Sipho Manzini, a teacher at Mfuleni High School in the Metro North Education District, shared the bronze award for Innovations Harnessing Technology for Frontline Services. He also received the Special Ministerial Award – Public Sector Trailblazers at the National Batho Pele and Innovation Awards (NBP&IA) held on Friday 28 November in Kempton Park.
The awards are designed to recognise and reward outstanding performance, innovation, and commitment to service excellence across the public sector.
WebAdmin
Manzini ‘s project, WebAdmin, is an AI-powered platform that provides digital workstations for educators. It enables teachers to integrate artificial intelligence into their everyday work by using their smartphones or laptops together with a customised smart card. To date, the platform has been implemented in nine schools, with over 250 teachers actively using WebAdmin to enhance their teaching and streamline their workflow.
Manzini says the award means the world to him. “Receiving this award means the world to me. It shows that the project I have built is finally gaining the recognition it deserves, and it strengthens my belief that WebAdmin can become a powerful tool to digitally transform schools across South Africa. This recognition motivates me to keep pushing boundaries and empowering educators through innovative, accessible technology,” says Manzini.
Overwhelming WebAdmin
He came up with the idea of WebAdmin after, as a teacher, he realised that the amount of paperwork he had to deal with on a daily basis was overwhelming. “Using my technical knowledge, I began digitising most of this work to make my own processes more efficient. When I noticed that I was the only one benefiting from this modern approach, I decided to introduce the system to my colleagues so we could all use one internal platform to collect, manage, and exchange data within the school. To gain a broader understanding of how the system could be used, I extended it to other schools as well. In essence, I am helping to create a new generation of smart, tech-empowered teachers who can embrace digital tools to improve teaching and learning.
Cost-efficient
“WebAdmin offers a smart, cost-efficient solution that reduces the use of physical paper in schools while extending teaching and learning beyond the traditional classroom. In addition to the technology, I personally provide hands-on training for teachers in every school that adopts the system. My dream going forward is to have WebAdmin introduced to each and every school in South Africa. Teachers are able to use one internal platform to collect, manage, and exchange data within the school,” says Manzini who has a BSc degree in Geology (Stellenbosch University), a post-graduate diploma in Business Administration (Stellenbosch University) and a post-graduate certificate in Education PGCE (Stellenbosch University).
