It’s that time of the year, when people can’t stop talking about it being the end of the year. Needless to say, I’m just as guilty! This year has gone by surprisingly faster than we’d expected. 2022 was our first full-year post COVID-19, and it’s safe to say that it was a lot! It had its fair share of ups and down, but we made man! Give yourself a round of applause, you deserve it. One thing to love about our community is we don’t throw in towels even when the odds looked as if they were against you.

Speaking of odds, in the month of October, Umuzi in partnership with Strider Tech & Equal Experts brought us 11 learners. We welcomed cohort 36. Almost two months into their Umuzi journey, we can safely say they have settled in!

An interesting thing to note about Cohort 36, is that the number 36 is commonly known to signify a time of transition. I’m not one for signs, but this sure is a good coincidence considering all the wonderful changes and growth that has been happening in our community.

If you haven’t met the incredible C36 learners, take a look at this cool feature did on them. Now we focus on the last leg of the race, the aim is to finish strong and rest bafethu! Now let’s dig into this last Kicker for the year.

Learner News - Umuzi & ACN Edition

Cohort Update

This year we had 196 learners go through our programme with over 9 cohorts within our learner journey. All these learners are supported by Umuzi in partnership with our amazing employer partners. This as enabled us to upskill & place as many learners into the workplace as we can!

Fast track to November and, would you believe it, Cohort 32 is wrapping up work experience with their employer partner VMLY&R. Big ups to Kgomotso Mashele, Lungelo Mthiyane & Tshepang Khunou for your outstanding professionalism & work ethic during your work experience.

Talking about work experience & the learner journey, let’s reflect on how far our cohorts have come. This is where your cohort is on the Learner Journey.

The Work Placements

Tshepang Khuno - UI Design C32 has joined VMLY&R as an intern.

Thapelo Marakalla - Data Science C24 has joined MTN as a Junior Data Scientist.

Nyakallo Ramantso - UI Design C24 has joined ABSA as a Product Designer.

Amanda Stemmer - Copywriting C11 has joined Vibe Experiential Agency as a Copywriter.

Jody Bailey - Web Developer C31 joined 2U as a Junior Software Engineer.

Recruits Making Moves

Tech Spotlight

This past month has been a very good one for our tech recruits. So many exciting things to report for this department. We have more than 20 recruits who have been serving some serious a$$ kicking. Congratulation to you all for all your hard work.

Problem Solving Foundations 2 - 3

Si’thi asbonge bafethu. This first group of individuals have moved from problem-solving foundation 2 - Problem-solving foundations 3.

Raees Dolley - C34 Web Dev

Charles Moswane - C25 Java

Takalani Mufamadi - C25 Java

Tshepo Mashiloane -C34 Web Dev

Lufuno Khuvhe - C25 Data Eng

Problem Solving Foundations 1 - 2

These guys have moved from problem-solving foundation 1 - Problem-solving foundations 2. Well done on the progress guys. Keep it up!

Ngoako Ramokgopa - C22 Web Dev

Kgomotso Thulo - C34 Web Dev

Khanyisa Mhlarhi - C34 Web Dev

Madimetja movundlela - C34 Web Dev

Melusi Mavuso - C36 Data Science

Thokozani Mndebele - C36 Data Science

UI/UX Design Spotlight

Our UX spotlight is shining brightly this month on Tshepang Khunou (UI) from C32. Those who have encountered Tshepang, will know that he’s one brilliant human and if you haven’t met him yet, we have no doubt his brilliance will find its way to you. This is what his manager had to say about him,

“You need not wonder if the work will be done because he always delivers.”

He had the pleasure of being hosted by VMLY&R for his work experience & based of his manager’s praises regarding his work ethic, it’s safe to say the man did not disappoint!

African Coding Network Spotlight

Zainab Wahab

Earlier this year, the African Coding Network kicked off its search for young women in Africa who wanted to pursue a career in tech. In March the programme kicked off and Zainub, was one of the young women who were awarded a scholarship. Through our partnership with Grow with Google on Coursera, Zainab completed a UX Design course and landed a Product Design internships with two IT Services & Consulting organizations, Zuri Team, Inc. and Unqueue for Business.

As part of her certification course, she designed a virtual tour to check out the full project case study on Behance.

Alumni Making Moves!

