Vacancies – Southern African Wildlife College

The Southern African Wildlife College is an equal opportunity employer and recruitment, selection and staff development is based solely on the capabilities, qualifications and intrinsic qualities of the person. No decision will be based on race, sex, culture, age, religion, creed or on any other potentially subjective views or perceptions. In addition, the College will employ people taking into account affirmative action policies, equity planning and recognition of the abilities of differently-abled people.

The College always endeavours, wherever feasible, to fill all vacancies from within whilst giving due consideration to maintaining high standards. The college, and the HR department, will thus always first look at the role and at existing employees not only within the department but within the college as whole, to determine whether there is any employee who has been identified with potential, as part of our Leadership Development policy, who meets the requirements for the role and could be promoted into it. Vacancies are always be advertised within the College unless the position is such that it cannot be filled internally, under which circumstances the position will be advertised nationally and possibly even internationally.

The Equity Committee (EC) and the SAWC community forum and/or Community Liaison Officers will be notified of all vacancies in the interests of transparency and these will be advertised on all college notice boards and via staff email. Cognizance will be taken of the needs in terms of equal opportunities, equity and transformation and development when making appointments. All applicants are required to undergo integrity testing prior to employment.

Employment options available at the College

In order to meet the operational requirements of the College, and to conduct additional and/or extraordinary maintenance or hospitality tasks, the College may hire additional labour on a “casual” basis. The College has a firm commitment to the Mnisi Tribal authority and the communities within which it operates and it therefore undertakes to extend such casual employment, wherever and whenever possible, to community members, who will then have the opportunity to gain practical work experience to enable them to find employment elsewhere. Such labour will be remunerated on a “casual” hourly paid basis. Such employment will only be entered into for specific jobs or tasks that cannot be performed by permanent or fixed term contract staff at the College and where such tasks are of a fleeting and non-permanent nature, or as may crop up from time to time. The College will therefore employ a limited number of community members on a “casual” hourly paid basis with the following objectives:

– To provide practical work experience for residents of the local communities within which the College operates.

– To assist the College in overcoming operational shortages and/or to conduct maintenance by offering employment to local community residents.

– To utilize local community residents to fill vacancies caused by leave of absences due to illness, accidents or maternity leave

– No person under the age of 16 will be hired to work at the College.

The College has a commitment to conservation and furthering conservation, training and education in all fields and in all possible ways. To this end, as part of the College’s Education Programme, the College accepts applications from Volunteers who wish to live and work at the College and learn more about what the college does, about conservation, and about the communities within which we operate. The college accepts that volunteering is an easy way to get involved in practical conservation.

The College accepts a small number of these applicants each year, where it is felt that the experience will be of mutual benefit to the Volunteer and to the College. The Volunteer must be gainfully employed in value-added tasks or projects for the College during his/her term of volunteership. The period during which the services of the Volunteer are engaged at the College will be governed by an agreement to clarify the relationship and protect both parties.

Volunteers will be accepted for a minimum period of a month unless there are special circumstances, after which the situation will be reviewed with regard to the needs of both the Parties. Volunteers may not be employed for a period exceeding 12 months without expression permission from the HR Manager and a consensus on the need for an extended period by the Manager/s involved.

The College has a commitment to conservation and furthering conservation, training and education in all fields and in all possible ways. To this end, as part of the College’s Education Programme, the College accepts applications from Students who require practical experience to complete their related studies, who wish to live and work at the College to gain useful practical experience to assist them in future employment endeavours within the conservation field or associated support service fields.

The college also accept applications from and from people who have graduated from their course of study, but have no work experience, provided in some way that course of study is relevant to roles available at the college, and will take on a certain number of Interns each year in all departments, including the Hospitality and Maintenance departments. The college offers these Interns an opportunity to gain work experience in their respective fields. The College employs a small number of these applicants (Industrial Placements and/or Interns) each year, where it is felt that the experience will be of mutual benefit to the Industrial Placement/Intern and to the College.

The Industrial Placements and/or Interns must be gainfully occupied in value-added tasks or projects for the College during his/her term of service. The period during which the services of the Industrial Placements and/or Interns are engaged at the College will be governed by a formal agreement. Industrial Placements and/or Interns will be hired for a minimum period of 3 months, after which the situation will be reviewed with regard to the needs of both the Parties. Industrial Placements and/or Interns may not be employed for a period exceeding 12 months without expression permission from the Head of Human Resources and a consensus on the need for an extended period by the Manager/s involved.

