Thulamela Municipality Mayor’s Bursary Fund

Written by Keagan HendricksStaff Writer (Unisa Alumnus)

Reviewed & verified by Naledi KhumaloSenior Admissions and Bursaries EditorVerified

Thulamela Local Municipality, which has its offices in Thohoyandou in the Vhembe district of Limpopo, runs the Thulamela Municipality Mayor’s Bursary Fund for first-year university students from indigent households in the municipal area. The fund is narrow. It invites applicants for four qualifications only, and the municipality publishes the application form without saying what the bursary pays for. The latest round, for the 2026 academic year, closed on 23 December 2025. By 29 September 2026 the municipality had not posted a form for 2027.

Four qualifications, and only for first-year students

Every form the municipality has published since 2023 names the same four qualifications:

• Civil Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Town Planning
• Information Technology

The fund is for “first entering students”, meaning school leavers starting their first year. A student already in second or third year is not in the group the form invites. The applicant must live in Thulamela and must supply proof of residence from the ward councillor. The form also asks for the ward number and an indigent number, and it requires proof that the household is registered as indigent with the municipality. A family that is not on the indigent register would need to sort that out with the municipality before applying.

The form asks for proof of registration at a university in South Africa. It does not mention TVET colleges, so a student heading to a college rather than a university should not assume the fund covers that route.

What the bursary pays is not published

None of the three forms on thulamela.gov.za states an amount, whether tuition, registration, residence or books are covered, or whether there is a work-back condition. The form asks the applicant for the cost of the course, its duration and its starting date, and for a short explanation of how the course will help the applicant’s goals. It says only that successful candidates “will be required to sign a contract”, that the selection committee’s decision is final, and that the municipality will correspond only with successful or shortlisted applicants. Anyone who needs to know the value before relying on it should ask the contact people named below.

Documents for the Thohoyandou offices

The 2026 form had to be completed in black ink and block letters, with these attachments:

• a certified copy of the Grade 12 certificate
• proof of registration with a South African university
• a certified copy of a valid South African ID
• proof of residence from the ward councillor
• proof of registration as indigent

Inside the form, applicants give details of both parents or a guardian and their employers, describe the family’s financial situation, and list their Grade 12 subjects with percentages and levels. Incomplete forms are disqualified, and faxed forms are not accepted. Completed forms could be posted to The Municipal Manager, Thulamela Municipality, Private Bag X5066, Thohoyandou 0950, or handed in at the Youth Office (No. 118), the Speaker’s Office (SS 49) or the Mayor’s Office (SS 10). The 2026 form named Mr N. Mathule (082 819 7937) and Mr L.C. Lalumbe (082 697 5171) for enquiries. The municipality’s switchboard is 015 962 7500.

Closing dates of the last three rounds

The rounds have so far been advertised late in the year for the following academic year, but the municipality has not announced a date for a 2027 round. New forms appear on the municipal bursaries page, where the 2026 application form is still posted, and older ones sat on the employment page.

Because the Thulamela fund’s value is unknown and its fields are few, Vhembe students should keep other options open. The district runs its own Vhembe District Municipality mayoral bursary, and engineering students can compare funders on the civil engineering and electrical engineering bursary lists.

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