Durban - As rugby fever grips South Africa before the World Cup, so UKZN architecture student Sisanda Ndlela walked off the stage at her institution’s scholarship awards ceremony clutching a scholarship earned through the sport.
The 23-year-old former New Forest High School pupil, who was called up to be part of the Springbok Women’s Sevens Squad, was one of 92 students presented with their scholarships at a special function this week. They were the cream of the crop of 1 859 students to receive scholarships, valued at more than R50 million.
Many of the scholarships are named after personalities who have made their mark in the world, having left footprints at UKZN or the institutions from which it was born.
“I hope that I shall inspire women out there to make use of the opportunities UKZN has to offer to black women like myself, but also women in general because I feel we underestimate how far we can go and how powerful we can be,” Ndlela told the Independent on Saturday at the Thursday night ceremony.
Now in her final Bachelor’s year, she plans to study to post-graduate level.
UKZN introduced Ndlela to rugby, which she plays as a centre in the 15-person version and is usually a forward when playing in Sevens.
She hopes to have a life in professional rugby and architecture.
Rugby first: “The career span of rugby is quite short. Architecture will be here forever.”
Pharmacy student Zahra Jhazbay went up to the stage twice; to receive the Townley Williams Scholarship for having been the best student entering the final year of study in a first degree, excluding medicine, and to receive the Lawrence and Constance Robinson Scholarship for having been ranked the best undergraduate student at UKZN.
She followed in the footsteps of her sister, Amina, who was awarded the Lawrence and Constance Robinson Scholarship in 2019.
“My sister used to speak to me a lot about what she was doing daily,” Zahra said.
She said she looked forward to doing an internship in a clinical hospital setting.
“In a hospital setting, you get exposed to a lot more when it comes to patient interaction and because you are in the ward, you can interact with the patient, see how you can make a difference in the patient’s life in terms of the management of the patient.”
Roshaina Depnarain, a first-year Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery student, was one of 11 students to receive Pius Langa Scholarships, based on their permforance in their final year at school.
“It’s very special,” said the former Queensburgh Girls’ High School pupil. “It shows that hard work has paid off.”
Guest speaker Professor Deresh Ramjugernath, the deputy vice-chancellor for learning and teaching at Stellenbosch University, stressed the importance of “paying it forward” and encouraged recipients of the awards to be kind and helpful to others and not expect anything in return.
“This is lacking in South Africa,” he said.
He said “paying it forward” was important because it created a cycle of positivity and that South Africa needed positive change.
The Independent on Saturday