Our Story

Bergzicht Training and Development is a non-governmental organisation based in the Winelands in Stellenbosch, South Africa. Since opening our doors for the first time in 1992, we have been dedicated to developing the skills of poor, unemployed, unskilled and semi-skilled individuals from communities in the Western Cape through the skills development courses and programmes we offer.

By teaching individuals market-related skills and providing them with the tools needed to break the generational cycles of poverty, we are addressing one of the most pressing needs facing disadvantaged communities today – high unemployment, which leads to extreme poverty.

We do this by equipping our students with practical skills through our iPOWER (Self-Empowering) Foundation Programme and our Advanced Programmes focused on Child Care, Health and Frail Care, and Food Service Assistant and Food and Beverage Service training. We also offer our successful Advanced Programme graduates 
the opportunity to enrol for our short course in Employability Skills, which help prepare 
these graduates for the world of work, as well as a computer training course. 

We pride ourselves on the fact that we have trained more than 10 000 people from disadvantaged areas in and around Stellenbosch and the Cape Flats for more than two decades, securing permanent employment for 76% of those students through our in-house Placement Bureau.

“If I should be blessed with a lot of money one day, I would like to give that money to Bergzicht because I believe it is important to give back when you have received so much and because I know Bergzicht makes a difference in people’s lives. I can now also give my children the opportunity to go to good schools and also take them out.” – Sharon Carolus

Over the years we have partnered with various organisations and institutions to offer 
highly-sought after courses and programmes such as our Cathsseta Food Service Assistant and Food and Beverage Service programme presented in conjunction with The Private Hotel 
School in Vlottenburg, Stellenbosch. Our Health and Frail Care Programme is also accredited 
by the Health and Welfare SETA (HWSETA) of South Africa.