The Makhado Municipality last Friday reconfirmed its commitment to providing successful students from the historically disadvantaged communities with access to tertiary education.

During the annual bursary awards event held at the council chambers, Mayor RS Nkuzana officially announced that each of the 20 successful students will receive an amount of R15 000. The bursary scheme, initiated in October 2003, is available to learners who want to pursue careers in Information Technology, Electrical and Civil Engineering as well as Property Valuation.

Nkuzana claimed that the municipal bursary scheme remains unique and different from other bursary schemes available in other local municipalities, because of its objectives and modus operandi. “Our goal is to establish a pool of engineers and information technologists after a period of five years from the year the scheme was launched. Unlike other municipalities, where successful learners are given cheques, at Makhado we prefer to pay the money directly to the respective institutions rather than hand over the cheque to the learners,” he said.

Nkuzana, who further added that their assessment of the results of those who benefited from the bursary scheme in previous academic years indicated that some learners tend to relax and lose concentration as the year progresses, sent a strong warning to the learners that, should they fall into that trap, they then will immediately forfeit their bursary.

One of the bursary scheme beneficiaries, Ndiafhi Rerani, who completed his information and technology studies, has been employed temporarily at the municipality and as such, Nkuzana claims that there are spin-offs to those learners who will successfully complete their studies. “We expect each of these learners who received R15 000 to obtain more than a 60% average at the end of this year,” said the mayor.

For the first time since the launching of the bursary scheme, Confidence Murovhi is the first and only learner who will be doing Real Estate or Property Valuation. Apart from the R300 000,00 awarded to the 20 students, the municipality increased its financial boost by awarding R1 500 each to four more other learners for outstanding performances in their examinations. The four are TA Makhubela from Waterval region, IG Madiba from Makhado, MA Tshikundu from Vuwani and TC Manyanya from the Dzanani region. These are needy learners who unfortunately could not be awarded the annual bursary because of one reason or another, according to the mayor. Asked where the money which these students will receive comes from, Nkuzana said it comes from the council’s social responsibility fund, an account which was opened recently.

Learners who received the bursary in 2004 and who will be doing their third year this academic year are Aubrey Ngobeni, P Magodi, LR Ramovha, SW Maumela and Vhulondo Shandukani. When the bursary scheme was launched, it was announced that learners would be accommodated for practicals at the council during the school holidays. Aubrey Ngobeni, who claimed to have been sent from pillar to post when enquiring about practicals at the council, asked Nkuzana if they accommodated the beneficiaries of bursary scheme at the municipality. The mayor said that it came to light recently that a jealousy-driven municipal employee was the one making the council’s promise unrealistic. “Really, we've solved that problem; you are welcome for your practicals,” he said.