Tsholofelo Radebe

Introducing Tsholofelo Radebe, a multifaceted creative, child of the earth, innovator of grandeur and a true gem of a human being. We crossed paths with Stylez back in 2017 when he joined the Umuzi learnership as a young person with all (and we mean all) the creative flair - looking for that strategic edge.

This month is seeing the publishing of his first book titled The Art of the Love Vibration, a powerful manifesto on spirituality and coming into your own power. The book is available on Takealot so get your self a copy!

Zizipho Bam

Zizipho Bam, a copywriting alumnus from C13, is an award-winning poet who creates work that seeks to heal. Using the body and its experience as inspiration, she reimagines longing, loss, and love and turns her stories into works of art. “Sunflowers For My Lovers” is her first poetry collection – launched on Sunday the 27th of November 2022 in Melville, Jozi. 📚

If you missed the book launch, don’t worry, you can still learn more about the book & also get yourself a copy via Zizopho’s website.

Behind the Scenes: Umuzi Edition

New Staff Welcome

One thing you have to love about our Umuzi community is how it grows and embraces change. Our team has grown by two members, we have the privilege of welcoming back Sarah Lawson as our new Culture & Brand Project Manager.

African Coding Network New Staff Welcome

In 2022 the African Coding Network completed a very successful pilot of Umuzi’s flagship training & upskilling programme for youth in both Nigeria and Kenya. The response from young women was so overwhelming & positive, that another cohort had to be considered for 2022. Our ACN team got to work, and the rest is history.

Talking about history, the ACN has just onboarded six incredible alumni from our 2021 & 2022 cohort. This proves that we truly believe in the programmes we offer. Meet Aminat Amusa, Tariladei Tonkiri, Shalom Ayodele, Dorothy Asiimweu, Nkululeko Cele and Cynthia Onyekwelu. They have all completed certification through the ACN.

A big congratulation to you guys and welcome abroad.

Staff Making Moves

A big shout-out to our Project Manager Hloniphile Mduli and Nancy Leshaba for passing the Professional Srum Master 1.

The Professional Scrum Master level I (PSM I) is an online, lifetime certification provided by Scrum.org. It is well known for being quite challenging: 85% score is required for passing it, which is unusually high. This makes Hloniphile and Nancy Leshaba Legends! Well done guys on passing and for making us proud.

Another staff member making moves is our CTO Sheena O'Connel. Earlier in October, she traveled to San Diego in the USA to present Umuzi’s story to some important people at the 2022 #DjangoCon! The talk was titled "Building a dev-focused learner management system with Django" and explored how our learner management system (LMS), Tilde~ was a solution to learning remotely.

When the Coronavirus took the world by storm in 2020, we were left with a small problem on our hands. How might we provide upskilling and learning opportunities to our community of in-person learners in the comfort (or lockdown) of their own homes? Along with our extraordinarily capable tech team, Sheena got to building Tilde~. It enabled us to keep track of our learners and their progress online, while still progressing through their curriculum. Big win!

Check out the original presentation that Sheena spoke to at #DjangoCon.

Throwback Of The Month

We continue our quest to tap into the minds of great individuals with the sole purpose of learning & inspiring our community and Beyond Umuzi. In October, we got to sit down and chat all things Crafting your Dreams with the great Kgodisho ‘Zito’ Mowa, C4 alumnus, turned Art Director by day & Music Producer by night.

To catch up on the Crafting your Dreams session, see the video below. Enjoy!

This November, we’ll be catching up with Marea Lewis, the founder of Toasted a female-led, collaborative space which also just happens to make the best toastie in Jozi. So come through and join us for a conversation around how Design Thinking empowered her to move from the manifest to the material with her entrepreneurial goals and beyond. Mind you, she began this transition just three days before South Africa went into hard lockdown.

Her story & journey make for a great source of knowledge & experience, so come through & let’s get toasted with Marea Lewis! Check your calendar for an invitation, if you have not received one you can simply join using on Wednesday, November 30 · 12:00 – 1:30pm via Google Meet, join using this link, or you can Or dial: ‪(US) +1 409-698-0141‬ PIN: ‪606 324 575‬#

Hope to see there!

This brings us to the end of our newsletter and series for the year 2022! We hope this year has been a success to you, in whatever shape or form, success takes for you. As we enter into the festive season, we hope it will be a filled with peace, love and joy until we meet again in Jan.

Stay safe and much love!