By Nangamso Mabindla
12 February 2008

THE first 10 beneficiaries of the Mayoral Bursary Fund received their certificates from Executive Mayor Zintle Peter at a function at the East London City Hall on Monday, 11 February.

The fund was set up with R3-million committed to youth development by Peter during her May 2007 State of the City address. Following this, the City and wards discussed ways to spend the money. Through this consultation, a decision was taken that a bursary fund should form part of youth development.

Funds will be distributed to young people interested in developing scarce skills like engineering and information technology.

Zintle was joined at the City Hall function by the municipal manager, Gaster Sharpley, representatives from tertiary institutions, the City's management and the chairperson of the Eastern Cape Youth Council, Mlimandlela Ndamase.

Speaking at the event, Peter said that she was very happy to see her dream of helping young people achieve their goals coming to fruition.

"During my State of the City address in May last year I made a strong plea to the council to intervene financially in the education of underprivileged scholars as part of our holistic Youth Development Strategy."

Buffalo City is helping young people achieve their goals through the Mayoral Bursary Fund

Though she was aware that the Mayoral Bursary Fund would not be able to provide for all the needy and desperate learners in Buffalo City, Peter said she knew she had to do something for the struggling children.

"We had to start with the hope that our financial resources, coupled with prospective assistance from other sources, would be able to sustain the fund as well. We had to move beyond the rhetoric of youth development policies and actually invest in human capital and empowering our young people in Buffalo City."

Outlining the process used to select the recipients, Peter said the council and ward youth structures participated from the beginning. "The application forms for the bursary were distributed through our Youth Advisory Centres in Gompo, Mdantsane and King William's Town.

"The criteria for selection were spelled out in advance, and the final selection committee was drawn from different stakeholders within the municipality."

She urged the recipients to work hard and make the City proud so that the fund could grow, with more children benefiting from it.

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