Siyanda Echwebeni Ndawonye Trust Offers Bursaries to UNIZULU Economics and Business Management Honours Students

The Faculty of Administration, Commerce, and Law (FCAL) within the University of Zululand (UNIZULU), together with the Siyanda Echwebeni Ndawonye (SEN) Trust, recently organised a luncheon at the KwaDlangezwa Campus where qualifying FCAL postgraduate students were officially handed over bursaries offered by the Trust.

SEN has partnered with FCAL since 2019 in awarding bursaries to UNIZULU female Honours students who are generally either underfunded or not funded at all by the National Research Foundation. According to Professor Irrshad Kaseeram, FCAL Deputy Dean: Research and Internationalisation, the Trust strongly believes in the empowerment of black women, for they are best positioned to bring about change in our society. This year, the Trust awarded 11 bursaries of R5000 each to qualifying female BCom Honours students in both Economics and Business Management.

SEN was represented by Zandile Mdluli, a trustee, and Danie Tolken, the chief financial officer of the Trust, who presented the awards to the students. The recipients were grateful for the opportunity to receive bursaries and promised to work their best to have outstanding results. They also promised to continue with their studies as SEN had made their financial issues less severe.

“The university-private sector partnerships are critical to assist students and to devote resources to the University to provide essential equipment and infrastructure needs, [because] the government, which is doing its best, is financially constrained to provide for all students’ needs,” said Prof Kaseeram.

SEN promised to work closely with FCAL to offer more bursaries in the future and to take on UNIZULU students studying towards the Diploma in Transport and Logistics as interns.

Background on SEN Trust

The Siyanda Echwebeni Ndawonye Trust was founded in 2018 by companies involved in mining and related engineering fields, transport, and logistics operating in the Richards Bay area; many of these companies also operate in the Southern African region.

The Trust is spearheaded by Andrew Strang, who has been investing in the Richards Bay region since 1995. SEN serves as an educational platform specifically aimed at assisting young black women in the greater Richards Bay area to pursue higher education. To date, it has proudly sponsored 25 students pursuing their honours degrees at UNIZULU, marking a significant commitment to educational advancement.

– Pamela Mlaba

Picture: Xolani Ncube

Caption

Eleven UNIZULU female Honours students who are pursuing BCom degrees in both Economics and Business Management have received much-needed funding from Siyanda Echwebeni Ndawonye Trust, a fund aimed at assisting young black women n the greater Richards Bay area to pursue higher education.