DENOSA

About DENOSA

DENOSA, the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa, represents nurses in both their working conditions and their profession. Its work splits into several parts. A labour wing deals with workplace matters, while a professional wing covers its library, research and international relations. It also has a student movement and offices in the provinces.

This mix gives the organisation an unusual place in South African healthcare. It acts for its members in the way that a union does, but it also cares about the standard of nursing itself. Its head office stands at 605 Stanza Bopape Street in Pretoria, and its Study Fund Committee looks after its bursaries.

Education sits close to the centre of this work. Nursing changes quickly, and nurses often need further qualifications to specialise or to move into teaching and management. Members therefore have several routes to funding through the organisation, including travel grants and a separate Old Mutual Education Trust scholarship.

How DENOSA supports students

The DENOSA Study Fund Committee awards bursaries to members who have paid their subscriptions for at least two years. There are separate forms for general and postgraduate study. You can read about the current round on our DENOSA Bursary page.

Donor firms help to fund these awards, but they do not choose the recipients or handle the forms. The organisation asks members not to contact those firms about bursaries, except to thank them.

The organisation also runs a Travel Grant Fund, which helps nurses to attend conferences and study tours abroad. Interest on the fund's investments and part of an Old Mutual commission pay for those grants. The aim is to develop nursing in South Africa through contact with work elsewhere.

What to know before applying

DENOSA is candid about the size of its awards. It says that the amounts are small and that a bursary covers only a small portion of your expenses, so you will need other funding as well.

These awards are also once-off donations. They do not renew automatically, so you must reapply every year. You also need to stay fully paid-up for the whole course, which means that a lapse in your membership can cost you your place.

The organisation's page gives both an email address and a postal address for forms. Call 012 343 2315 to confirm which one to use.

Do not expect a quick answer either. The organisation says that it will notify applicants in April 2027 at the earliest.