This paper seeks to establish the parallel relevance of Lave and Wenger's Legitimate Peripheral Participation (Lave & Wenger, 1990) to South Africa's post-colonial legitimation of alternative sites. The South African Qualifications Authority highlights the fact that the pedagogical approach of such sites is context- and learner-centred with demonstrable socially valuable skills. The approach confronts and deconstructs the colonial marginalisation of human capital from outside ‘formal’/official institutions. It is part of the ideological framework of redressing the race and class exclusion mechanisms of artisans and others from the landscape of skills possession.