South Deep Education Trust

About the South Deep Education Trust

The South Deep Education Trust supports education in the communities around South Deep, a gold mine owned by Gold Fields near Westonaria in Gauteng. The trust works alongside the South Deep Community Trust, and together they form the South Deep Education and Community Trusts. Its Master's reference number dates from 2010.

Tshikululu Social Investments runs the bursary call for the trust. Tshikululu is a Johannesburg social impact company that manages funds, designs programmes and measures their results for other organisations. So students apply through Tshikululu's platform, and its team answers their questions, although the money and the programme belong to the trust.

The trust focuses on a defined group of places. Its call names Westonaria, Bekkersdal, Simunye, Poortjie, Borwa, Hillshaven and Zuurbekom as examples of the host community and its surrounding areas. For that reason, your address matters as much as your marks.

How the South Deep Education Trust supports students

The trust introduced its bursary programme in 2015 for Grade 12 learners and current tertiary students. It funds any technical or non-technical field at a public university or public TVET college, so you do not need to study mining or engineering. Our South Deep Education Trust Bursary page covers the current round.

The award is broad. It covers tuition, accommodation, textbooks and a laptop allowance, along with a monthly stipend for 10 months. Students also receive personal development support, mentorship and extra tutoring. In addition, the trust encourages recipients to give one week of vacation or volunteer work to their community each year.

What to know before applying

Apply as early as you can. The trust awards its limited bursaries on a first-come, first-served basis among qualifying applicants, so waiting until the last day can cost you a place.

Check the exclusions too. The trust does not fund dependants of employees of Gold Fields or its associated companies, or dependants of the trustees. Your household must also earn R350,000 a year or less.

The trust will not pay for a module that you repeat, and that rule applies to new and returning students alike. So plan for that cost if you failed a module. For questions, email southdeepeducation@tshikululu.org.za or call 011 544 0300 and press one. The team can also confirm which documents you still need.

Grade 12 applicants must also have no other bursary or funding for their studies. Prepare your certified documents early too, because several of them must date from the last three months.