Higher Education Deputy Minister Dr Nomusa Dube-Ncube led the sod-turning ceremony on 5 September 2025 for the new facility which is being built within Ingwe TVET College within the Ntabankulu local municipality. The facility construction, signed off in December 2023, is at foundation phase, and the project scope is at 25% completion with R 20 million currently being spent.
The facility is designed to include an Information, communication and technology laboratory skills for TVET college learners and be accessible to legacy growers..
Ntabankulu, one of South Africa’s most improvrished towns, is in the heart of South Africa’s Mpondoloand cannabis belt (pictured here) where illicit cannabis has been grown for generations by legacy farmers.
Dr Sdiyabulela Fobosi, senior law researcher at the University of Fort Hare , has described cannabis as “green gold” for the people of Mpondoland
He told News 24 on 5 September 2025: “For decades, local producers have sustained communities through this crop without meaningful access to forma markets or processing opportunities. This hub recognizes their expertise and positions them for participation in a high value, regulated industry’.
He stressed that the project hinged on inclusivity – including integrating local farmers into the value chain, providing training through the TVET programmes, and ensuring fair access to markets and profits.
Ntabankulu mayor Tslleng Sobiuthongo said the municipality had been engaged with the Higher Education Department on the project since 2021.
“One element that I love most about this project is cannabis processing. At Ntabankulu Local Municipality we are part of the Mpondoland belt . The people of Mpondoland grow cannabis.
“We believe the cannabis crop is going to be a game changer to assist us in building our local economy. We visited Canada where we witnessed the different products made of cannabis. We don’t want the people of Mpondoland to be exploied by smuggling cannabis for agro-processing elsewhere. It must benefit them and we will address the issue of licensing.”
Licensing remains the key issue as current regulations need to be altered before the cannabis hub can be legal.
This is a thorny issue for local growers who have not been accommodated in any legislation so far that makes them legal. News 24 quoted 56-year old Bonsile Mangole, who said he had mixed feelings about the project.
While he welcomed the initiative, he said “For years we were promised licenses to grow cannabis, but many of us are still waiting” He wondered how growers would be accommodated by the technology as many were illiterate.”
The Department of Higher Education and Training and the Wholesale and Retail Sector Education Training Authority (W&RSETA) are aiming for a major boost to the Eastern Cape skills profile and job creation
During the peak of energy loadshedding, an investment of R 71 million for solar energy equipment was made to 11 TVET Colleges by the Wholesale and Retal SETA towards ensuring that learning and teaching programmes are not interrupted when electricity is not supplied.
Each institution was allocated R 6.5 million. The most notable infrastructure investment at the TVET colleges done by the Wholesale and Retail SETA has been the investment of R 146 million for the construction of the skills development centre at the Sekhukhune TVET college which was officially opened on 3 May 2024.
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