An alleged impudent Johannesburg project company has failed to provide what is due to its learnership students, leaving them dry – killing hope and trust in the organization since for the majority of students this is their only form of income.
About thirty Namakwa District students based in Steinkopf and Nababeep have expressed their grievances about being left high and dry by Ubuntu Strategic Development Project company. The students claim they have not been paid for about 2 months approaching third.
According to the students, the learnership project started on 06 February 2026, giving green to lightening the burden of sitting at home being unemployed.
Speaking on Uhlaziyo LweeNdaba, Radio NFM program, students said that they complied with the employer’s learnership contracts policies and procedures as per expectations.
“On the 1st March we were told that we were going to get our first stipend. We further were aware of the 20 days of day compulsory attendance, but they went silent about what was due to us upon the agreement.”
The students received a memo on April 16 indicating they will be receiving their stipends “This memo serves as formal notification from Ubuntu Strategic Development Project (Pty) Ltd to let you know that there’s a delay in payment for learners who started late after the project started.
Kindly note that we are submitting your claim today because you need to have attended 20 days for you to qualify for stipend payment.
NB: We are committed to making sure that everyone gets paid their stipend when they have covered required days,” the memo stated.
When phoning, the students hit a dead end. The students said that they were given a run around that they were lacking compliance and short of relevant documentation, further straining our fast-draining pockets when submitting requested documents.
“They requested us to submit bank confirmation and identity documents, requiring us to travel from Steinkopf to Springbok (about 48km) with coins we were already saving for meals. In doing a follow-up upon those who received double stipends, the company lacked to respond to our grievances. They are now not responding to our calls.”
The facilitators, on the flip side , lacked information pertaining to the cause of the delay, failing to provide the students with a concrete response to student concerns.
Trevor Hattingh, Department of Labor and Employment Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) director, reverting to the media inquiry on 16 April 2026, said that the response they received from Ubuntu Project was that their bank account was disabled due to technical issues.
“The money that was proceeded and paid by the department bounced back. The company failed to inform the department of its operations,” says Hattingh. “We would like to believe they were in the process of solving the matter internally.”
The timeframe in solving the stipend issue, “Ubuntu Project needs to process the payments within 24/48hours and get the matter sorted. We don’t want any student to face any hardship.”
Hattingh said that the students need to report the matter to the department to prevent such matter. “It is disappointing that the students had to face hardship. This goes against the objectives of the Labor Activation program (LAP)”.
LAP is a UIF initiative that is intended to reduce unemployment by retraining, empowering, and reintegrating unemployed beneficiaries into the workforce, frequently through public-private partnerships. Its main goals are employment creation, enterprise development support, and skill enhancement.
Following the alleged hindrance, the department said it would probe the claims of the bank issue. “We have a contract with the company coming up with the terms and conditions – inability to place the learners in jobs or pay stipends. That would be violating the agreement, which needs to be remedied within the seven days.”
Hattingh said should the company fail to resolve the matter within the time-frame stipulated as per contract, alternative measures will be taken.
As of 06 May 2026, according to the students, when expressing their grievances, they were waved at with “I don’t care” referring to section 5 of the employment contract: Disputes “if there is a dispute concerning… it may be referred to CCMA.”
Radio NFM tried to reach the company owner, Gugu Ndlovu, but instead was knocking on dead man’s door. In contrast, the department’s promise to ensure they receive their stipends is stuck in a rut.
