Over 20,000 rural and poor youth throughout South Africa have benefited from digital technologies at six Smart Skills Centres established nationwide by the Chemical Industries Education & Training Authority (CHIETA).

With a pledge to leave no one behind in the digital revolution, since 2022 at Saldanha Bay in the Western Cape, CHIETA has opened Smart Skills Centres in six South African provinces, including the Mthashana Skills Centre in Babanango, a small rural town in Melmoth, KwaZulu-Natal, Iqhayiya Campus of Port Elizabeth TVET College in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape and at Orbit College, Brits in the North -West, Modjadjiskloof in Limpopo and Sabie in Mpumalanga.

The Smart Skills Centres are equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, including Smart boardrooms for startups and small—and medium-sized micro-enterprises and virtual reality (VR) machines to train artisans. They also offer accredited training courses paid for by Chieta. Unemployed youth can access new skills and job opportunities directly through the centres. Recently, over 100 unemployed youth received certificates in entrepreneurship at the Saldanha Bay SMART Skills Centre in the Western Cape.

“We live in a digital-first world. Many people in Modjadjiskloof and surrounding communities do not have access to the Internet and cannot afford data. Some have never used VR technology. These centres will ensure that the communities are not left behind in the Fourth Industrial Revolution," says CEO Yershen Pillay.

The Smart Skills Centres echo President Cyril Ramaphosa's call and commitment in his State of the Nation Address, in which he pledged to harness technology to transform government by investing in digital public infrastructure. SMART Skills Centres are a form of digital public infrastructure designed for the education and training sector.

These measures will transform the relationship between citizens and government and create one government accessible to every person at a touch.

“As CHIETA, we are proud that thousands of citizens, especially in rural and poor areas, are being equipped with new digital skills per the national priorities,” says Pillay.

Plans are underway by CHIETA to complete the Smart Centre Roll-out in Gauteng, Free State and Northern Cape.

New SMART Skills Centres will be opened in the rural town of Fraserburg, Northern Cape, in June 2025. CHIETA plans further centres for Phuthaditjhaba in the Free State and with PG Glass at their premises in Gauteng.

CHIETA plans to bridge the digital divide between urban and rural communities with its planned SMART Skills Centres in every province. According to Stats SA, only 13% of rural households can access the internet and digital technologies. 

“We want to ensure that nobody is left behind in the digital revolution,” concludes Pillay.