Verified
Emfuleni Local Municipality covers about 987 square kilometres of the Vaal Triangle in southern Gauteng, including Vereeniging, Vanderbijlpark, Sebokeng, Evaton, Sharpeville, Boipatong, Bophelong and Tshepiso. The Vaal River forms Emfuleni’s southern boundary, and the municipality is home to close to 80% of the Sedibeng District’s population.
- Registered name
- Emfuleni Local Municipality
- Type
- Local government (local municipality)
- Fields funded
- First-year tertiary study for young residents from low-income households
- Website
- emfuleni.gov.za
- Phone
- 084 686 4418
How this profile was researched
Emfuleni’s website did not respond when BursariesAfrica tried to research this profile on 15 September 2026. The page draws on a provider record checked in August 2026 and on BursariesAfrica’s research into Emfuleni’s most recent bursary rounds. Confirm the details with the municipality before applying.
A Mayoral Bursary for first-year students
Emfuleni Local Municipality runs a Mayoral Bursary Programme as part of its integrated development plan commitments to developing residents’ skills. The Mayoral Bursary funds first-year tertiary study for young residents from low-income households, which helps students cross the most expensive and uncertain point: registering at a university or college for the first time.
Because the bursary targets first-year study, students should plan what comes next. Successful first-year results open the door to NSFAS continuation, company bursaries and other funders from second year.
The application window
The 2026 round opened on 1 October 2025 and closed on 28 November 2025 at 16:00. The 2027 call had not been published when BursariesAfrica checked, and the last two cycles suggest applications will open around 1 October 2026 and close in late November 2026.
How residents can prepare
Email the Office of the Executive Mayor in September to ask when the 2027 Mayoral Bursary will open and what documents it needs, such as proof of household income and residence in Emfuleni. Grade 12 learners should apply using their latest school results and provide final results when the municipality requests them.
Check notices at municipal offices in Vereeniging and Vanderbijlpark, and ask ward councillors in townships such as Sebokeng and Sharpeville, who often share bursary information with residents.
Emfuleni’s location beside Vanderbijlpark’s steel industry and the Vaal University of Technology gives local students a nearby institution to study at, and first-year funding from the municipality can make enrolling there possible. Ask whether the bursary covers study at institutions outside the Vaal Triangle too.
See our Gauteng Government Bursaries page for other funders in the province.
