o3
June
Hillbrow Is Officially Entering Its Ctrl+Alt+Elite Era
Source: Jozi My Jozi
By Tshidiso Masopa
Hillbrow’s latest upgrade is not a new mall or another fast-food joint. It’s something far more powerful: a room full of kids learning about coding and robotics instead of scrolling perilously on their TikTok feed.
Netstar has officially opened a new Digital Learning Centre at the BG Alexander Estate in Hillbrow, teaming up with MES (Mould Empower Serve) NPC to bring coding, robotics and digital skills training to Grade 7 – 9 learners in Johannesburg’s inner city. It’s safe to say Hillbrow just gained a little more byte.
The centre has been built across two dedicated learning spaces and introduces learners to three focus areas:
- digital and IT skills,
- creative problem-solving programme called Tinker,
- robotics challenges designed to teach teamwork and innovation.
It’s essentially giving kids access to future-facing skills long before most South African learners ever get near them.
And this is not a one-school setup either.
Source: Jozi My Jozi
During school hours, neighbouring schools can also use the facility, which means the impact stretches well beyond the after-care learners registered with MES. In a country where opportunity can sometimes feel postcode-dependent, widening access like this matters enormously.
The new centre is the second Digital Learning Centre launched through Altron’s partnership with Jozi My Jozi. The first opened at the Maharishi Invincibility Institute in Marshalltown in late 2025, with the broader initiative forming part of Altron’s 60th birthday legacy programme.
Thankfully, this appears to be more than a corporate “smile for the cameras” moment.
From the left: Collin Govender, Altron Group COO, Leona Pienaar, MES CEO, Marisa Jansen van Vuuren, Altorn Group CMO, Innocent Mabusela, Jozi My Jozi CEO, Warren Mande, incoming Netstar MD.
Incoming Netstar Managing Director Warren Mande made it clear the goal is long-term impact, not a once-off donation with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attached. “We didn’t want a once-off donation or a logo on a wall. We wanted something that compounds year after year, learner after learner, and a Digital Learning Centre delivers exactly that. The young learners walking through these doors are the engineers, software developers, and entrepreneurs South Africa will need tomorrow. Our job is to make sure they get a head start,” says Mande.
The vision is to create a space that continues producing digitally skilled young people year after year.
MES CEO Leona Pienaar put it well, “the centre doesn’t just open doors, it opens possibilities. A meaningful distinction when you’re operating in Hillbrow, where environment can feel like destiny.” Her point that ordinary spaces are being converted into beacons of hope lands without sounding like a brochure.
Robotics in action
Jozi My Jozi CEO Innocent Mabusela also praised Altron and Netstar for not simply joining the partnership on paper, but actively delivering on it. Of course, the real success story will not be measured by launch photos or speeches. It will be measured years from now in the learners who become engineers, developers, creators and problem-solvers because someone decided to invest in their potential early on.
For Hillbrow’s kids, the future is starting to look a whole lot more plugged in.
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