GLM TEAM 
Katekani Whitney Ngobeni, Veronica Ndubane and Tatenda Hlatshwayo are digital pioneers in rural South African communities – and they want the world to sit up and take notice.
Organisations such as the Good Work Foundation (GWF) are rewriting the familiar story of infrastructure disparities in South Africa. By providing access to high-speed internet and comprehensive skills development programmes in rural areas, it empowers young people – such as these three dynamic women – to bridge the digital divide.
Ngobeni, an IT technician at GWF, is from the village of Thulamahashe in Mpumalanga. “I’ve always wanted to be in IT,” she says. “When I got the internship at GWF in 2023, I counted myself lucky because it gave me an opportunity to gain workplace experience and learn more about information technology.”
Thanks to the training she received at GWF, Ngobeni is now able to assist her community with IT-related issues.
“These days, people fall victim to online scams. Sometimes they receive calls from criminals pretending to be their bank or click on suspicious links that allow them to be hacked,” she says. “So, I share what I’ve learned, make them aware that you should not share your private information freely and look out for signs of online scamming.”
Ngobeni points out that fraudsters try to take advantage of people from small towns who might not be wise to newer forms of theft.
Ndubane, from Kuhlo in Mpumalanga, also found her calling in IT through GWF. “I actually wanted to be a data analyst and felt being in IT would get me closer to that dream. That’s how I took the opportunity to join the GWF,” she explains.
GWF’s Bridging Year Academy programme equipped Ndubane with basic skills, such as helping her to improve her typing, while the IT Academy provided more advanced training in coding, the use of biometrics and other computer skills.
Using her newfound expertise, she has been able to help friends, family and community members by lending a hand to solve problems with computers and handheld devices.
“I assist them by either fixing their devices or giving advice on how to go about it.” People are grateful, since they don’t have to spend money buying replacements where devices can be easily fixed, she notes.
For Hlatshwayo, from Mabarhule (Lillydale B) in Mpumalanga, the journey with GWF was more than just learning computer skills. “The training also helped me get better at communication,” she says. “I gained confidence through the numerous presentations we had to deliver, which taught me to step out of my comfort zone and embrace new challenges.”
She first joined GWF as a student back in 2020, later stepped into the role of ICT facilitator for two years and now works for another company where she continues to spread her wings in IT. “The training expanded my understanding of IT and made me better at repairing computer devices. Now I am using this knowledge in my current job.”
Hlatshwayo has also encouraged other young people from her village to join the GWF. “And many of them have taken the skills they learned from Good Work Foundation and apply them in the new job opportunities they’ve found,”
Ngobeni, Ndubane and Hlatshwayo have become financially independent through their participation in the GWF skills training programme.
Ngobeni says being part of the IT programme has helped her to inspire other women to see that they, too, can apply their intelligence and skills and work in the IT space. “We’re shifting the mindsets of people on the social roles of women through our work.”
Ndubane adds that since starting her internship this year, the way she views the world of work and manages her finances has changed. “I can now help out in the household by contributing money for groceries and help put food on the table,” she says.
Kate Groch, CEO of GWF, emphasises that for them as a foundation, it’s about more than just providing internet connectivity to underserved communities; “it’s about becoming a transmission tower, sending graduates like Katekani, Veronica and Tatenda into the world as powerful signals of change.”
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