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INTERIOR DESIGN STUDENT BANELE MTHETHWA WINS FIRST PRIZE AT THE DTIC FURNITURE DESIGN COMPETITION
Pictured: DTIC’s Acting Deputy Director-General of Sectors, Dr Anneline Chetty, and Banele Mthethwa.
Third-year Interior Design student at the Durban University of Technology (DUT)-Banele Mthethwa clinched first prize in the Furniture Design Competition hosted by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) in partnership with the South African Furniture Initiative (SAFI), Proudly South African, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and their industry partners. Mthethwa was announced as the winner in the student category at
the Proudly South African Buy Local Summit held recently at the Sandton Convention Centre.
The DTIC hosts a furniture design competition annually in which students and professionals are invited to participate. By doing this, the DTIC aims to improve the design capabilities and reputation of the South African furniture design and manufacturing industry.
Mthethwa, who hails from Mtubatuba under the uMkhanyakude District, KwaZulu-Natal, said that he always had a great passion for interior design and architecture – designing interior and exterior spaces. He is interested in working on design solutions in response to a client brief, which often involves solving any problems that a client may have through design.
Pictured: Banele Mthethwa (left) with other finalists at the Proudly South African Buy Local Summit.
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DURBAN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY