DUT and Ithala Sign an MOU to Uplift the Local Economy – Simangele Zuma

DUT AND ITHALA SIGN AN MOU TO UPLIFT THE LOCAL ECONOMY

BY Simangele Zuma

DUT, in collaboration with Ithala Development Finance Corporation (IDFC), hosted a virtual signing ceremony for a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in September to seal their agreement to support local economic recovery.

This prestigious ceremony, which was attended by over 60 guests, showed the DUT Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Thandwa Mthembu and Ithala Group Chief Executive Ms Pearl Bengu signing the ground-breaking MoU.

DUT, ranked as one of the top five universities in South Africa, and IDFC, a 60-year-old development finance institution, recognise that in order to pull the economy out of its downward spiral, there must be a pooling of strategies and resources to drive decisive change. DUT and IDFC have thus joined forces to build an Innovation Hub to develop technology innovations in order to improve the lives of DUT students and assist in elevating the local economy.

In her opening remarks, DUT’s Deputy-Vice Chancellor: Research, Innovation and Engagement Professor Sibusiso Moyo said that the signing ceremony marked a number of months of preparation to reach this stage. “This day is very special in the sense that we formalise our intent to co-operate. For us to thrive as a KZN or South African economy, we need to remain active. We need to ensure that our people are skilled. Digital literacy at the moment is one of the key areas where skills are needed, both to communicate and also to train,” said Professor Moyo.

She said that the discussion with the IDFC started off by trying to see what DUT could do in the entrepreneurial space in order to contribute to the economic growth of the Province. Bengu said that Ithala takes matters of boosting the local economy and contributing to the skills development of small businesses very seriously.

“It is because of these reasons that the two entities sat down and decided to map out strategies that will see the business sector rise again. COVID-19 has had a significantly negative impact on the local economy and no sector has been left unscathed. Economic recovery post- lockdown requires collaboration from public and private

sectors to ensure that local business is able to resume operations as effectively as possible. This must be done without delay to ensure that jobs that existed before COVID-19 are protected and new job opportunities are created,” said Bengu.

Professor Mthembu said that the economy is a major problem that the country needs to solve – the National Development Plan states that the country needs to solve poverty, unemployment and inequality.

“In the midst of what we do, we should be about contributing towards improving the lives and the livelihoods of our people in the broader society. We are the University in and for our people. DUT and IDFC have had a series of engagements around collaborating on the establishment of DUT’s Innovation Hub as it is well known from national and global exemplars. Identifying local industries and corporates that have a similar agenda as the University plays a big role in ensuring that once the Innovation Hub is established, it does not become a silent island or a white elephant where there are no products and innovation activities that contribute to socio-economic development in the region and in the country,” said Professor Mthembu.

Furthermore, Professor Mthembu stated that the signing of the MoU between DUT and IDFC signifies an important landmark in the region. DUT values the relationship with IDFC and it is believed that it will be exemplary for future partnerships. Identifying local industries and corporates that have a similar agenda as the University plays a big role in ensuring that once the Innovation Hub is established, it does not become a silent island or a white elephant where there are no products and innovation activities that contribute to socio-economic development in the region and in the country – Professor Mthembu.

Professor Mthembu thanked Ms Bengu and her team for engaging with DUT on a number of occasions on areas of collaborations and looked forward to many initiatives that they will co-design and deliver on.

Pictured: DUT Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Thandwa Mthembu and the Ithala Group Chief Executive Ms Pearl Bengu signed an MoU on supporting local economic recovery.