The Eastern Cape Province has awarded 37 bursaries to needy students to further their studies.
In a press release put out today by Eastern Cape Local Government and Traditional Affairs MEC, Mlibo Qoboshiyane, it says the aim of the bursaries is to provide scarce skills to municipalities of the province and enable students to study courses that will provide support to the local government sphere.
Bursary holders are busy registering in various institutions of higher learning to study towards degrees and diplomas in engineering, land survey, property valuation, urban and rural studies, town and regional planning, disaster management, and geographic information systems.
At least R615 000 has been set aside for this programme to pay for the fees of all bursary holders. According to the policy of the department, upon completion, all bursary holders will work in the department for a one year to invest their knowledge and experience in the programmes of the department. Bursary holders are urged to focus on their studies and not other things, which have a potential to alter their academic focus.
“For us as the department, this is an important investment as it contributes to availing critical scarce skills needed by our municipalities,” Qoboshiyane said in the release.
He pointed out that this and other similar investments attest to the department’s commitment to make local government work better and faster for its people – “because now we will have engineers plying their trade in our municipalities. This investment will also help us address issues of unemployment, poverty and inequality in some families of these bursary holders.
“We look up to them to work hard in gaining knowledge and education to help us deliver services to our people,” Qoboshiyane said. He added that former bursary holders funded by the department in previous financial years currently work in the department while some are plying their trade elsewhere in the public service.
St Francis Chronicle 
Hello , how do go about getting the busary and also what are the requirements because i am doing my Btech at NMMU this year and in need of financial assistance
Contact your local municpality and ask them to get the application forms fro you from EC Province
I am a first year student at NMMU in Forestry .I am in need of financial aid. NSFAS could not fund me. Please help me as this affects my studies
I think your best bet is to go to your local municipality and ask them for the forms or ask them the address online for where the forms can be downloaded. Good luck with your studies.
I’m in need of bursary I don’t have money to pay for fees.
Phone the university you wamt to attend and ask them for the list of bursaries and app;y. if you want to be a teacher you can get a bursary more easily as you can pay the bursary off when you start working. ask them for the dept education number or go to dept educatiom website. good luck