NORTHERN NEWS

Digital education in the Maluti Mountains

By Sipho Mkhwanazi

Film and Publication Board together with GGHNP host female youth during Women’s month

On the weekend of 28-29 August, The Film and Publication Board hosted 20 selected girls at the Golden Gate Highlands National Park as part of the FPB Youth Voices and Youth Cybersafety Ambassador Programme (YCAP).

These girls were selected to attend a fun-filled targeted youth camp and programme at the park after an insightful webinar. As part of the weekend’s activities, FPB partnered with Golden Gate Highlands to treat the young ladies to an educational hike on the famous herbal trails at the park.

This experience coincided with the organisation’s aim to educate young girls the importance of having a healthy, fully balanced on lifestyle.

FPB was created to support social cohesion and inclusivity aligned to the moral compass of the country. They do this by classifying content of films, games and publications, while protecting the most vulnerable in society from potentially harmful elements within this area.

A special area of focus is protection from Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM). Women’s Month presented an ideal opportunity to empower and educate women, as social change agents and advocates for the work of the FPB.

Part of the objectives of the Women’s Month campaign was to empower girls to create a safe digital footprint online and engage safely in the 4IR space as a tool for learning, networking, and making their voices heard.

Moreover, there was a focus to educate them on the opportunities for advancement that are available online and encourage them to use these opportunities safely.

This was successfully executed through the leveraging on Women’s Month to create a movement for a safer online environment for women and girls by creating a cohort of young women ambassadors for safe content consumption.

FPB was exceptionally impressed with the facilities at Golden Gate Highlands and have committed to formulating a long-lasting partnership with SANParks where they intend to educate our employees about the importance of having a healthy digital presence. We are very eager to see what this partnership will bring the organisation and how much of a positive impact such information can have on our employees.

7 7 Check your pay slip to confirm contributions to GEPF

The easiest way to keep track of your GEPF contributions is to check your monthly pay slip which shows your contributions to the GEPF. It also indicates the service date on it. Always ensure that you check the membership certificate and query anything that does not agree with the information at your disposal. If you are unsure, speak to your Human Resource representative.

Please note that your pensionable service starts from the day you start paying your monthly pension contributions. In other words, your pensionable service is the period in which you are an active, contributing member of the GEPF.

Sometimes, there is a difference between the date on which you started working for your employer (employment date) and the date on which you joined the GEPF (pensionable service date). This can happen if you started out working on a contract (during which time you did not qualify for a GEPF membership and therefore were not contributing) and later became a permanent employee that contributes to the Fund.