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T-Systems launches The Anna Botha Learnership Programme in honour of Wayde van Niekerk's coach


Johannesburg, 22 May 2017
Gert Schoonbee Managing Director of T-Systems in South Africa.
Gert Schoonbee Managing Director of T-Systems in South Africa.

T-Systems South Africa, digital transformation specialist and technology partner to Olympian and 400m World Record holder - Wayde van Niekerk, is putting its weight behind sustainable job creation for young people living with disabilities in South Africa through the Anna Botha Learnership programme. This programme, which comes as part of T-System's ongoing Nation Building and CSI initiative, is named in honour of Anna "Tannie Ans" Botha, Wayde's coach and mentor.

T-Systems has launched the Anna Botha Learnership Programme in conjunction with the Wayde Dreamer Foundation, a collaborative initiative between T-Systems and Wayde van Niekerk which seeks to uplift the youth of South Africa. The programme, aimed specifically at young people living with disabilities and learning difficulties, underpins Botha's support of the Foundation's drive to be able to give back to those who don't often get the opportunity to better their lives.

The programme invited young matriculants living with disabilities to apply before accepting eleven candidates into the programme as part of their initial trial period. Each candidate will graduate with a NQF4 qualification in Information and Communication Technology Literacy and their A+ certification, which will enable them to find suitable employment within the IT field.

Says Gert Schoonbee, MD at T-Systems South Africa, "There is a lack of sustainable job creation programmes which cater specifically to young people living with disabilities in South Africa. Together with Tannie Ans, who is passionate about giving back to the community in a meaningful manner, we decided to address this gap and where better to start than by opening up opportunities within our existing learnership programmes."

When asked about the selection process, Schoonbee explained that this was no different to the selection process for able-bodied candidates, except that allowances were made to accommodate specific disabilities.

He said: "As is standard practice for our learnerships, applicants needed to have a matric certificate, be South African citizens and be considered 'youth' in South Africa. Successful candidates were then identified for their competence, analytical thinking and their drive."

The students will undergo full training and certification examinations and will emerge from the process with a qualification which will enable them to find work in any IT help desk call centre or as a field technician, among other potential possibilities.

Finding employment is particularly challenging for individuals living with disabilities not because they are incapable, but because they are often denied the opportunities that are made available to their able-bodied counterparts. "It is our hope that this programme will grow - making more opportunities available to people living with disabilities, in future", says Schoonbee.

T-Systems will be inviting all graduates from this learnership programme to apply for any positions that become available, alongside any graduate from their Hazyview ICT Academy and their other learnership platforms.

"It is our intention to create employable, capable and suitably qualified individuals in South Africa, growing our skillset and contributing to the digital transformation of our country," concludes Schoonbee.

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Deutsche Telekom

Deutsche Telekom is one of the world's leading integrated telecommunications companies with around 151 million mobile customers, 30 million fixed-network lines and more than 17 million broadband lines (as of 31 December 2014). The group provides fixed network, mobile communications, Internet and IPTV products and services for consumers and ICT solutions for business customers and corporate customers. Deutsche Telekom is present in more than 50 countries and has approximately 228 000 employees worldwide. The group generated revenues of EUR 62.7 billion in the 2014 financial year - more than 60% of it outside Germany.

T-Systems

Deutsche Telekom considers the European business customer segment a strategic growth area. Deutsche Telekom offers small, medium-sized and multinational companies ICT solutions for an increasingly complex digital world. In addition to services from the cloud, the range of services is centred around M2M and security solutions, complementary mobile communications and fixed network products, and solutions for virtual collaboration and IT platforms, all of which forms the basis for our customers' digital business models.

With approximately 47 800 employees worldwide, T-Systems generated revenue of around EUR 8,6 billion in the 2014 financial year.

Since the inception of T-Systems in South Africa in 1997, the company has cemented its position as one of the most successful T-Systems companies outside of Europe. A leading ICT outsourcing service provider locally, T-Systems offers end-to-end ICT solutions in both the ICT Operations and Systems Integration markets. Their extensive portfolio of services covers the vertical, horizontal, IT and TC space. T-Systems South Africa's head office is located in Midrand with another major office in Cape Town, and 20 further representative offices in locations throughout southern Africa.

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