Let's support our students with debt relief

Dear Colleagues

Since the advent of democracy and the inclusion of students from all demographic groups, universities have seen growing numbers of students coming from communities that experience great financial hardship. A university qualification for many was a dream they never thought possible. A large number of students have overcome their challenges and have often been the first in their families or communities to graduate with a degree. Many continue to excel in their careers long after they have graduated.

The university experience for some of our bright minds is unfortunately overshadowed by the burden and anxiety of finding sufficient funds to pay for their programmes, especially where they do not qualify for state funding or other sources of funding such as bank loans which often require some sort of guarantor.

Within the Faculty, we raised funds to assist these students to continue their studies, or graduate, sometimes in creative and meaningful ways.

Among these is the Mayosi Impilo Student Bursary (MISB) Fund — a debt relief mechanism relying largely on the goodwill of Faculty colleagues since it was established in 1992 (renamed in 2018 after Professor Bongani Mayosi’s death) to assist students. Impilo was originally a group of students who made an important contribution to the life of the Faculty.

In 2023, our appeal to the Faculty enabled the support of seven students to the amount of R737 000. Our balance currently stands at R183 000.

UCT recently announced new measures to grant concessions to students with fee debt exceeding R10 000. Previously, only students with outstanding balances of less than R10 000 could register. These measures have ensured that students falling into the new categories may also continue with their studies.

We currently have 34 students in the Faculty who require fee debt relief (for fee debt >R10 000), totalling R4,6million.

I will be using my 60th birthday celebration in April as a fundraising opportunity to help pay off outstanding student fee debt via the MISB Fund. I would be grateful for any financial contribution to increase the dwindling funds in the MISB Fund. The following steps will help you through the process:

Please follow this link: http://www.alumni.uct.ac.za/giving/ways-to-give.
Please select Mayosi Impilo Bursary Fund when prompted.
Please use LGT-Mayosi as a payment reference code.
Kindly send proof of payment to giving@uct.ac.za so that a tax receipt can be sent to you.
Please alert email@uct.ac.za of your donation so that you can receive a personal note of gratitude.

If you wish to remain anonymous, please accept my heartfelt appreciation. All contributions make an impact and are most welcome.

Students approach Faculty colleagues when they are in desperate need and are extremely grateful when receiving assistance. It is heartwarming when the Faculty can provide this type of support to our students in times of hardship, and in conclusion, I share with you two extracts from letters of appreciation from recent recipients: