Huawei Technologies South Africa awarded nine students from the University of Pretoria’s Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology with bursaries to the value of R1,2 million in total at an awards ceremony on Friday. The ICT company granted the bursaries specifically to full-time final-year honours and master’s students to further their studies in their respective specialisation fields.

“It means a lot to be one of the recipients of these bursaries, as this will give me an opportunity to further my studies,” said Kealeboga Mokise, who is completing her master’s in electronic engineering. “The greatest thing about this programme is that once we complete our studies, there may be job opportunities for us.”  

“The University of Pretoria is one of the best universities in the country and produces some of the best engineering graduates, which is why we chose to partner with them,” said Sidney Si, human resources director at Huawei South Africa, adding that once recipients have completed their studies, there will be an opportunity for them to work for the company for 12 months, with the possibility of permanent employment thereafter.

“This will be a great opportunity for Huawei Technologies to introduce new blood to the company, with fresh minds and ideas,” added Karen Tsang, campus recruitment manager at Huawei South Africa.

Huawei is committed to investing resources in the recipients in order to see them grow and specialise in their fields of expertise. To this end, the company will partner with the university’s bursary offices to monitor the progress of recipients by way of regular reports as well as meetings between students and Huawei delegates. During this period, recipients will be invited to the company to explore the environment and engage with technical experts.

“It is exciting to see that Huawei South Africa is contributing to the development of education in South Africa,” said Professor Johan Joubert, Head of the Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering. “This is a very good collaboration, with huge potential for the future – if this first batch of bursary recipients make a success of their studies, we hope this partnership will expand further.”

Bursary recipients, from left to right: Kealeboga Mokise, Lethabo Mokhonoana, Humairaa Sheik, Refilwe Makwane, Amanda Mbhele, Tselane Mashilo, Hulisani Mudemeli