THE INFLUENCE OF BRICS ON SA’S ECONOMIC POSITION TAKES CENTRE STAGE AT A VUT ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT SESSION
By: Themba Nyovane – 23 May 2023
Mr Dumasi with VUT Students who attended the event
The Vaal University of Technology (VUT)’s Marketing Retail Business and Sport department (MRS) in collaboration with the Alumni Relations division, hosted one of their own, an Author and Marketing professional, Mr. Tshepiso Dumasi as a guest to render a lecture session to VUT Advanced Diploma Marketing student cohort about the influence of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) association on South Africa’s economic position.
Dr Lehlohonolo Masitenyane (Senior Lecturer) in the MRS department said the objective of this event was to enhance International Marketing 4 students’ teaching and learning experience by bringing the industry into the classroom, as this is becoming an imperative tool that as a department we also embrace. To achieve this objective, the MRS department headed by Prof Nobukhosi Dlodlo, who advocates for students to be presented with opportunities to learn from actively involved industry professionals and experts, who may assist to identify gaps and provide mitigatory strategies between practice and theory that are necessary for both VUT students and academics. Such engagements can assist in keeping abreast with new industry developments that directly and indirectly impacts on the future of VUT students and the staff members.
Mr Dumisi (Guest speaker) fundamentally assisted students to break down the barriers of the classroom walls to intensify their learning experience. He presented real-life and personal international marketing experiences to reinforce student learning of the contents related to international marketing taking from his international marketing practical experiences.
In his address, Mr Dumasi highlighted that despite the challenges faced and imposed by the global economy we face as a country, we need to be decisive and align ourselves with opportunities to implement meaningful reforms with an ultimate goal of building strong, sustainable and balanced growth of the economy. He added that through reservoir minerals and resources that South Africa has, the call for the BRIC nations association in 2010, was pivotal for Africa as a continent.
This can present SA with vast opportunities, through trade and market access, direct foreign investment, which includes a long-term physical investment, such as institutional development and industrialisation of companies. “Whatever has been broken can be certainly fixed, and being part of the BRICS nation, along with the rest of the global economy, South Africa is best suited by collaborating with other emerging economies, which will in turn, improve the economy of the country,” he said.
At the end of the question-and-answer session, the event organiser, Dr Masitenyane, told the students to take what was shared to heart and encouraged them to start thinking globally and act locally, while developing skills and traits to be able to operate locally, adding that they should empower themselves with knowledge because an era will come where knowledge will be interim power.