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prone to experience challenges, such as transportation limitations, poor internet connectivity, and food security issues. We
therefore actively sought to select peer helpers from the accredited off-campus accommodation spaces, given the unique
challenges that these students are confronted with. Peer Helpers selected and trained in 2020 are mentored by the psychologist
who coordinates the programme.

8.3 Career Construction and Employability
Emthonjeni Student Wellness continues to maintain engagement with our current students via digital platforms and offers career
exploration to those considering course changes. Our team created materials for the newly developed MyFuture@Mandela
website and maintained engagement with parents and prospective students via digital platforms, providing information to
support students’ career exploration and post-secondary educational opportunities. MyFuture@Mandela was undertaken in
collaboration with the Student Recruitment and Marketing team. During the Virtual Career Exhibition, we launched an ESW
chatroom in collaboration with the World of Work Exhibition team.

9. Integrated Financial Aid, Scholarship and Bursary Administrative Processes, and Systems

To ensure access for academically deserving, financially needy students, Management and the SRC meet on an annual basis
to discuss, review, and agree to the financial concessions to be implemented for that specific year. These concessions are then
approved by MANCO after which the Financial Aid Task Team oversee the implementation of these financial concessions.
Periodically, the task team will highlight emerging trends in the cases they deal with, which may require further consideration
as part of the ongoing concession review process. To integrate the student bursary and scholarship processes, the Bursaries
and Scholarship Committee membership and role were amended in December 2020.

9.1 NSFAS – funding /process / administration
It must be noted that 47% of Mandela University graduates at undergraduate level received NSFAS funding for their first
qualification, but this support only extends as far as the first qualification. In 2018 NSFAS, in collaboration with AdaptIT,
provided an electronic integration between ITS and the NSFAS database. This has been implemented on the University
production servers and allowed the Financial Aid Department to query the NSFAS status of a student, as well as to electronically
pull and upload NSFAS information into ITS. In December 2020, the Institutional Fund Administration Agreement was signed
with NSFAS. All NSFAS and postgraduate students continue to be paid allowances and, by the third quarter of 2020, the
University has administered R1 274 627 706 for student financial aid. In January 2020, the University signed a Memorandum of
Agreement with NSFAS. Further NSFAS System Enhancements were implemented to:
• allow successful NSFAS applicants to register on time
• include the identification of continuing NSFAS students
• indicate whether the students still qualify for funding based on the NSFAS progression rules
• reversals against students who have de-registered
• modifications to the Financial Aid Web application to identify students qualifying for concessions

9.2 PG research funding

As NSFAS only funds first qualifications,
Table 15 Postgraduate funding (R) awarded from 2016 to 2020
financial barriers prevent previously
funded NSFAS students from registering
for postgraduate studies. To support
postgraduate studies, the Council
approved bursary funding and provided
more than R60 million to PG students
in 2019. However, this allocation was
inadequate to provide for the number of
academically eligible, financially needy
students. Therefore in 2020, there was a
significant financial injection of Council-
controlled funding for postgraduate

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