Damelin

History

Damelin was established in 1943 by Benjamin Damelin.

In 1951, Johann Brummer joined Damelin as a teacher, becoming a partner in 1952, and serving as Educor's Executive Chairman until his resignation in 1998. One of the key aspects in the development of the Damelin name was initiated in 1952 when Brummer started developing materials for long-distance learning, which later became the Damelin Correspondence College in 1955.

In the early 1960s, Damelin began offering evening classes at what would later become their Johannesburg Campus . In 1968, the Damelin Management School was established and offered education and training to adults for the attainment of Damelin certificates. In the 1970s, many of the prisoners imprisoned on Robben Island were registered as students of Damelin. In 1985, the Damelin Computer School, which only offered part-time programs at the time, was established in Johannesburg.

By 1991, Damelin had started offering contact instruction to University of South Africa students, which had been established for middle-class African students who were unable to gain entry into universities of higher prestige with higher level education. All these programs were coordinated at the same Johannesburg site for many years until 1993, when the Braamfontein Campus was founded. In 1998, the University of Pretoria approached the Damelin Computer School to facilitate the computer training of residential students of the University of Pretoria on their main campus because their IT faculty was better suited to training undergraduates than the University of Pretoria's.

By 2005, Damelin was the only institution in Southern Africa whose Bachelor of Commerce degrees were recognized by the Oxford Brookes University, a university established in 1992. In 2007, Damelin aligned their programs with the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) and by 2008, Damelin was offering more than 200 NQF programs. In 2008, Educor was purchased by National Pride Trading 452 as a going concern and started integrating the Damelin School of Banking and Insurance's academic operations as part of their offerings.

By November 2012, over one million students had graduated from Damelin.

Campuses

Damelin has 6 campuses across South Africa in various cities, including but not limited to Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban.

All of the current campuses are situated within South Africa's borders in five of South Africa's nine provinces: Gauteng, Kwa-Zulu Natal and Western Cape, the first of which was established in the 1960s in Johannesburg, Gauteng.

Faculties, departments and schools

Damelin has various faculties, departments and schools, namely:

Faculty of Commerce, Leisure and Information Technology: The Faculty of Commerce, Leisure and Information Technology specializes in accounting, ICT, and travel and tourism. The qualifications in the Faculty range from certificates to diplomas and Bachelor of Commerce degrees. The Diploma in Information Technology, which carries 360 credits with an NQF rating of 6, is more affordable than similar courses offered by the University of the Witwatersrand, Rhodes University and the University of Pretoria.

Faculty of Management Sciences and Communication: The Faculty of Management Sciences and Communication specializes in various professional fields such as journalism, public relations, human resources management, marketing and business management with various diplomas and a Bachelor of Commerce degree on offer.

Faculty of Creative Arts: The Faculty of Creative Arts specializes in the fields of graphic design, photography and various audio technologies.

School of Business, Management and Corporate Training: The School of Business, Management and Corporate Training caters for students who are interested in studying business related subjects that include courses like general finance and public relations. The School of Business, Management and Corporate Training is one of the best 1000 business schools in the world.

School of Media and Design Technology: The School of Media and Design Technology is the largest full-time school in Damelin with a selection of 13 programmes offered over a range of creative media, design and performing art disciplines. The School of Media and Design Technology offers courses in fashion design, interior design, presenting and digital photography. Sound Engineering is offered as part of the School of Media and Design Technology at the Bramley campus.

School of Information Technology: The School of Information Technology caters for students by providing a variety of computer related programmes to them.

Awards and accolades

In 2005 a survey conducted by Markinor amongst a sample of fifty recruitment agents revealed that individuals who studied at Damelin and attained their qualifications there were more likely to be hired than individuals educated elsewhere due to the fact that Damelin's qualifications satisfy both the vocational and the professional requirements of both the marketplace and students.

Damelin's various campuses have varying degrees of the PMR.africa award that serve to recognize the high standard of education offered by the award recipient. The Cape Town city campus was awarded with a Silver Arrow award on 22 April 2013 for their hard work and excellence in the category "College/Institutions for Higher Education". Damelin Kwa-Zulu Natal (all the Damelin campuses in the province) won a Silver Arrow award in the category "Colleges/Training Institutions" on 14 October 2013.

Community interaction

On 13 February 1997, then South African President Nelson Mandela delivered a speech at the Damelin business college in Johannesburg.

In 2007, Damelin partnered with Ocean Experience to promote the safe use of oceans.

Since 2009, Damelin has been the title sponsor for the annual Damelin Rugby Night Series, which is a high school rugby tournament for boys' teams.

Damelin is known for giving away many bursaries to members of the public.

In March 2013, hundreds of students from Damelin's Durban City campus took to the streets to express their support against rape and violence against women.

Notable people

Faculty and staff

Frederick John Harris, South African executed for anti-apartheid bombing, lecturer at the Johannesburg campus prior to his death in 1965

Themba Maseko, managing director of Damelin 2000–2001

Mark Pilgrim, television presenter and lecturer at the Johannesburg and Centurion sites for the Television Course

Alumni

Lionel Abrahams, late South African novelist, poet, editor, critic, essayist and publisher

John Antonakis, Professor, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, author

Michael Kitso Dingake, member of the ANC, SACP and MK, author and columnist

Nicole Flint, Miss South Africa 2009 and television/radio personality

Basetsana Kumalo, Chair and CEO of Basetsana Woman Investment Holdings

Mninwa Mahlangu, Chairperson for the National Council of Provinces and ANC politician

Dumisani Meslane, South African rugby union player, playing with the SWD Eagles

Tim Modise, South African journalist, TV and radio presenter for SAfm

David Nosworthy, former South African international cricketer

Cyril Ramaphosa, ANC politician, 5th president of South Africa

Clive Rice, former South African international cricketer

Solly Shoke, general of the South African Army and chief of the South African National Defence Force

Damelin Short Learning Programs. sainfoweb.co.za.

Controversy

On 9 September 2012, the investigative journalism program Carte Blanche aired a feature called "Arrested Development" in which the legitimacy of Damelin's qualifications was questioned. Damelin was quick to set the record straight and address the issue and even Debora Patta was quoted as saying "Damelin has a good name and is a trusted brand."