Scientific Roets (PTY) LTD is a private company consulting in Rural Development through:

o    Consulting Engineering,

o   Agricultural and Rural Enterprise Project Management and

o   Training (Fully Accredited Training Service Provider and Institute of Sectoral and Occupational Excellence of AgriSETA) and

o   Agricultural research projects (specifically regarding indigenous resources, nutrition and agricultural economics).

        The company, which turns 8 years old in September 2010, has been based in Kokstad (KZN) since 2003.

      The Mission of Scientific Roets (PTY) Ltd is �Within the spirit of the African Renaissance, we assist local, district, provincial and national authorities and other development agencies to achieve their community and enterprise development goals.  We design and implement innovative rural and agricultural businesses, infrastructure and institutions, and provide the relevant accredited capacity building�.

      We are passionate about South Africa.

      All our work in rural development is based on our belief in the complementarity of the four �Prime Movers of Rural Development�:

o   Agriculture (it is the key to unlocking the potential of rural communities),

o   Infrastructure (it must be technologically viable and appropriate to its environment),

o   Institutional Innovation (enterprises must engender empowerment and improve livelihoods) and

o   Capacity building (Should be associated with job-creation, encourage entrepreneurship and �Life-long� learning).

      Scientific Roets (PTY) Ltd has developed a methodology which combines participatory business planning, intricate market knowledge and the creation of viable market linkages, appropriate skills development, and the development of the relevant infrastructure requirements. A mentorship phase is built into all rural enterprise developments.

      BEE Score: Scientific Roets (PTY) Ltd has achieved a score of 96.04 points, making us a Level Two Contributor! This exceptionally high score has been achieved because:

o   The employees of Scientific Roets own 30% of the company.

o   Our team members are highly technically qualified, confident in their abilities and competent in their decision-making. We have a flat organizational structure, and high employment equity.

o   We contribute between 3 and 16% of our salary roll per year to learning new skills (the target of the BEE Scorecard is 2 %!)

o   We contribute all our time, energy and passion to social and enterprise development.

    This demonstrates that our company �talks� and �walks� empowerment and growth.

    Clients can multiply their spend on our services by 125% when calculating their own BEE Scores.

      We believe in our government�s legislation and policies and contribute enthusiastically to our country�s growth and maintenance. A valid Tax Clearance Certificate is available upon request.

      The staff members of Scientific Roets are highly experienced in working with development and LED projects (SMME�s, Agriculture and Tourism projects). 

      Dr Merida Roets (Pr. Sci. Nat) has extensive experience in agriculture and rural development. She has 19 years of experience in agricultural research and rural development with emphasis on the use of indigenous and local resources and capacities, designing and developing rural development projects and mentorship of young professionals. 

      Dr Roets is assisted by five Agricultural Liaison Officers, Mr Mnonopheli Madikizela (B.Tech. Agriculture), Mr Mpho Mazubane (N.Dip. Agriculture), Mr Mluleki Tshongwe (N.Dip. Agriculture), Mr Mandla Rangana (N.Dip. Agriculture) and Mr Zama Madikizela (B.Tech. Animal Production). 

      They are all highly experienced in providing

o   SAQA accredited Learnership and Skills Programme training and assessment,

o   ABET training,

o   Community liaison and social facilitation,

o   Implementation and management of rural and enterprise development projects.

o   All of them are registered assessors and/or moderators.

      Dr Merida Roets has contributed regularly as resource person and facilitator to the capacity building activities of various developing nations National Agricultural Research Services (NARS). These capacity building activities have included: Agricultural Research Management Training (Ghana, South Africa), Agricultural Priority Setting with ASARECA and ECAPAPA (Uganda, Kenya), Agricultural Research Management with Innovation Systems Perspective (Ethiopia) and Results-Oriented Programme Planning, Learning and Capacity Building (Papua New Guinea � new assignment).

