Ehlanzeni District Municipality Mayoral Bursary

Written by Keagan HendricksStaff Writer (Unisa Alumnus)

Reviewed & verified by Naledi KhumaloSenior Admissions and Bursaries EditorVerified

Ehlanzeni District Municipality, based in Mbombela in Mpumalanga, runs a bursary for school leavers and students from very poor households in its area. The municipality calls it Mayoral Funding, and it is advertised in the name of the Executive Mayor. It funds undergraduate study at a university or university of technology in four fields the municipality needs, and it is aimed at families whose combined income is no more than R3,750 a month.

Engineering, finance, IT and environmental health

The adverts for both 2025 and 2026 list the same four fields: Engineering, Finance, Information Technology and Environmental Health. The municipality’s bursary policy, approved by council on 18 June 2020 and the version published on its website, adds that the Executive Mayor may approve other fields at his discretion. Under that policy the funding is limited to undergraduate degrees and diplomas, the course must last at least three academic years, and the student must study full-time, not by correspondence.

Neither advert states an amount. The policy says the bursary is paid directly to the institution, and that the amount per year depends on what council budgets for the programme in that year. It does not cover supplementary exams.

Who Ehlanzeni considers

The 2026 advert gives consideration to previously disadvantaged people and people with disabilities in the Ehlanzeni district who have passed Grade 12 with at least a university or university of technology admission, and who already hold provisional admission at a recognised South African institution. The policy adds that bursaries go only to South African citizens.

The income limit is the main filter. Parents’ or guardians’ combined income may not exceed R3,750 a month, and applicants prove this with payslips, a pension slip for indigent households, or an affidavit if a parent is unemployed.

Documents for a Mayoral Funding application

• the Mayoral Funding application form, from the Ehlanzeni website or the municipal reception;
• a motivation letter;
• Grade 12 results, or a recent academic record for students already at university;
• a certified copy of the applicant’s ID;
• a certified copy of each parent’s or guardian’s ID, or a death certificate if a parent has died, or a doctor’s certificate if a parent is permanently disabled;
• a letter of admission or proof of admission;
• proof of parents’ or guardians’ income, a pension slip or an unemployment affidavit, as applicable;
• proof of residence.

Completed applications go by email to mayoralbursary@ehlanzeni.gov.za or by hand to the municipal offices at 8 Van Niekerk Street, Mbombela, 1200. For the 2026 round, enquiries went to Ms C de Lange on 013 759 8634.

Keeping the bursary after the first year

The 2020 policy sets the conditions for students once funded. Each student signs a contract with the municipality. The bursary continues until the qualification is complete, as long as the student passes every subject registered for and does not change field; failed subjects must be repeated at the student’s own cost before funding resumes, and proof of a successful year must be sent every year. Students must declare any other funding, and the municipality may end the bursary if the student also receives NSFAS funding. There is no work-back obligation: the policy says council may consider appointing a graduate through its normal recruitment if a vacancy exists, and otherwise the student owes the municipality nothing further. Funding obtained with false information must be repaid with interest.

When the Mayoral Funding rounds have closed

The policy says applications are called for in the second quarter of the municipality’s financial year and close at the end of the second week of January. The 2025 round followed that pattern: its advert was signed on 10 December 2024 and closed on 10 January 2025. For 2026, the municipality issued a re-advertisement signed on 24 February 2026, which closed on 6 March 2026. No advert for 2027 had appeared on the Ehlanzeni website by late September 2026.

Other public funding in the province is listed under Mpumalanga government bursaries, and nearby councils with their own schemes include the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality bursary and the Thaba Chweu Local Municipality bursary.

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