The Raglan Road multi-purpose centre was buzzing with activity on Thursday when GBS Mutual Bank held an awards ceremony for the people who had participated in a financial management workshop facilitated by the bank.
The Raglan Road multi-purpose centre was buzzing with activity on Thursday when GBS Mutual Bank held an awards ceremony for the people who had participated in a financial management workshop facilitated by the bank.
GBS invited people from different companies and organisations to particiapte in the workshop to teach them more about how to manage their finances including: financial goals, savings, budgeting, debt as well as banking and ATM use.
The course was initiated last year and Anton Vorster, the bank’s managing director said it will definitely be around next year.
The certificates were awarded to the participants who met the bank’s requirements in terms of performance. After being taught a single module at a time they completed a practical component where they could apply the theory they had learnt to their everyday lives. They were also expected to submit assignments to test their knowledge within each module.
Speaking on behalf of the participants, Sicelo Dyira who works for Umthathi said, “This has been a golden opportunity for all of us and I would like to convey a word of gratitude to the directors of all the companies that participated for letting their employees attend the workshops though they occurred during office hours.”
He also added that the past four months have seen him make much better financial choices, “I now know what to do with each and every cent in my pocket and even have excess. I got skills here and I am ready to transfer them,” he added.
Mfuzo Dyira, a clerk at GBS, said he enjoyed being part of the workshop and transferring skills to the participants. “It is interesting to talk about finances and I did not have any major challenges.
The only tricky part is the fact that the participants use different banks and I could not answer some of their questions as they were directly about the banks.” He also conveyed his gratitude to the GBS management, the participants and all involved in making the workshop a success.
Nosicelo Jantjies said, “This workshop has changed my life drastically. I was sinking in debt but with the help of the workshop I cleared all of them and I managed to save money though I did not have that much income.” She concluded by saying, “The workshop has left me speechless, I never thought I would be able to manage my finances this well. In January I am changing to GBS as they are the people who rescued me.”
The organisations and companies that were part of this workshop are St Andrew’s College, Diocese School for Girls, Amakhala, Umthathi and Makana Brick.
