MEDIA PROFILE

CAMPUS Magazine is a quarterly electronic and print publication that is a communication platform for tertiary students to address their concerns and challenges from funding, wellness, academic, accommodation, career guidance and many issues that face both tertiary and high school students.

The magazine was initially published in 2016 with the main objective to give voice to students so they can be heard instead of always being told what to do or not to do. Due to Fees Must Fall Campaign, the official launch of the publication was postponed with the request from the Departments of Higher Education in order to first calm the situation down due to students demand for free education.

Seven years later (2023), South African government has made great strides to provide free education for all. NSFAS has made inroads to cater for students from the days when students were expected to pay back the money as study loans to now getting the bursaries free. This is a major milestone for the country as both Department of Basic Education (DBE) and Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) made great improvements in our education to date.

However, the beginning of each year is marked by unrests and conflicts at many higher education campuses. Through coordination with mines and private companies, CAMPUS plan to prevent this by bringing together all companies to work as a collective. The banks have pledged to provide financial literacy to students as part of their support and contribution to student’s wellbeing. Mining companies through their HRD contributions spend in excess of half a billion each year on bursaries alone.

Memorandum of Understanding with SAUS and SATVETSA

To build good foundation and collaborations, CAMPUS Team engaged and presented the proposal to South African Student Unions (SAUS) and South African TVET Student Association (SATVETSA) which both represents Student Representative Councils (SRC) of all tertiary institutions in South Africa. Both organisations were happy and agreed to sign an MOU with CAMPUS which will also assist in fundraising to help students, especially with bursaries and pulling together resources and opportunities offered by private companies such as jobs, internship, etc.

Engagements With Universities, TVET Colleges And NSFAS

CAMPUS team had also engaged tertiary institutions, Universities and TVET Colleges who also welcomed the initiative, and the team is now engaging each institution to work on the technicalities to include the quarterly issues on their portals for students to access the issues with ease.

NSFAS is also a very important role player as it funds students with financial needs in order to enter Universities and TVET Institutions. We have engaged this institution to collaborate in this initiative. All these stakeholders will be given a platform and an opportunity on the issue to get their massages out to the students. This includes the Department of Basic Education and Department of Higher Education and Training Ministries.

Value Add to Students and Tertiary Institutions Through Bursary Contributions

The CAMPUS team has accumulated two decades of experience working with Mining Companies in South Africa regarding compliance with the Minerals Resources Development Act, 2002 (MPRDA,2002). The act had produced Mining Charter from 2004 which governs how mining companies must contribute to society and the country as a whole. Communities residing close to mining operations must be given particular attention.

One very important pillar of the Mining Charter is the Human Resources Development (HRD). Each Mining company by law has to contribute 5% of its total annual payroll to HRD. This is where the bursaries for students come in, and we know that mines spend millions annually to fund tertiary students. However, each mine does this in line with their mining rights issued by DMRE. Which means these are all done in silos without coordination. Currently it is difficult to quantify the contributions mines make to funding bursaries.

CAMPUS Team has engaged the mines and are now working together with the sector to coordinate the bursaries and to help direct the funds to students who needs funding in a better coordinated way. The Motsepe Foundation has donated R30million to all universities SRC to assist bridge the shortfalls for students in order to register, this is a great gesture and Motsepe Foundation must be applauded for its generosity. However, it is not enough by one company. Gauteng Province in 2023 is providing 4000 students with bursaries valued at over R360million. NSFAS is providing R36billion funding tertiary students for the 2023 academic year. CAMPUS is working with many mines and private companies to get more support for students in order to ease the burden on Universities and TVET Colleges.