UCT tops Mandela Rhodes beneficiaries

UCT tops the list in numbers of young Africans "with scholastic, intellectual and leadership potential" who have received the 2007 Mandela Rhodes Scholarships, awarded by the Mandela Rhodes Foundation.

Eight of the 20 beneficiaries - a ninth had to abstain - of the 2007 programme are pursuing their careers here.

The aim of the scholarships is to create a network of principled future leaders, with the capacity and will to advance themselves and their countries.

The UCT recipients are Marlon Burgess, Zethu Dlamini, Rumbidzai Goredema, Aalia Ismail, Leanne Johansson, Daphney Singo, Sheetal Vallabh and Buhle Zuma.

According to Ruth Andrews, the foundation scholarships co-ordinator, UCT received so many scholarships because a number of applicants have registered for their postgraduate studies here.

The foundation has awarded 44 scholarships in its three-year existence.

Andrews said the idea was not only to provide the students with funds, but also to work closely with them closely and allow them to develop and grow as individuals.

It is the vision of the Mandela Rhodes Scholarships programme to have produced, by 2015, a considerable network of leaders with different educational expertise but similar leadership capacity, who support and inspire each other and who are distinguished by their abilities.