Bursary handover brings smiles to academically deserving students

Over 30 University of Cape Town (UCT) students have benefitted from a generous bursary endowment between Eskom Rotek Industries and Orea Holdings to assist them in their studies.

The bursary handover, which totals R1.5 million, was hosted by the Department of Student Affairs’ (DSA) Student Financial Aid division on Friday, 28 February, at UCT’s Kramer Law Building. In total, 36 students have benefitted from the bursary. Benefactors are chosen from a range of faculties based on an agreed-upon criteria.

The DSA’s executive director, Pura Mgolombane, expressed his gratitude to Orea and Eskom for the generous financial support during his keynote address. “Today, the bursary impacts 36 lives and 36 communities and for us [UCT], we understand and appreciate that. Your contribution will enable us to break down financial barriers, ensuring that academically deserving students have access to opportunities they need to succeed,” he said.

Some of the students were present at the handover, while some were still busy with their academic commitments. For those in attendance, it was a moment to be inspired by senior advisor for supplier development localisation and industrialisation (SDL&I) at Eskom Rotek Industries, Andile Hlatshwayo. Expressing his admiration for the students’ academic performance, he said “The average academic marks of the group of students that Eskom Rotek Industries has identified for financial assistance are 70%. It is an honour to stand in front of young people that take themselves that seriously. Your financial burden is gone now. You can now focus on your studies.

Stepping stone

“This is not a tick-box exercise for Eskom. People go to great lengths to identify students who are deserving of funding. To the students: congratulations and I’m hoping you will take this opportunity a stepping stone to the next level.”

Sharing his words of encouragement, Orea Holdings operations manager, Ryan Wyngard, said “When Orea Holdings started in 2016, I didn’t think we would find ourselves here today handing out bursaries. I have been in the position the students today find themselves in and I also had financial constraints.”

His message was simple but powerful, “You’re not only improving and becoming the best version of yourself; in improving yourself, the results will be felt by your community as well.”

“Let us be one with ourselves through mind, body and spirit in what we do.”

Given the wide range of support offered by the DSA, including student wellness, and sport and recreation, and student financial aid assistance, Mgolombane noted that they base their approach on several themes. “The first is why we are here: the humanising pedagogy – the idea of being human. When we see each other, the first thing we see is our humanity, not what we do, our gender or the colour of our skin. The second is the pedagogy of discomfort: the difficulties we encounter in life. Let’s not run away from them. Let’s embrace them because it is a point of discomfort where material change takes place.

“The last one has to do with our spiritual pedagogy, because we are the spirit, whether we want to believe it or not. One thing that is consistent is that the spirit that we are is there before we are born. And it is there after we die. In sum, let us be one with ourselves through mind, body and spirit in what we do,” he said.

Angel Mpate, a final-year social work student, from the viewpoint of a recipient, said: “I express our gratitude on behalf of myself and fellow students. Your generosity has made an incredible difference in our lives. Your contributions are more than financial assistance – they are opportunities and remind us that we are not alone in this journey. Many of us dream of higher education but financial constraints make that dream hard to sustain. Thanks to donors like you, we can register, attend university and fully engage in our studies without financial uncertainty.”

She added, “Your support provides stability and hope and enables students to focus on education without the fear of being, among other things, excluded. You have invested in us and become a lifeline when we needed it most. Your kindness has changed lives, and we hope to pay it forward.”

Something to push for

Senior manager at student financial aid and the day’s programme director, Zahir Baker, summed it up best when he said: “The golden thread I’ve picked up on is passion and care. Some of the students here today didn’t know they would be getting this funding. They were still in the midst of exams, knowing, at the back of their minds, that they have debt, and pushing for a 70%+ and now you know that even as you were sitting with the financial burden, there was someone out there who cares. There is something to push for.”