Helping hand: The HWMEM hands over a bursary cheque for R151 000 to Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Prof Njabulo S Ndebele. Pictured here with Prof Ndebele are (from left): HWMEM assistant treasurer Noorie Fakie, treasurer MA Brey and executive member Sharief Hassam.

The Hospital Welfare and Muslim Education Movement (HWMEM) handed over a bursary cheque for R151 000 to Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Njabulo S Ndebele in his office on 5 September.

The HWMEM is among UCT's longest-standing patrons and has been making annual contributions since the early 1960s.

Twenty eight students of all genders, races and creeds will receive loans from the scheme this year. The students are encouraged to repay the interest-free loan and thus help another generation of students.

The HWMEM, established early in the 1940s as a welfare programme for the Muslim community, set up the scheme in the 1960s with a nudge from its political stalwarts who argued that liberation and education go hand in hand.