Shape
founder Ms Thea van der Westhuizen (far right) and eThekwini
Municipality representative Ms Khosi Sithole (second right) informing
students about the entrepreneurship opportunities.
The initiative which is the brainchild of College of Law and
Management Lecturer and doctoral student Ms Thea van der Westhuizen and
her supervisors, Professor Kriben Pillay and Professor Shahida Cassim.
The launch attracted more than 200 students who were interested in the
50 scholarships up for grabs through the SHAPE project.
SHAPE was awarded with the University Teaching and Learning Office’s
“Teaching Innovation and Quality Enhancement Grant”, which enables the
initiation of the program. SHAPE’s core team consist of Professor
Shahida Cassim, Dr. Ziska Fields and van der Westhuizen, with several
active post-graduate student team SHAPE – all from the College of Law
and Management. SHAPE is a nine-month teaching and learning programme
in which second-year students learn how starting a business is not only
about a business plan but also about opening one’s heart to our own
values, growing our self-motivation and self-confidence. Having an open
heart might help to develop students’ mind to keep on going even after
failure. The program consist out of three phases where students will
spend three months on campus where being exposed to various creative
classroom excesses which aims to open hearts to innovation and increased
levels of entrepreneurial self-confidence. During the second phase of
the program, students will be placed in the business environment of the
project’s sponsors, eThekwini Municipality and the Durban Chamber of
Business and Industry, where they will intrapreneurially explore ways of
starting a business. The last phase of the program will equip both
student entrepreneurs and business professionals to potentially start-up
a business.
In her address, van der Westhuizen challenged students to explore
their entrepreneurship potential and take advantage of opportunities
that the College of Law and Management offer to support its students.
‘SHAPE hopes to help students to develop business dreams aligned with
South Africa’s National Economic Development Vision. The program
explores various systems approached where the capacitation of South
Africa’s youth is key. Moreover, the fundamental to national
mundo-systems development, is capacitating micro-systems. Where the
mico-system is an individual’s heart and heart’s dreams while
functioning within a variety of multidimensional and multi-lateral
systems.” Hopefully students will leave UKZN with a good academic
qualification and an own business in development.
A strategic partnership between the Municipality and UKZN will see
the Municipality’s Business Support Unit based at the University for two
hours a week while the project is running. This will allow students
easy access to mentors who will nurture their business skills. The Units
representative Ms Khosi Sithole said this was the first initiative they
were involved in as partners to increase collaboration between the
business sector and academia.
‘It is our responsibility to ensure there is access to information
and sharing of skills between SMMEs, business and students as they all
play a vital role in growing the economy. That is why we are delighted
to work with UKZN initiatives such as these and we are hoping to
collaborate on other mutually beneficial programmes to enhance the
spirit of entrepreneurship in KZN,’ said Sithole.