Empowering women in tech: CodeGirls SA celebrates graduation ceremony

The CodeGirls South Africa (SA) non-profit held their graduation ceremony at its Observatory base on Saturday, December 6.

Established in 2023, The CodeGirls South Africa teaches women coding and business skills at a low cost.

At the graduation ceremony, they celebrated the phase 1 students who completed the 16-week Web Development Programme, which includes skills training in HyperText Markup Language (HTML), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), JavaScript, and Business Skills. 

The phase 2 students completed the 10-week Python Programming Course, advancing into backend development and problem-solving skills.

Programme manager for CodeGirls SA, Abdeyah Fredericks, said this graduation was not just a ceremony; it was evidence of what happens when women who were previously excluded from digital opportunities are given the tools, support, and belief to rise. 

“Every graduate represents a family whose economic trajectory can shift. Many arrived with no coding background and now leave having built real applications, games, and websites from scratch,” she said.

Ms Fredericks said the students have demonstrated resilience, commitment, and the courage to keep learning despite personal, financial, and societal challenges.

“This graduation also reaffirms CodeGirls’ strategic vision, which is to serve as an excellence hub for women in tech, producing not only developers but future business analysts, quality assurance analysts, service desk professionals, and leaders in South Africa’s digital economy,” she said.

Carol Kavule from Hout Bay, who graduated as a full-stack developer, said: “I did not see myself doing this, but now I stand here proud of what I was able to achieve. Today, I can say with confidence that I am a full-stack developer, something I never imagined  possible.” 

The next cohort begins on Monday, February 2.

The registration fee is R1000, though it is refundable upon completion of the course. The morning class is full, while the afternoon class from 2pm until 4pm still has limited spaces available.

You can register by emailing abdeyah@codegirls.co.za or by sending a WhatsApp message to 081 451 5347.