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Local Grade 7 learners get a chance to look to the future
Grade 7 learners at primary schools in Macassar and Somerset West were introduced to a wide range of careers and skills-based opportunities last week as their schools hosted back-to-back career days.
On Wednesday 27 May Firgrove Primary School hosted neighbouring Oklahoma Street and St Paul’s primary schools for a joint Life Orientation Club Expo.
What Capitec’s AI investment says about the future of higher education
South Africa’s biggest bank by customer numbers just told the market something every university in the country should pay serious attention to. It indicates a step change in the skills companies need, and the bank is taking charge of this upskilling.
Capitec‘s latest annual report shows a focus on artificial intelligence (AI) training, as it put 568 employees through cloud-focused learning last year with staff clocking nearly 43,000 hours on Udemy Business and Pluralsight. The bank is running its own masterclasses in SQL, Java and JavaScript, and has built internal “centres of mastery” across engineering, data and payments.
This is more than a skill investment story. While continuous upskilling remains a vital corporate responsibility, it signals how rapidly the capabilities required by industry are evolving, making it vital for higher education and industry to work together more closely. That is a gap that institutions of higher learning, private and public, increasingly need to address.
SA repeats old education mistakes as AI emerges
A pattern is emerging within our schooling system that needs highlighting as South Africa faces its next major technology decision.
In coding and robotics, with the best intentions, directives were given, curriculum was developed, and then the move forward stalled.
We are beginning to see take shape again with artificial intelligence (AI), writes Celeste Labuschagne, PhD candidate, and lecturer and learning framework developer at Belgium Campus iTversity.
ANALYSIS: To be or not to be, that is the AI question
As artificial intelligence (AI) heavyweights concede the technology may one day develop consciousness, academics warn that humans are already treating bots as sentient beings – a trend that is not only scientifically inaccurate but potentially dangerous.
Celeste Labuschagne, a lecturer at Belgium Campus iTVersity and a PhD candidate, points out that Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei recently said the company cannot fully rule out the possibility that advanced AI systems could possess some form of consciousness in the future.
Banks and financial services fear AI hackers but the real threat is stranger
The banking sector is right to be worried about AI-powered cyberattacks – AI can now find vulnerabilities, breach systems, and move through networks at a speed that keeps security teams up at night. But that’s only part of what we should be concerned about.
More troubling, and less discussed outside IT, is what happens when these systems operate autonomously and together. AI is no longer just following instructions; it is increasingly exploring data, social networks and news to shape its own interactions.
The big shift is that AI has shown its ability to act like it has intentions and can make its own decisions.
South Africa’s ICT trailblazers honoured at inaugural SAICTA awards gala
The ICT sector’s brightest stars, pioneering innovators, and influential leaders were honoured at the South African ICT Association’s (SAICTA’s) inaugural ICT Excellence Awards Gala Dinner.
Held at the Johannesburg Country Club in Auckland Park, the evening recognised excellence, innovation, leadership and professional contribution within the South African ICT sector. The Awards, which were not just a reflection of recognition, are the start of a new phase in SAICTA’s evolution.
“These Awards are about building a culture in which ICT professionals, startups, women in tech and young trailblazers are seen, valued and encouraged to continue making a meaningful contribution to our country in the digital future,” SAICTA CEO Dr Jannie Zaaiman says.
Active Microsoft Exchange zero-day leaves organisations exposed
Artificial intelligence has rapidly emerged as a pervasive technology that those entering the workplace need to have an understanding of. Increasingly, organisations are prioritising the use of AI-powered solutions and platforms, and their employees must now have AI skills to match.
This has resulted in the South African government making AI skills development a local imperative, but what about the country’s focus of coding, robotics, and 4IR-related skills that were the prioritised for the past decade?
This is the question posed by Celeste Labuschagne, a PhD candidate and Lecturer and Learning Framework Developer at Belgium Campus iTversity.
Why South Africa needs an AI policy for schools
Artificial intelligence has rapidly emerged as a pervasive technology that those entering the workplace need to have an understanding of. Increasingly, organisations are prioritising the use of AI-powered solutions and platforms, and their employees must now have AI skills to match.
This has resulted in the South African government making AI skills development a local imperative, but what about the country’s focus of coding, robotics, and 4IR-related skills that were the prioritised for the past decade?
This is the question posed by Celeste Labuschagne, a PhD candidate and Lecturer and Learning Framework Developer at Belgium Campus iTversity.
AI prompting is the new critical thinking
Rather than outsourcing thinking to AI, students must be taught to interrogate ideas, test assumptions and refine their own reasoning.
The problem with AI in education may not be the technology itself – it may be that students are using it incorrectly, treating it not as a tool, but as a solution. And because educators tend to see it as a threat, they aren’t taking students along a learning path that enables them to use GenAI as an enabler rather than a cheating tool.