Safripol

About Safripol

Safripol is a polymer producer that describes itself as the second largest in Sub-Saharan Africa. It makes three plastics: HDPE, polypropylene (PP) and PET. These raw materials end up in bottles, food and medical packaging, pipes and many everyday goods.

The company's roots go back to the early 1970s. It began as a joint venture between Sentrachem of South Africa and Hoechst of Germany, with HDPE production starting in Sasolburg in 1972. Polypropylene followed two years later. KAP Limited bought the business in 2017. Today the plants sit in Sasolburg, where HDPE and PP are made, and in Jacobs, Durban, where PET is produced. The commercial head office is in Johannesburg.

How Safripol supports students

Running a polymer plant takes skilled engineers, and good ones are hard to find. For that reason Safripol offers a Community Bursary Programme. It targets young people from Wentworth, Jacobs and Bluff, the neighbourhoods around its Durban site. The company therefore invests in the people who live closest to its operations.

The bursary is limited to four fields: chemical, electrical, instrumentation and mechanical engineering. Students must be enrolled, or provisionally accepted, at a recognised South African tertiary institution. You can apply while still in Matric or after finishing it.

Chemical engineers keep reactors and process units running. Electrical and instrumentation engineers look after control systems and measurement, while mechanical engineers maintain pumps, compressors and other moving equipment. Safripol therefore needs all four skills on its sites. For a student from the Durban south basin, this bursary offers a direct link between studying and a technical career in manufacturing.

What to know before applying

Recent calls required applicants to be South African citizens who live in Wentworth, Jacobs or Bluff. You complete an official application form and attach certified copies of several documents. These include your ID, Grade 11 and Matric reports, proof of enrolment or acceptance, proof of residence and your parents' or guardians' proof of income. Matric learners also add a school testimonial. Students already at university supply their transcript, a fee statement and a motivation letter.

Selection looks at your admission point score, your current academic results and your chosen field. Late applications are not accepted, and the closing date has recently fallen at the end of January. Forms were collected at local schools in the area, so ask your school too.

Some older listings mention a work-back period equal to the years funded. The current call did not confirm that requirement, so read the application pack carefully. Safripol can confirm the exact terms, deadlines and funding amounts for the new academic year.