The telecentre model was established to provide information and communication technology (ICT) skills to empower people, reduce poverty and unemployment in poor areas. Our study explored the relevance of telecentres as an ideal mechanism to empower women. Our study investigated how telecentres can contribute to women’s empowerment by analysing five telecentres in rural settings of the Western Cape, South Africa. A qualitative approach was adopted using semi-structured in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and participant observation to collect data from 39 participants. The Dimensions of Empowerment Theory was used to describe the various empowerment outcomes. These include economic, social, informational, political, and cultural empowerment. The findings showed barriers hindering women’s utilization of telecentres included a lack of computer skills, education, language barriers, gender usage patterns, unemployment, and a lack of awareness. Our study contributes to the ICT4D/HCI gender field and suggests that ICT policymakers consider using telecentres for women empowerment.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can play a significant role in the socioeconomic development of many countries. Digitisation in South Africa has increased, and ICT skills are pivotal in the sustainability of youth employability in the labour market. Hence, ICT skills, soft, hard, and technical skills are required in government, private organisations, and businesses. This study aims to investigate possible ways educational systems can adopt ICT skills to improve youth employability in South Africa. This study examines the factors that affect youth employability such as lack of ICT skills, access, income, affordability, infrastructure, poverty gap, inequality, lack of education, lack of access to information, and high demand for IT skills expectations in organisations as among the challenges that hinder youth employability in the South African economy. We propose that educational institutions should incorporate practical pedagogy to prepare qualified youths for the labour market. This study focuses on using ICTs for the sustainable development of youth employability in South Africa. The Sustainable Livelihood Theory was used as the study framework while the quantitative method was used for the data collection process. The researchers used close-ended and open-ended questions to draft a questionnaire to gather data from 49 respondents. We triangulated the received data from youths living in the East Rand of Johannesburg. Results derived from the study show the significance of ICT skills in educational systems on youth employability. The practical implication of the study recommends that policymakers implement ICT skill strategies to support educational institutions to prepare youths for the labour market.

Women are still facing exclusion in the use of telecentres, largely because of cultural perceptions that they are responsible for the home; telecentres are also widely perceived appropriate for men to find employment. This paper presents an analysis of the benefits women derive from using telecentres. This study explores how telecentres empower women in the rural communities by analysing three telecentres in the rural setting of Western Cape, South Africa. A qualitative approach involving semi-structured interviews was used to gather in-depth details on individual empowerment of the rural women. The results obtained show that some rural women used the telecentres to enhance economic standards, which resulted in individual empowerment in social, psychological, information and economic dimensions. This study highlights the potential of telecentres in empowering women and proposes that the government and NGOs consider the telecentre as a means of addressing gender digital divide issues.

The provision of information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure is not eminent in many societies due to a lack of digital access and poverty. Therefore, there should be ICT provision in underserved communities to bridge digital literacy and contribute to human and indigenous knowledge development. This paper aims to investigate how ICT access can impact youth employability in underserved townships. The quantitative method was used for the data collection process, using a structured questionnaire to draft both close-ended and open-ended questions. These were drafted into Google forms and distributed on social media platforms. While the sustainable livelihood theory was used to guide the study. Results derived from this study depict the inherent environmental factors that hinder youth access to ICTs. This study recommends policymakers can implement measures to provide sufficient ICT development initiatives to support youths living in underserved communities.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has prompted organizations to embrace digital transformation, demanding that employees possess ICT technical skills to boost productivity. In developing countries, a lack of ICT education exacerbates high youth unemployment, particularly among gender-disadvantaged individuals who struggle to secure jobs requiring digital literacy. This study investigates the factors contributing to the gender disparity of youth unemployment in South Africa. The study adopted the Technology Acceptance Theory to guide the study. The quantitative method was used for the data collection process using Google Forms to draft a questionnaire that was distributed to respondents online. The study results show the importance of ICT technical education to improve youth employment prospects and recommend that policymakers implement ICT skills development initiatives to mitigate youth unemployment.

The term ‘empowerment' has been defined in many ways in different professional fields. Empowerment means to develop a person's full potential to achieve a range of human capabilities. For people to be productive, they may need to be empowered to gasp their sense of self-worth and be able to tackle their personal issues. The study investigates the contribution of ICT tools such as telecentres for the empowerment of women in disadvantaged areas of the Western Cape, South Africa. The essence of empowerment entails the alteration of individual lives to attain goals they may have not been able to achieve. Thus, empowerment is an active, multi-dimensional progression that allows people to comprehend their potential and powers in all spheres of life. The study used the Dimensions of Empowerment Theory to explain the outcome of women's use of the telecentre using the dimensions of empowerment output indicator.