Fanaka (Swahili): “We wish you every advantage and success.”
It’s a good name for a foundation that exists to do exactly that. But we go even further to turn those wishes into reality.
The Fanaka Foundation is DNI’s non-profit, built on the belief that South Africa has no shortage of talent, only a shortage of access. The technology sector is growing faster than the pipeline of people qualified to work in it. Fanaka’s response is to find young South Africans with the ability and the drive, and remove every obstacle between them and a career in Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
That means funding education programmes with a specific focus on maths and science; paying university fees; providing laptops, routers, data, and smartphones so that studying from home is possible; and placing graduates inside DNI Group companies for twelve months of real work experience, with mentors and a General Management Level 5 Learnership.
Our programmes and bursaries open the door, and our graduate programmes pave the way. The enablement programme makes sure nobody falls through the gap between the two because they can’t afford the equipment to keep going.
So far, over 20 bursaries have been awarded. Recipients study a tertiary qualification that is work-related at accredited institutions and are required to volunteer four hours a month at a registered NGO while they study.
Fanaka is focused on building up professionals who understand, from their own experience, what it means when institutions invest in the people who will ultimately carry the industry forward.
Three of those professionals are now part of the DNI Group:
Nhlakanipho Mntambo’s path to DNI wasn’t a straight line. His first year of engineering at the University of Pretoria didn’t go as planned. He spent time working at a church, then ran a small car wash business in Pretoria, studying online in the evenings. Today he works at Sebenza Wi-Fi, one of DNI’s subsidiaries, focused on providing free internet access to commuters across South Africa. “Every day at DNI,” he says, “I’m surrounded by a team of dedicated professionals who inspire me and help me grow.”
Melta Mabye grew up as the eldest of five. Her mother was a domestic worker; her father, a construction worker, passed away when she was in grade six. She became the top of her class, placed third in a “Code Like a Girl” ICT competition, and pursued Computer Systems Engineering at Tshwane University of Technology on an NSFAS bursary. When her mother passed away during her studies, she took on a parental role for her younger siblings and kept going. Her journey took her through an internship at Empire Partners Foundation, followed by Inspired Change Solutions, where she grew from software engineering into IT support, before finding her way to DNI. In her words: “Today, I am proud to be part of DNI, a place where professional growth and open communication flourish. Here, I’m surrounded by experienced mentors and given the resources to advance my skills, staying at the forefront of technology.”
Sibusiso Mahotso grew up in Katlehong. He balanced school with a part-time job as a cashier, went on to study Information Technology at North-West University, and found his way to DNI through an internship with The Starter Pack Company. He discovered game development along the way and realised that technology and storytelling could do something useful together. He’s now a developer. “I am living the dream I first imagined back in Katlehong,” he says.
What makes these stories so inspiring is that none of them were straightforward, but all of these hardworking people achieved their goals in the end. Fanaka is proud to have played a part in their journeys.
Beyond our bursary and graduate programmes, DNI’s CSI reach extends through a network of aligned partners: Angels Care in KwaZulu-Natal, which supports childhood development and victims of gender-based violence; the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Africa, which runs after-school programmes for over 1,800 children across Johannesburg; and our new partnership with MathU, which provides AI-enabled access to online Maths and Science material for children between Grade 7 and Matric.
The Fanaka Foundation runs its own education and ICT career programmes while sitting at the centre of that broader network, fulfilling DNI’s wish to bring every advantage and success to talented young South Africans aspiring to careers in technology.
