The Finding the Forgotten Graduate programme has launched a R9-million pioneer scholarship fund in honour of the first medical doctor of colour, Dr William Anderson Soga.
The fund, created by insurer PPS, aims to provide support to students, covering their academic needs and allowing them to enjoy education.
Speaking to Sunday World, PPS stakeholder communications and relations executive Ayanda Seboni said heritage is about celebrating the little parts of history that make the country what it is today.
This, for the organisation, means celebrating the “forgotten academic heroes and heroines” of South Africa. She names among them Jotello Soga, South Africa’s first black veterinary surgeon and Charlotte Maxeke, the first black woman in the country to obtain a university degree and the first black person to lecture to white university students.
“South Africa is more than its political history which has been put in the spotlight for the longest of time. It is almost as if the country only dates back to politics, especially the time of colonisation, but there is so much more to celebrate this Heritage Day.
“We just asked ourselves that by the time Soga became a medical doctor, how much would his life insurance and profit share be if he had any? Our calculations of the modern day took us to nearly R9-million and this is why we initiated this scholarship,” said Seboni.
The scholarship will be based on academic merit regardless of the background and both undergraduate and postgraduates can apply.
“The R9-million will be awarded to passionate post-matriculant pioneering students to commemorate, Heritage Month and our educational innovators,” she said.
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