The reigning champion of the Brics Hackathon 2023, Ntandokazi Mbutuma from Engcobo, won a gold medal for South Africa in the internet marketing skill set at the Brics competition that was held in Johannesburg.
Mbutuma is also a substitute teacher at Bashee Primary School, digital marketing manager at Engcobo FM, and the chief executive officer of Allokate Marketing.
BRICS is a group of countries that include Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa that seek to establish deeper ties between their nations and cooperate on economic expansion, including trade and skills development.
“The Skills Development Working Group of the BRICS Business Council in South Africa hosted a skills challenge in Nasrec, Johannesburg, where hundreds of participants from Africa, aged between 18 and 35, pitted their skills against one another to develop solutions for a range of challenges in various fields,” said Mbutuma.
She added that they tested their skills areas, namely, aircraft maintenance, building information, modelling, cyber security, data science, digital twin, drone technologies, internet marketing, manufacturing robotics, mobile app development, renewable energy and robotic process automation.
According to her, her aunt sent them an advert for applications as she normally does to the family WhatsApp group in 2022.
She confirmed that she had received an opportunity to network, to learn and again experience from industry leaders. Mbutuma added that she also learnt to trust in her own abilities and not feel threatened by people who are from a technologically advanced background.
“Youth must know that besides getting a varsity qualification, it is also very important to learn a skill that you can use to employ yourself, just in case you do not get formal employment. Even though I have managed to employ myself and work on my businesses after hours, my digital skills are proving to be an additional benefit to my CV.”
Mbutuma added that the purpose of the BRICS Future Skills Challenge is to encourage the youth to upskill and advance themselves with skills of the future, which lead to future and emerging jobs for them. She said that they cannot be all queuing for the same jobs, creating oversupply and unemployment issue.
“If you already have a job or qualification that is in oversupply, like my qualifications as a teacher, it’s always best to keep advancing yourself so that your CV looks more desirable to future employers.”
