MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME GRADUATION FOR COHORT 2
EZULWINI – The University of Eswatini (UNESWA) through the Consultancy and Training Centre (CTC) collaborated with the Eswatini Water Services Corporation (EWSC) to offer a 12-month training on the Management Development Programme (MDP) for the Corporation’s middle management. The training culminated to a Graduation Ceremony which was held at EWSC Auditorium on Friday 12 July 2024. On this day 29 employees of EWSC graduated and this was not the first group as 24 managers and supervisors graduated in 2023 as cohort 1.
The auspicious ceremony was graced by the presence of the Minister for Natural Resources Representative, Mrs Dorcas Dlamini, the Managing Director of EWSC, Mrs Jabulile Mashwama, the Vice Chancellor of UNESWA Professor Justice Thwala, the Guest Speaker, Professor Basil Leornard, the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Professor T.H. Gadaga, the Director CTC, Ms Zanele Dlamini, senior management from both EWSC and UNESWA and the graduating students. The Programme Director for the day was Ms. Nomahlubi Matiwane from EWSC. Mr Sicelo Dlamini, the Director of Strategy and Digitization set the tone for the day when he provided an overview of the MDP. Mr Dlamini listed the modules in the programme and thanked the MD for the programme as it had enhanced EWSC management team.
The Guest Speaker for the day, Professor Basil Leornard who also taught block 4 modules entitled: emotional intelligence and demystifying leadership as part of the MDP provided an eloquent, practical and thought provoking well-rounded speech. The Professor articulated that there were many contributing factors for one to ensure success in their personal and professional development but he would mention only three:
- Power of positive personal vision;
- Quality of your interpersonal relationships; and
- Influence or impact of your moral choices.
He concluded by saying one was free to make choices but was not free to choose the consequences of the choices made.
In his speech, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Justice Thwala mentioned how “the University engaged in a collaboration with EWSC to provide coordinating services for the delivery of the MDP to build capacity of the EWSC teams. He mentioned that the Cohort 2 graduates had been trained by highly skilled and experienced experts in various subjects of expertise with a proven outstanding track record of executive education and industry experience in their respective areas.” He also emphasized that it is only through training and experience that managers and leaders can develop their leadership abilities and leadership potential so that it becomes real, effective and rewarding and further emphasized the importance of team work.
The Managing Director of EWSC, Mrs Jabulile Mashwama in her speech, thanked the University for the collaboration as they had wanted to work with an accredited institution and they decided on the national university as it had a proven track record. She noted that the University was undergoing accreditation by ESHEC and they as EWSC hope the MDP programme would be accredited in the future as well. Mrs Mashwama thanked the employees of the institution for the hard work and dedication and also wished the graduates well.
The Honourable Minister’s Representative, Mrs Dorcas Dlamini, a graduate of the MDP in Cohort 1 mentioned how moral values and team work were important no matter how intelligent one is and further highlighted the need to work as a team and not in silos. She implored EWSC not to stop empowering staff through training such as the MDP. Ms Dlamini congratulated the graduates and commended the MD and the EWSC management for being visionaries. She commended EWSC for not only being committed to excellence but also for making an investment in improving human capital.
The Best Student of MDP Cohort 2, Ms Nokwanda Mhlanga expressed heartfelt gratitude to the employer for the incredible opportunity to undergo the MDP training which she said provided transformational growth. Ms Dlamini mentioned that the MDP had equipped them with a robust tool kit of knowledge. She mentioned that the insights that they had gained from the programme had already started to shape their work and yield results and for that they were very grateful.