History of the Scheme

The Businesswomen's Association has been awarding bursaries to deserving post-graduate (women) students, since 1988. The funds are generated from the profits of the Annual Businesswoman of the Year Award (held since 1980) and are awarded to students across South Africa.

Criteria for eligibility

• Women students
• Who are South African citizens or residents
• Pursuing a post-graduate degree
• At a recognised South African tertiary institution (Institute of Technology / University)
• In a business related / relevant field, e.g. Commerce, Information Science, Business Science, Business Engineering, Human Resources, etc.
• Nedbank employees are not eligible for this bursary

Bursary Amounts

The Bursary fund is accumulated from the proceeds of the Businesswoman of the Year Award to be paid out as follows:

• 80% of the profits of the BWOYA, to be paid out in bursaries. Any other donations or income generated, to be paid out in full, as bursaries.
• Remaining 20% to be kept in an interest bearing account, to cover potential shortfalls in any following years, e.g. if the BWOYA were not to be held one year, or not to be profitable one year.
• These accumulated funds to be reviewed every 3 years and a decision made by Council whether the full amount will remain in the interest bearing account, or whether a portion will be paid out and if so, what portion.

Procedure for applying

Application form is available from your local branch.

Applicants must originally come from the region of the branch that they are applying at, i.e. have been born and completed high school in that region, but can be pursuing their studies anywhere in South Africa.

• 2011
• 2010
• 2009
• 2008
• 2007
• 2006
• 2005
• 2004
• 2003

Procedure and criteria for selection

• Bursary applications are short listed by the local branch bursary committee, according to criteria of:
  • Merit - Merit is defined as either academic merit, i.e. a student who is achieving at least a second class pass and / or broader merit i.e. a student who is pursuing a course of study that is considered to be valuable to the Association and to business in South Africa
  • Need - Financial need for the bursary
• Should only one potential bursary recipient be identified, the bursary will be awarded to her. In those cases where there are a number of candidates for the bursary, all the short listed candidates will be invited to an interview with the bursary committee
• Bursary committee to decide on the number and amounts of bursaries to be awarded based on merit and need of bursary candidates (as outlined above).
• Bursaries to be awarded by November 15.
• Bursary money paid directly to the tertiary institution where student will be studying in the following year.
• Bursary applicants can only receive a bursary once from the BWA.

Obligations of bursary recipient

• Repayment: The Fund is commonly known as the "BWA Bursary Fund." "Bursary" implies an obligation on the part of the student receiving the money, to repay the bursary in one way or another - either by paying back the money or by service / employment in kind. The BWA does not currently require bursary recipients to repay the Association in any way. However, the option to require limited services in kind, should the bursary recipient have skills which the Businesswomen's Association might need at a specific time, should be kept open and negotiated with the bursary recipient, at the discretion of the local branch committee.
• Access to research: In such cases where the Businesswomen's Association has given a bursary to a student to conduct research, i.e. a Category Two student, the Businesswomen's Association would have access to the research generated and the opportunity to participate in generating the research, should that be required by the student.
• Address at least one BWA function: Bursary recipients will be expected to address at least one BWA branch function, in the year that they received their bursary, and to outline to members what they are studying and how the bursary funds have assisted them. While branches can use their discretion, the most appropriate event would be the regional business achiever awards.

Contributions

If you would like to contribute to the BWA Bursary fund, please contact your local branch:

• Cape Town: ct@bwasa.co.za
• Durban: dbn@bwasa.co.za
• East London: el@bwasa.co.za
• Free State & Lesotho: fs@bwasa.co.za
• Johannesburg: gauteng@bwasa.co.za
• Port Elizabeth: pe@bwasa.co.za
• Soweto: soweto@bwasa.co.za
• Tshwane: pta@bwasa.co.za
• Zululand: zululand@bwasa.co.za

Past Winners

KARIEMA PRICE

As one of the co-founders of Pyramid Electrical, Kariema and her husband grew their electrical business from humble beginnings in 1998, to a thriving concern.  They now have business premises in Landsdowne and employ 11 staff members. Her role within the business evolved from day-to-day administrative duties within the business to financial and strategic management. The company places huge emphasis on skills development, in-house training as well as  learnership programs.  Kariema realizes the value of education and as a result embarked on her MBA at UCT – Graduate of Business. 

Kariema understands the challenges that small companies are faced with and as a result she mentors start-up enterprises within her own industry as well as in other sectors by volunteering with the National Youth Development Agency.  She also received an award from the Department of Transport and Public Works for “Woman in Construction” during 2008.

Joy Khaole

Joy, the very first winner, was given a bursary when enrolled as an MBA student at the University of Cape Town in 1988. Today, she says:

"?I have no doubt in my mind of the usefulness of the bursary in terms of shaping my career. Apart from the actual financial assistance, which came in very handy and was much appreciated, perhaps of more significance and certainly what proved very useful to me, was the direct contact made with some of the top women and business leaders at that time. The moral support I received from the likes of Christine du Val was just fantastic. She really stands out as one person who literally played a crucial role of mentorship to me at a time when I absolutely needed it. I can remember how she went out of her way a few times to visit me at the business school and even joined me as my guest at our annual MBA dinner. It really made my year and it was a great honour for me to be in such company."

Still based in Cape Town, Joyce is the General Manager, Employee Benefits Marketing at Old Mutual. She has recently graduated from the Global Leadership Programme offered by the London Business School and been appointed to the Audit Committee of the City of Cape Town.

Happy Girl Nonhlanhla Zitha

In 2000, a total of 7 bursaries were awarded around South Africa and one of the recipients, Happy Girl Nonhlanhla Zitha, was a guest at last year's Businesswoman of the Year Award Gala Dinner in Johannesburg. She currently works as the Business Development Manager at Vodacom International and prior to that was with HSBC and Investec. In Happy Girls words: "Before joining Vodacom International my working experience as well as my formal training was mainly Finance / Financial Management focused. I later realised that if I wanted to achieve my professional ambitions I needed some form of structured or formal training and development. My immediate answer an MBA degree from a reputable Business School in South Africa. In January 2000 I resigned from my 'cushy' job at Investec Bank and enrolled full-time for an MBA degree at University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business.

No amount of saving could have prepared me for the huge financial commitment that I was up against while studying. Having read and heard about the Businesswomen's Association (BWA), I applied for financial assistance to complete my MBA studies. The BWA bursary covered most of my studying and living expenses and offered me a chance to focus on my studies without worrying about the expenses associated with studying."

Anne Pratt

Another notable previous recipient, is Anne Pratt, who received a bursary in 1991, to study her MBA at the Wits Business School. Today, Anne runs her own, very successful Executive Search and Selection Business, Anne Pratt and Associates (www.prattassociates.co.za) and is often quoted in national and local media as a source of credible and informed opinion.

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