02 April 2008

By Keotshepile wa Mogotsi

ABOUT 60 students from Mogale City have become beneficiaries of a mayoral bursary fund which has enabled them to pursue studies at various tertiary institutions

The mayor of Mogale City, Koketso Calvin Seerane, has offered a lifeline to matriculants who through lack of funds – or knowledge of further educational opportunities – end up joining the desperate queues of job-seekers or, even worse, standing idle on street corners and ultimately choose a life involving criminal activities.

With the Mayoral Bursary Scheme for youth, Mogale City is aiming to empower these matriculants by giving them an opportunity to further their studies. However, at a recent handing over ceremony at the Civic Centre, some of the recipients didn’t seem to appreciate their luck and many arrived over an hour late to collect their tickets to a brighter future

Project coordinator from the mayor’s office, Eric Ngwana, said the youth should start showing some commitment. “During our days we never had these types of opportunities. When one comes along you should run for it.”

Spokesman for the mayor, Bongani Gaeje, who said the initiative was aimed at uplifting the economy of the city, was disappointed that only 55 of the recipients arrived. “We were expecting a total of 60 matriculants to be here and as you can see most of them came late.”

“You are lucky that you live in a society that is flushed with opportunities,” said the mayor when addressing the group of learners. “And we hope that with the little that we give, you are going to register with the learning

He added that graduates should go out there and make the city proud. “In the past, when you drove a City golf car and wore designer clothes in the township, we regarded you as a role model. Now things have changed and the city is yearning for new role models.”

During the ceremony, the mayor posed random questions to students to check on their future specialties. Among courses mentioned by the group were tourism, engineering, banking and computer science.

One of the beneficiaries, Yanga Ndiki (20), promised the mayor that the group will do well. “On behalf of all students, we would like to say thank you Mr Mayor for granting us this opportunity and we promise that we won’t let you down,” said an overjoyed Ndiki who will study computer science at Unisa. Ngwana said his office offered bursaries in accordance with the level of studies by the beneficiaries. “Degrees amount to R10 000, diplomas range up to R5 000 and certificates are at R3 000. But this only happens after we have scrutinised what they are going to study.”

Unlike earlier, when the group looked as if they had been splashed with cold water, they eventually wore broad smiles and showed some life. The rejuvenated group of prospective professionals posed for cameras with the mayor and his team to confirm to their parents and families that Mogale City Local Municipality is playing a role in the youth and in increasing the level of professionals in the city.