WeThinkCode, the software developer training academy that opened in Johannesburg five years ago, is expanding geographically, with plans to open a campus in Durban.

“The new facility will complement the school’s existing campuses in Johannesburg and Cape Town, and is part of an ambitious plan to double student intake to 600 this year,” WeThinkCode CEO Nyari Samushonga said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Geography plays an important role here as many candidates are unable to access our existing campuses. Hence our decision to open in Durban, South Africa’s third biggest metropole,” Samushonga said.

E Squared Investments, the black economic empowerment partner to investment firm Allan Gray, has agreed to pump R9.2-million into establishing the new Durban campus. The money will be spent over three years and will go towards equipping the building, hiring employees and establishing a new curriculum.

WeThinkCode’s two-year software programming course is fully sponsored – students don’t pay to attend lectures and complete the programme. About 98% of graduates get jobs after finishing the course, at an average starting salary of R240 000/year. WeThinkCode said it is “refining” its selection process to reduce the number of young people who drop out of the programme.

‘Open for everyone’

“The academy is open for everyone. Specifically, we aim to increase the number of women programmers on our course each year. Our target is for women to exceed 40% of our 600-strong student contingent,” Samushonga said.