The College has facilities specifically designed for research groups and students, and offers a camp ground, a caravan park and tented accommodation. The Applied learning department is involved with several research projects every year, and applications to conduct research at the college would be routed via HR to the Applied Learning department for approval and acceptance. The college, situated in a big five area, and involved as it is in cutting edge conservation education, is a perfect location for most research projects.

Current Vacancies / Opportunities

There are currently no vacancies at the Southern African Wildlife College.

Employee Awards

The Southern African Wildlife College believes that service excellence is an integral component to the College and is essential to the effective achievement of the College’s operational objectives or day-to-day business. The achiever of the Month lucrative scheme at the College is linked to a financial reward in order to encourage employees to exceed to the required standard of performance at the College and to motivate them to be creative and initiative in their day-to-day operations. The achiever of the Month award is based on the belief that productivity is linked to motivation and the College’s goals will not be reached or achieved unless working relations between the College’s employees, students, and visitors are based on both trust and mutual contribution.

The College also believes that the achiever of the Month lucrative scheme is a communication forum between top management and their subordinates. The Achiever of the Month Award is awarded every month and will be used to accurately reflect the development of employees in different divisions, and also to provide a clearer and more objective view of individual employees as a whole. The decision on who is the Achiever of the Month will be linked to aspects such as Safety, Human relations, Quality of work, Attitudes, Initiative, Dedication etc., and is determined via a voting system at the Inter Departmental (ID) Committee forum, a forum for middle level managers. Nominations are called for from all departments and all levels of staff, as well as staff, and ID committee will then convene a meeting to select the best employee nominated amongst others, taking into account all principles which have been set out in the nomination form. Senior managers do not have a say on the process other than being able to nominate staff for this award.

In addition to the Achiever of the Month awards, the college recognizes employees for exceptional above-and-beyond inputs and achievements with the CEO award; recognizes staff for doing things that are not their job but which enhance the college’s reputation and ability to conduct its business with the Rhino Award; and recognizes actions and ideas which lead to safer working conditions for all with the Safety Award.

The Achiever of the Month ceremony is also used a forum to hand out certificates to staff who have undergone training or passed courses as beneficiaries of the college’s educational assistance programme; to wish all staff having a birthday that month a happy birthday; and for staff announcements.

Achiever of the Month - October 2018 Elvis Mkhonto

Winner for October: Dzilang Elvis Mkhondo

Elvis Mkhondo works in our Maintenance department, and he won this award for single-handedly cutting all the firebreaks around the Ranger Camp and at the college. He was nominated by the Programme Co-ordinator at the Ranger Camp Tshilidzi Mercy Ntsandeni, and this nomination was endorsed by his manager, Michael Gardiner, Maintenance Operations Manager. Not only did he cut large tracts of land as fire breaks at the Ranger Camp, but he did so on his own, in extremely hot weather. His work was of such a high standard the KNP Section Ranger commended the way the fire breaks had been cut.

Winner for October: Daphne Gengayan

Daphne Gengayan who works in the Resource Centre, within the ASQA department, assisted the Community and Youth Development department with last minute printing and preparation for their courses, doing work that is not expected of her to ensure the course would be ready to run on time.

Other Achievements: Tomas Ndhlovu

Tomas Ndhlovu, an Armed Environmental Monitor and registered DEAT guide, from the Applied Learning Unit, was given an award for helping the University Programmes and Short Courses department during their busiest time of the year, providing services to visiting groups that included providing food in the bush, game drives, bushwalks, guiding, interpreting and hosting. The award itself was provided by the University Programmes and Short Courses department.

10 yrs of service: Nomsa Mathebula, 5 yrs of service: Surprise Seepane, Louis Lubisi, Bernard Ntimba, Marilize van der Walt, Thulani Kivert Machabe, Dziliang Elvis Mkhonto, Ruben De Kock, Johanna Maria De Kock, Setoromane Sainet Mokgope, Sboniso Ryan Phakathi, Precious Mathebula, Rejoyce Mdhlovu, Vutomi Mnisi, Thabisile Sibuyi, Condrie Collen Mkansi, Tomas Twarisani Ndhlovu, and Daphne Gengayan.