{"id":644568,"date":"2026-05-07T17:00:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T15:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=644568"},"modified":"2026-05-07T17:05:42","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T15:05:42","slug":"south-african-town-known-as-scotlands-only-outpost-in-africa-has-a-r1-million-robotics-lab-at-a-small-high-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/ai\/644568-south-african-town-known-as-scotlands-only-outpost-in-africa-has-a-r1-million-robotics-lab-at-a-small-high-school.html","title":{"rendered":"South African town known as “Scotland’s Only Outpost in Africa” has a R1-million robotics lab at a small high school"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dullstroom, the Mpumalanga town known as \u201cScotland\u2019s Only Outpost in Africa\u201d, recently became home to a R1-million robotics and artificial intelligence lab at its local high school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), in partnership with the Shoprite Foundation, launched the lab at Siyifunile Secondary School to expand access to digital learning in the rural town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dullstroom lies 35km north of Belfast and 53km south-west of Lydenburg on the R540, in Mpumalanga\u2019s Highlands Meander region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The town and nearby Sakhelwe township are situated on the Steenkampsberg Plateau, more than 2,000 metres above sea level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This altitude gives Dullstroom its cool climate, misty conditions, and reputation as one of South Africa\u2019s best-known trout and fly fishing destinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dullstroom Heritage Museum curator Mike Whelan explained<\/a> that the area\u2019s earliest inhabitants were the San, whose rock art can still be found in caves and rocky overhangs around the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The San were eventually driven out of the area by pastoral tribes who migrated from the Great Lakes during the 1500s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dullstroom was established in the early 1880s after Hollanders in Amsterdam,  under the chairmanship of Wolterus Dull, formed a company to support Afrikaners affected by the first Anglo-Boer War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1882, the farms Grootsuikerboschkop and Elandslaagte were sold to the Dutch company by Hendrik Theodorus Buhrmann at \u00a35 per morgen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first settlers arrived between 1884 and 1887, growing the settlement to 48 inhabitants, eight houses, three stables, and 20 cattle kraals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The settlement\u2019s first general dealer, post office, and Nederduitsch Hervormde church were established in 1887.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first school, Vletterhof, opened in 1889 with six pupils and headmaster Antoine De Vletter, while the Hollandia watermill was built on the Crocodile River.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wolterus Dull, after whom the town was named, visited the settlement in 1890, the same year construction began on the Transvaal Hotel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dullstroom postmaster introduced trout<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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President Paul Kruger awarded Dullstroom town status on 9 October 1893, and its population reached about 100 the following year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second Anglo-Boer War had a devastating effect on Dullstroom between 1899 and 1902. The British moved Afrikaner women and children to concentration camps and razed the town to the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the war, the town was rebuilt. In 1910, the same year South Africa became a Union, Prime Minister Louis Botha opened the railway line through Dullstroom, better connecting the village to the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dullstroom features South Africa\u2019s highest railway station, at 2,077 metres above sea level, and its tracks run past the foot of De Berg, the highest point in Mpumalanga at 2,332 metres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former postmaster J Gurr caught trout in the Dorps River in 1912 and concluded that the non-native fish would thrive in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He later stocked local rivers and streams with trout from hatcheries in the Cape Winelands, with watchmaker FC Braun continuing the effort in 1927.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That helped transform Dullstroom from a remote mist-belt village into one of South Africa\u2019s premier fly fishing destinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is one of South Africa\u2019s premier flyfishing destinations, alongside Barkly East and Underberg, and forms part of the country\u2019s well-known Trout Triangle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mist belt also supports rare and endemic plants, including orchids and the golden arum lily, while the area hosts all three endangered crane species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the town received electricity in 1961, Dullstroom has grown into a tourism hub with excellent restaurants, artisan shops, hiking routes, horse riding, mountain biking, galleries, and outdoor activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robotics in the mist belt<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Maude Modise, Director of the Shoprite Foundation, with Grade 8 and 9 learners at Siyifunile Secondary School’s brand-new robotics lab.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In March 2026, the Shoprite Foundation and DBSA launched their first jointly funded robotics laboratory at the Siyifunile Secondary School in Dullstroom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new Siyifunile Secondary School lab will give learners hands-on experience in robotics, coding, artificial intelligence, and digital literacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DBSA chief economist and group executive for strategy and sustainability Zeph Nhleko told SABC News<\/a> that the bank had invested just over R1 million in the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the funding helped build an AI, coding, and robotics lab at the school, supporting DBSA\u2019s broader mandate to facilitate economic development and capacity building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DBSA also said the initiative forms part of a broader effort to expand technology-enabled learning in underserved communities and strengthen digital skills in schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis initiative is more than the handover of a lab,\u201d said Nhleko. \u201cIt is the activation of a transformative ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lab introduced a structured learning pathway from Grade 8 to matric, rather than offering learners isolated exposure to technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grades 8 and 9 will receive curriculum-aligned Coding and Robotics lessons within the formal school timetable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learners in Grades 10 to 12 will participate in an after-school programme focused on AI, innovation, and career readiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sifiso EdTech is responsible for curriculum alignment, educator training, and integrating Coding and Robotics into the Grade 8 and 9 timetable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social Coding South Africa delivers the DBSA-supported after-school AI and career readiness programme for learners in Grades 10 to 12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Giving technically-gifted students the opportunities they need<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Shoprite Foundation director Maude Modise said the Mpumalanga lab builds on four robotics labs already established in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said the goal was to develop problem-solving, digital fluency, and future-facing skills in a sustained way through high school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to SABC News, Modise said many jobs expected between now and 2030 would be in AI and digital fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said the programme aimed to ensure learners in a rural community could participate in those opportunities and gain practical certification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt helps with enhancing problem-solving skills for kids. They are engaged, they want to see things move, they want to see things happen, and that\u2019s where they can become creative,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Siyifunile Secondary principal Lynette Mongwe told<\/a> Sowetan that the lab could help incentivise technically gifted learners to stay in school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019re going to be enthusiastic when they see this subject being offered in their school,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose who are technically gifted \u2014 at least they have something that will make them come to school. And at the end of the day, they’ll have skills when they leave school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Siyifunile Secondary has averaged 47 matriculants per year over the past decade. In 2025, the school had 46 matric candidates and achieved a 71.74% pass rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The school achieved 100% matric pass rates in 2019 and 2020, before declining to 53.85% in 2021 during the Covid period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dullstroom in photos<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Dullstroom in 1905<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Dullstroom Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk in 1905<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Dullstroom Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk Photo: SpringbokSam\/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Dullstroom Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk tree lane<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Siyifunile Secondary School robotics lab<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Xoliswa Mahlangu, Head of Digital Learning and Technology at Sifiso EdTech, and Maude Modise, Director of the Shoprite Foundation, with Grade 8 and 9 learners in Siyifunile Secondary School’s brand-new robotics lab.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Dr Sizwe Nxasana, CEO and Founder of Sifiso Learning Group, Xoliswa Mahlangu, Head of Digital Learning and Technology at Sifiso EdTech, and Maude Modise, Director of the Shoprite Foundation with some of the Grade 8 and 9 learners at Siyifunile Secondary School exploring their new robotics laboratory.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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