The department of higher education and training plans to invest more than R17bn in further education and training colleges, according to Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande.

Blade Nzimande (Image: GCIS)
The government plans to build 12 new colleges, which would be equipped with proper practical learning facilities.
Nzimande said this during an address to the media and members of the Swiss South African Co-operation Initiative and the National Business Initiative in Rosebank on Wednesday (3 July).
Nzimande's meeting with the local and overseas business people, which was closed to journalists, was discussing how FET college students' classes and lectures could be assisted by workplace, or experiential learning.
"The quality of FET's depends on the relationship it builds with employers," Nzimande said.
"A growing economy depends on the workforce. Many South African companies are used to making profits out of cheap labour," he alledged.
He said employers should shape the curriculum at FET's colleges so that the training programmes met actual workplace needs.
"Without a skilled and informed workforce the country will degenerate," Nzimande said.
Source: Sowetan via I-Net Bridge