Kalushi lives on in fund
AS THE country commemorates thedeathof freedom fighter Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu, executed by the apartheid government in April 1979 at Kgosi Mampuru prison, a number of students have graduated from the scholarship fund named after him.
The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) offers Solomon Mahlangu Scholarship Fund bursaries to study at universities and technological institutions across South Africa.
Among them is Malebo Paulina Kekana, 20, from Soshanguve in Pretoria, who has just completed her BSc degree in quantitative risk management from the University of North West.
Kekana said her hard-working mother had striven to provide for the family from the little that she earned as her father was unemployed.
“The NYDA came into my life and met me at my point of need. It really lifted a heavy financial burden off my family.
“Not only did it help me financially, but I networked with a lot of my peers within the financial sector.
“I could realise my right to survival and maximum self-development and also live to see my dream come to fruition.
“I am proud to say that the NYDA has succeeded in inspiring and changing my life. I will forever be grateful for the opportunity,” Kekana said.
Another beneficiary is Nokuthula Mabena, 21, who completed a bachelors degree in international relations and media studies from the University of Witwatersrand,
“Both my parents are unemployed. The NYDA offered me a full scholarship in 2015 for my entire degree. The Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu Scholarship Fund has given me the opportunity to fulfil my dreams.
“Today, I am a Wits graduate because of the funding. I am now doing my honours at Wits University because the NYDA helped me get my foot in the door.
“The NYDA has given me hope for a brighter future,” she said.
The fund seeks to supply financial support to good students to enable them to pursue quality education in an institution of higher learning – with those students coming from rural areas as its primary target.
The fund is accessible to deserving South African youths who meet the minimum entry requirements set by the NYDA and who have been admitted for study at public universities and universities of technology.
BENEFICIARY: Paulina Kekana, 20, from Soshanguve just completed her BSc degree at the University of North West.