Kilonzo, B. M.Manjoro, M.Netshiongolwe, Tshamano Victor2025-10-082025-10-082025-09-05Netshiongolwe, T.V. 2025. Effectiveness of the internship programme as a strategy to improve graduate employability: case of Thulamela Local Municipality in South Africa. . .https://univendspace.univen.ac.za/handle/11602/2986PhDRDVInstitute for Rural DevelopmentInternships have become a unique and innovative approach to help new graduates gain valuable experience for work-based practice. It enables interns to make connections in the fields aligned with chosen career paths and gives employers the opportunity to guide and evaluate the talent of prospective employees. The primacy of internship programmes is made apparent by lack of work experience and skills mismatch which has often been cited as one of the main causes of graduate unemployment globally. The South African government, like other countries, responded to this challenge by introducing an internship programme. However, its effectiveness in South Africa requires investigation. Therefore, this study assesses the effectiveness of the South African government internship programme as a strategy to improve graduate employability. This will be addressed through the following five specific aspects. These are the alignment of the graduate interns’ basic qualification with assigned responsibilities, the mentorship management system put in place by host institutions, views and experiences of interns and mentors, challenges faced by graduate interns in relation to their career path and finally measures that may be enhanced to improve graduate interns’ employability. The target population for the study constituted graduate interns who were currently serving in the internship programme at Thulamela Local municipality, Tshilidzini Hospital (Clinical and Occupational Therapy sections) and Vhembe TVET College (Fashion Design, Technical Support and Business studies sections). Non-probability purposive sampling was employed to select research participants for collecting qualitative data in this group. Participants were randomly selected based on availability and willingness to participate in the study. The findings were thematically analysed using Atlas ti.8 computer package. The findings revealed that there was a flaw in the management of the internship programme in public institutions in South Africa. It was discovered that although in some research sites interns were properly placed, other institutions assigned interns responsibilities that overwhelmed them. This caused interns not to acquire the requisite skills that should have promoted their employability. It was also revealed that some institutions did not use the internship policy as a guide while mentoring graduate interns. This resulted in some mentors not assessing and giving interns feedback to know how they were performing. The findings also unveiled that most participants indicated that the government departments did not visit institutions to knowhow the internship programme was managed. As a result, the management system of mentoring graduate interns varied from institution to institution. In view of the above attributes, a further researches on the causes of the challenges experienced by graduate interns, Implementation of the internship policy in the public institutions and the role of monitoring in the internship programme within the public institutions are recommended.1 online resource (xiii, 128 leaves): color illustrations, color mapsenUniversity of VendaEmployabilityUCTDGraduatesInternInternship ProgrammeMentorSkills-mismatch351.68257Internship programs -- South Africa -- LimpopoEmployees -- Training ofPracticums -- South Africa -- LimpopoUniversities and colleges -- Graduate workMunicipal officials and employees -- South Africa -- LimpopoThesisNetshiongolwe TV. Effectiveness of the internship programme as a strategy to improve graduate employability: case of Thulamela Local Municipality in South Africa. []. , 2025 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from:Netshiongolwe, T. V. (2025). <i>Effectiveness of the internship programme as a strategy to improve graduate employability: case of Thulamela Local Municipality in South Africa</i>. (). . Retrieved fromNetshiongolwe, Tshamano Victor. <i>"Effectiveness of the internship programme as a strategy to improve graduate employability: case of Thulamela Local Municipality in South Africa."</i> ., , 2025.TY - Thesis AU - Netshiongolwe, Tshamano Victor AB - Internships have become a unique and innovative approach to help new graduates gain valuable experience for work-based practice. It enables interns to make connections in the fields aligned with chosen career paths and gives employers the opportunity to guide and evaluate the talent of prospective employees. The primacy of internship programmes is made apparent by lack of work experience and skills mismatch which has often been cited as one of the main causes of graduate unemployment globally. The South African government, like other countries, responded to this challenge by introducing an internship programme. However, its effectiveness in South Africa requires investigation. Therefore, this study assesses the effectiveness of the South African government internship programme as a strategy to improve graduate employability. This will be addressed through the following five specific aspects. These are the alignment of the graduate interns’ basic qualification with assigned responsibilities, the mentorship management system put in place by host institutions, views and experiences of interns and mentors, challenges faced by graduate interns in relation to their career path and finally measures that may be enhanced to improve graduate interns’ employability. The target population for the study constituted graduate interns who were currently serving in the internship programme at Thulamela Local municipality, Tshilidzini Hospital (Clinical and Occupational Therapy sections) and Vhembe TVET College (Fashion Design, Technical Support and Business studies sections). Non-probability purposive sampling was employed to select research participants for collecting qualitative data in this group. Participants were randomly selected based on availability and willingness to participate in the study. The findings were thematically analysed using Atlas ti.8 computer package. The findings revealed that there was a flaw in the management of the internship programme in public institutions in South Africa. It was discovered that although in some research sites interns were properly placed, other institutions assigned interns responsibilities that overwhelmed them. This caused interns not to acquire the requisite skills that should have promoted their employability. It was also revealed that some institutions did not use the internship policy as a guide while mentoring graduate interns. This resulted in some mentors not assessing and giving interns feedback to know how they were performing. The findings also unveiled that most participants indicated that the government departments did not visit institutions to knowhow the internship programme was managed. As a result, the management system of mentoring graduate interns varied from institution to institution. In view of the above attributes, a further researches on the causes of the challenges experienced by graduate interns, Implementation of the internship policy in the public institutions and the role of monitoring in the internship programme within the public institutions are recommended. DA - 2025-09-05 DB - ResearchSpace DP - Univen KW - Employability KW - Graduates KW - Intern KW - Internship Programme KW - Mentor KW - Skills-mismatch LK - https://univendspace.univen.ac.za PY - 2025 T1 - Effectiveness of the internship programme as a strategy to improve graduate employability: case of Thulamela Local Municipality in South Africa TI - Effectiveness of the internship programme as a strategy to improve graduate employability: case of Thulamela Local Municipality in South Africa UR - ER -