Buffalo City mayor presents bursaries to 80 students

Buffalo City Metro mayor Princess Faku presented bursaries worth more than R5m on Thursday to more than 80 students who are pursuing scarce skills such as engineering, finance, planning and scientific services.

Thirty students will be pursuing new undergraduate degrees while 53 are continuing students.

The BCM Bursary Fund covers registration, tuition fees, accommodation, study material, stationery and prescribed books.

It was initiated in 2008 and a number of the graduates are now working for the municipality.

Beneficiary Asekho Mqadaru, 20, said the funding came at the right time after she was excluded by NSFAS because she did not meet the minimum requirements.

Mqadaru is a third-year accountancy diploma student at Walter Sisulu University.

She said the funding was a relief.

“I’m really happy and grateful and relieved I won’t have to worry about funding.

“My family wouldn’t have been able to afford my studies. We survive on my mother’s wage from a project she is working on. It’s not much, but we appreciate it.”

Mqadaru, from Nxarhuni, said her intention was to improve her life so she could plough back to her community.

“We live in a place where employment is rare but I believe the skills I’ll acquire will help me to better the economy and the province.”

She hoped to return the favour one day, when she is financially stable, by launching an NPO to extend its hand to students in need.

A former beneficiary, Mava Poyo, is now working as an administration assistant at the municipality and said the bursary had paved the way to a better future.

Moyo did a bachelor of accounting at the University of Johannesburg.

“The funding helped because both my parents were unemployed and I came from a disadvantaged school.

“I applied to the university but had no money to register.”

Thandokazi Magolorana, who works as an IT service desk agent for BCM, studied information technology at Nelson Mandela University.

“I had no money for tuition and was doing my second year when I received the bursary.

“The first year was hard as I had no NSFAS [funding].”

Magolorana said the funding had been a beacon of hope for her and her family.

“My mom worked as a hawker and my father worked at a retail park at the time.”

Faku said the bursary programme sought to demonstrate the metro’s commitment to investing in the youth.

“The identification of pertinent scarce skills is guided by the corporate services directorate and approved by the council.”

Faku said the allocated budget for the 2022/2023 financial year was R4.9m and for 2023/2024 was R5m.

The fund also gave beneficiaries the opportunity to participate in experiential learning placements or internships within the metro, without creating the expectation they would become metro employees.

There was a total of 304 applications for bursaries.

“A total of 53 Bursary Fund beneficiaries from previous years will progress and benefit from the fund in 2024, and an additional 30 new recipients this year were awarded the bursaries today at the city hall,” Faku said.