism is wrong. 2. I have used the Harvard convention of citation and referencing. Each significant contribution to, and quotation in this report from the work or works of other people has been attributed and has been cited and referenced. 3. This report is my own work. 4. I have not allowed and will not allow anyone to copy my work with the intention of passing it off as his or her own work. Signed: ……………………………. Reginald Sethole Legoabe Date: 13 th December 2010 5 An Impact Assessment of the DBSA/ SALGA ICT Internship Programme: A Case Study 6 An Impact Assessment of the DBSA/ SALGA ICT Internship Programme: A Case Study Table of Contents Section Page Cover Page 1 Abstract 2 Acknowledgements 4 Plagiarism Declaration 5 - 6 Table of Contents 7 Table of Graphics 8 – 9 List of Tables 9- 10 1 Chapter 1: Introduction 11 1.1 Theoretical Overview and Conceptual Framework for the Study 2. Chapter 2: Literature Review 24 2.1 Youth Unemployment 2.2 The ICT Skills Challenges 2.3 Skills Challenges within the Local Government Sector 3. Chapter 3: Case Study Overview 58 4. Chapter 4: Research Methodology 72 4.1 Research Design 4.2 Data Collection 4.3 Data Analysis 5. Research Findings and Recommendations 99 5.1 Research Findings 5.2 Recommendations 6 Bibliography 145 7 Appendices Appendix A 153 Appendix B 154 Appendix C 155 Appendix D 173 Appendix E 188 Appendix F 200 Appendix G 202 Appendix H 207 Appendix I 211-12 7 An Impact Assessment of the DBSA/ SALGA ICT Internship Programme: A Case Study Table of Figures Section Page Figures 1 & 2 28 Figures 3 & 4 30 Figure 5 31 Figure 6 32 Figures 7 & 8 33 Figure 9 45 Figure 10 74 Figure 11 75 Figure 12 77 Figure 13 81 Figure 14 95 Figures 15 & 16 99 Figure 17 100 Figures 18 & 19 101 Figure 20 102 Figure 21 103 Figure 22 104 Figure 23 105 Figures 24 & 25 106 Figure 26 107 Figure 27 108 Figure 28 109 Figure 29 & 30 110 Figure 31 122 Figures 32 & 33 137 8 An Impact Assessment of the DBSA/ SALGA ICT Internship Programme: A Case Study List of Tables Section Page Table 1 24 Tables 2 & 3 27 Table 4 29 Table 5 31 Table 6 32 Tables 7 & 8 48 Table 9 49 Table 10 53 Table 11 63 Table 12 65 Table 13 73 Table 14 78 - 81 Table 15 89 Table 16 92- 95 Table 17 98 Table 18 & 19 99 Table 20 100 Table 21 101 Table 22 102 Tables 23 & 24 103 Table 25 104 Table 26 105 Table 27 106 Table 28 107 9 An Impact Assessment of the DBSA/ SALGA ICT Internship Programme: A Case Study Tables 29 & 30 108 Table 31 109 Table 32 110 Table 33 111 Table 34 116-21 Table 35 121 Table 36 122 Table 37 125-29 Table 38 132-34 10 An Impact Assessment of the DBSA/ SALGA ICT Internship Programme: A Case Study Chapter 1: Introduction The DBSA/ SALGA ICT Internship Programme commenced operations in June