The South African National Zakaah Fund (SANZAF) has donated R2.2 million towards bursaries for Wits students.
This generous contribution will assist academically excellent students who are financially challenged to realise their academic goals. In receiving the cheque, the Wits-Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Adam Habib, applauded the SANZAF for their ongoing partnership with Wits. In 2014 the organization gave R1 555 779 million for bursaries and is one of the organisations that responded to the 1 Million 1 Month campaign by donating R100 000 this February.
Habib said the University appreciates the investment and sees the “partnership as a bridge to enable children from poor communities to come to a world class institutions and get an education. This is a partnership that addresses inequality.”
Hoosen Essof from SANZAF reiterated the organizations’ vision. “SANZAF is a faith-based organisation that strives to facilitate the empowerment of families, and we help students by offering bursaries,” Essof.
As partners in development, Essof said that the organisation is funding almost 600 students in institutions of higher learning across the country this year.
The SANZAF Bursary Fund which was established in 1985, forms part of the SANZAF Education Empowerment Development (SEED) Programme.
This initiative aims to facilitate and support marginalised individuals and communities through education and skills development training, starting from early childhood development. SANZAF believes that a tertiary qualification opens doors to a positive future by empowering individuals to aspire to a better quality of life.