      Dr Merida Roets brings a wealth of knowledge regarding various Development Perspectives such as: Agriculture Research for Development, Sustainable Rural Livelihoods, Institutional Innovation, Innovations Perspective for Rural Development, Asset-Based Approaches to Rural Development and Results-Oriented Programme Planning, Learning and Capacity Building.

      The Engineering Division is lead by Adriaan Roets (Pr.Eng.-ECSA registration number 20030180) who is supported by Ms Phumzile Qata.

      Previous rural infrastructure projects include design and site supervision of rural (gravel) and black-top roads, water reticulation, dams, reservoirs, pump-stations, pipelines, agricultural infrastructure, agro-processing facilities, hydroponics tunnels, retaining walls, tourism complexes, landfill sites, storm-water drainage, sports fields, RDP housing, airfield resurfacing and refuse transfer stations.

      The team is supported by Ms. Bulelwa Jele the Office Administrator, Mr Dumisani Dingindlela the Human Resources Officer, Ms. Nosipho Sithuko our General Assistant, and Mr Peter Gumbi, our Vehicle and Facilities Maintenance officer.

      The Scientific Roets Information Centre, managed by Mr Dumisani Dingindlela, concentrates on the development of new learning material, collection and collation of agricultural, SMME enterprise, rural development and engineering information, data capture of learners, tender information and client rosters and data bases, designs innovative approaches to rural development, updates our website information, contributes to various publications and is involved in continuous agricultural research projects.

      Scientific Roets managed various aspects of the SEDA-EIC (Small Enterprise Development Agency � Enterprise Information Centre) in the Kokstad area in 2006/2007 and has continued with services to assist SMME�s in business training, business mentorship, the development of Business Plans and Feasibility Studies, assisting SMME�s with tenders and procurement, and the provision of both business-oriented and technical-oriented information in service to SMME�s. This includes the provision of the NQF 4 New Venture Creation (SMME�s) learnership.

      Scientific Roets (PTY) Ltd is an accredited Training Service Provider of AgriSETA and has successfully completed training programmes (ABET, Skills Programmes and Learnerships) for MAPPP-SETA, MQA, AgriSETA and Services SETA. All training is SAQA aligned and Unit Standard based.

      Scientific Roets (PTY) Ltd has been selected as an AgriSETA �Centre of Excellence�. This attests to the high level of confidence expressed by AgriSETA in the quality of our learning, course material, project management, learning facilitation, record keeping, assessment and moderation standards and the overall innovative approach used in our learning methodology.

      Scientific Roets (PTY) Ltd has achieved the Services SETA 3-Star accreditation for Customer Service Excellence.

      Scientific Roets (PTY) Ltd has achieved the Services SETA 2-Star accreditation for its Quality Management System.

      Dr Merida Roets was invited by Former US President Bill Clinton to serve as a panellist at his 2008 Clinton Global Initiative meeting, to share her expertise on �Entrepreneurial Development of Women in Developing Countries�.

      Dr Merida Roets was a finalist in the 2008 KZN Business Woman of the Year (Social Entrepreneur category).

      Scientific Roets (PTY) Ltd has created a name for itself as being the service provider of choice in the design and development of viable, sustainable and innovative rural agricultural, tourism and SMME Enterprises. As such they were instrumental in developing the highly successful Umzimvubu Goats (Mount Ayliff, Eastern Cape) and AmaBhaca Craft Projects (Mount Frere, Eastern Cape), and are currently involved in the development of the KwaXolo Chicken Project (Port Shepstone) which includes an abattoir and processing plant.

      Scientific Roets obtained funding from the Segal Family Foundation through the Clinton Global Initiative to undertake an NQF 4 New Venture Creation Learnership involving 22 Kokstad Entrepreneurs.

      Scientific Roets has completed or contributed to more than 70 rural projects since its establishment in 2002.

      Scientific Roets has trained more than 1200 learners in full agricultural or rural enterprise-related qualifications since 2002.

      Scientific Roets has recently been chosen as a winner of the British Airways Business Opportunity Grants. We will apply this prize to international travel to expand our business.