Our Capitals
Our social and relationship capital: Building trust; supporting sustainable development
Our Capitals
Our social and relationship capital: Building trust; supporting sustainable development
Quality Education
Promoting learning opportunities for employees and others to remain relevant in the future
Supporting our people’s development with meaningful investment
At SANBS, we focus on helping our employees grow, understanding they are the heart of our company and vital to our life-saving work. We encourage ongoing learning with initiatives like the RAD Academy and scholarship programmes, keeping our workforce at the leading edge of their fields. We nurture a team-based atmosphere that encourages creativity and links employees’ roles to our main purpose, enabling them to be both capable contributors and innovators.
The RAD Academy now offers 865 courses, with 12 new courses added in Q1 of FY26 supporting ongoing internal capability development. Our innovative online learning and development platforms (eg Udemy and Bookboon) remain very popular with our employees and more than 1900 completed the Infectious Prevention Control course. See details in our human capital section.
Bursaries for employee dependents
In 2024/25, SANBS allocated R1.16 million (FY24: R1,4m) to employee-dependent bursaries to 63 SANBS employee dependents (FY24: 43), with over 50% awarded to beneficiaries from designated groups. This investment secured five points under the B-BBEE Socio-Economic Development (SED) scorecard in the “Grants” category. In the first quarter R 1,039,175.40 has already been spent in this regard.
Learning and development initiatives
To further embrace our diversity, we currently have 32 (19 of which started in their learnership in the 2024 financial year) young People with Disabilities (PWD) on a learnership. They are on an NQF Level 5 Business Analysis learnership. SANBS is currently hosting 7 learners from a TVET College on a Call Centre learnership.
To further assist these learners, SANBS supplemented their stipends by R1,500 each.
Additionally, SANBS introduced a new NQF Level 4 learnership in Business Administration for 22 Clinic Attendants and Mobile Packers, a group with typically limited opportunities for skills development. This initiative, which focuses solely on skills enhancement, is not intended to convert any positions to Donor Attendant roles. The learners were registered with the SETA in June and began their 12-month programme in August 2024.
SANBS initiated the standardisation of registrar training in South Africa, collaborating with Western Cape Blood Services (WCBS) and other stakeholders, including the National Bioproducts Institute and Jehovah's Witness committees. This ensures that SANBS contributes to the education of clinicians and enhances access to high-quality medical services in our communities.
Sharing knowledge
SANBS boosts knowledge sharing through partnerships, accredited educational events, and new solutions such as the learning portal for healthcare professionals, both inside and outside the company. The Training, Education, and Advisory Services (TEAS) and Patient Blood Management (PBM) teams are vital in organising and delivering training on accredited transfusion medicine topics for external healthcare professionals. Last year, SANBS trained 64,298 healthcare professionals (FY24: 33,019).
In FY 2025, the number of training sessions grew significantly from 236 to 502, using hybrid training methods across various platforms. Importantly, all training is offered free of charge.
Collaborations with universities
Formal collaborations with universities have resulted in the inclusion of transfusion medicine in the curriculum of third- year and fifth-year medical students at the University of Limpopo (UL), the University of Free State (UFS), the Nelson Mandela University, (NMU) and the University of Pretoria (UP). Efforts are being made to be included in University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZ).
In July 2023, SANBS, in collaboration with the University of the Free State, launched a fully online short-learning programme in Patient Blood Management for doctors and nurses. The second cohorts for doctors and nurses commenced on 22 July 2024. UFS and UL medical students’ lecturers were conducted.
Haematology and virology registrars at the Universities of Pretoria, KwaZulu Natal, and Witwatersrand are also rotated through SANBS departments to increase their knowledge and understanding of blood and blood products and other additional services offered by SANBS.
SANBS has established several Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with Blood Services in the SADC region. Four MoUs were concluded with UP, Namibia (NAMBTS), Eswatini (ENBTS), and a society called the BloodSA to collaborate on various education and research deliverables.
Focus on techincal training
Intern Medical Technologists
March 2025 exam results (8 repeats, 4 first time) 100% pass rate
Lab Assistant Students (LAS)
48 LAS wrote board exam in April 2025 – 43 passed (90% pass rate)
Student Medical Technicians
11 students enrolled
Exams August 2025
Progress monitored
BBK refresher training
Training ongoing
Gap: SOP Non-adherence
58 trained to date
See human and intellectual capital and SDG8 for further information about learnerships.