Twenty-five businesses in a box
SEBOKENG, Gauteng. The ANC-led government’s commitment to practical skills development and township enterprise took concrete form in Sebokeng on Monday, 24 August, when 25 young entrepreneurs received fully equipped cellphone-repair containers.
The handover, led by Minister of Higher Education and Training Buti Manamela at the Saul Tsotetsi Sports Complex, marked an important step in a R19 million Cellphone Repair Programme aimed at transforming technical skills into sustainable livelihoods.
Implemented by the Wholesale and Retail Sector Education and Training Authority (W&RSETA) in partnership with the South African Mobile Devices Distributors Repairs Association (SAMDDRA), the programme is designed to support 500 disadvantaged young people with cellphone-repair skills, business equipment and operational premises.
This is the ANC government at work in the practical service of the people: opening doors for young South Africans not only to receive training, but to use that training to build enterprises, earn an income and contribute to the economy of their communities.
Beyond the certificate
For too many unemployed young people, training has historically ended with a certificate and no clear path into the economy. It is a gap this publication has tracked before, from tourist-guide business training in Nelson Mandela Bay to the ANC’s municipal one-million opportunities programme. The cellphone-repair programme takes the more complete approach: skills development linked to entrepreneurship and access to a place from which participants can trade.
Beneficiaries receive three months of technical training in basic cellphone repairs, together with a monthly stipend of R3,500 during the training period. They are then supported with fully equipped containers that serve as operational workshops.
The model directly addresses one of the major barriers facing township entrepreneurs: access to affordable business premises. By providing a ready-to-use workspace, the programme helps participants avoid the immediate burden of commercial rent while they establish their customer base and grow their businesses.
That is the difference between simply preparing people for work and helping them create work.
Building township businesses
The programme is rooted in the recognition that townships are not merely communities of need. They are centres of economic activity with a large customer base, entrepreneurial energy and a growing demand for affordable technology services.
Cellphone repair is particularly suited to township enterprise. Mobile devices are essential to communication, education, banking, employment searches and small-business activity. Local repair businesses can provide an accessible service while keeping economic value within the community.
SAMDDRA describes the initiative as an effort to build citizen-owned cellphone repair businesses and create jobs in local communities through fully equipped repair kiosks.
The Sebokeng handover is consequently more than the distribution of containers. It is an investment in local ownership, technical capability and the participation of young people in the digital economy.
A programme with scale
The Sebokeng handover forms part of a wider programme that began in 2024. Reporting ahead of the event indicated that 326 South Africans had been trained against a target of 500 beneficiaries.
W&RSETA’s 2024/25 annual report records 316 youth trained during the reporting period and the provision of 50 business-ready containers to SMME participants. The programme carried a budget of R19,040,805.50 and was designed to move beyond classroom-based training towards enterprise development.
The initiative also reflects the government’s commitment to ensuring that development reaches young people, women and persons with disabilities in township and rural communities.
This is an important expression of the ANC’s broader developmental approach: the state must use its institutions to build productive capacity among working-class communities and expand access to opportunities that were previously concentrated in established commercial centres.
From beneficiaries to employers
The full value of the programme will be measured not only by the number of containers handed over, but by what those containers make possible.
According to reporting from the handover, some beneficiaries have already employed additional people, with Minister Manamela indicating that certain entrepreneurs had employed as many as two additional workers.
From the page
“We applied for these containers via SAMDDRA after finishing their cellphone repair programme.” Thully Van Der Westhuizen, a beneficiary, on the W&RSETA page
This is the point at which a skills programme becomes an economic-development intervention. A young person who receives training and equipment is supported to become a business owner. That business owner can then become an employer, creating opportunities for other residents and strengthening the local economy.
The potential does not end with cellphone repairs. Minister Manamela has also pointed to opportunities in electronic-waste businesses and other areas of the technology economy, suggesting that the model could support a broader ecosystem of township enterprises.
Such an expansion could create opportunities in repairs, refurbishment, recycling, parts supply, logistics and the responsible handling of discarded electronic devices.
The next phase
W&RSETA has indicated that the next phase of the project will focus on business incubation and market-link support.
This is a crucial continuation of the government’s intervention. Training and equipment provide the foundation, but sustainable enterprises also require customers, suppliers, mentorship, financial discipline and access to markets.
- 2024
- The Cellphone Repair Programme is launched
- Training
- Participants complete three months of technical training, with a R3,500 monthly stipend
- Equipment
- Business-ready containers and tools are provided
- 24 August 2026
- 25 Sebokeng entrepreneurs receive their operational workshops
- Next phase
- Business incubation, market-link support and enterprise sustainability
The ANC-led government is not presenting young people with promises without dates. It is building a practical bridge between learning and earning, particularly in communities where access to formal commercial opportunities remains limited.
Development in action
The Sebokeng handover demonstrates what becomes possible when skills development is connected to the real conditions facing unemployed people.
A certificate alone cannot pay rent, purchase equipment or attract customers. A practical skill, combined with a stipend, tools, premises and business support, gives an aspiring entrepreneur a far stronger foundation from which to begin.
The responses came from the beneficiaries themselves. “Thank you W&R Seta and SAMDDRA,” wrote Tebogo on the W&RSETA’s page, posting a photograph of a branded container. “We applied for these containers via SAMDDRA after finishing their cellphone repair programme,” Thully Van Der Westhuizen replied beneath the handover announcement. Other commenters needed no convincing: “Don’t talk too much, just go to Saul Tsotetsi sport centre,” one advised residents asking where to find the programme.
This is the substance behind the ANC government’s developmental argument: government must not only respond to poverty after it occurs, but must help people build the capacity to earn, produce and participate in the economy.
The 25 containers handed over in Sebokeng will not solve South Africa’s unemployment crisis on their own. Their significance is that they represent a model of intervention that can be expanded, one that treats young people as future business owners, employers and contributors to township economic growth.
In Sebokeng, the journey from skills to enterprise has begun. The work now is to strengthen, expand and replicate that opportunity across the country.
Follow the opportunity
The Cellphone Repair Programme continues with a target of 500 beneficiaries. W&RSETA publishes learning programme opportunities as they open.
Sources and further reading
This report draws on the handover coverage, the department’s media advisory and the W&RSETA annual report.
- Sebokeng youth get cellphone repair containers, ITWeb
- Minister Manamela to lead handover of cellphone repair containers, Department of Higher Education and Training
- Citizen-owned cellphone repairers and local jobs, SAMDDRA
- W&RSETA 2024/25 Annual Report
- Manamela hands over cellphone repair containers to 25 Sebokeng entrepreneurs, Central News