With more than eight decades of commitment to community upliftment, the Port Elizabeth Women’s Club has added to its legacy with a multimillion-rand bursary fund at Nelson Mandela University.
Master of philosophy and Maritime Studies student Hazel Nciweni became the deserving inaugural recipient of the full scholarship at the NMU Ocean Sciences Campus on Tuesday.
Despite failing matric, the 30-year-old’s determination saw her earn her share of the R2.5m legacy bursary donated to the university.
Nciweni, one of six siblings raised by her grandmother in Lusikisiki, struggled to hold back her tears as she recalled her grandmother’s sacrifices and thanked the Port Elizabeth Women’s Club (PEWC) for the opportunity.
“I was eight years old when my grandmother [Ntombizodwa Dushu] took over from 2002 to date and she is really proud of my achievements.
“I would like to thank PEWC for empowering me to further my studies while I look for a job,” an emotional Nciweni said.
After she failed her matric at Palmerton High School in 2012, she obtained her level four marketing certificate in 2016 at the King Sabata Dalindyebo TVET College in Mthatha.
She was accepted at NMU and graduated with a qualification in logistics in 2022 cum laude.
In 2023, she obtained her Advanced Diploma in Logistics Management and in 2024 obtained her postgraduate diploma in Maritime studies.
“Since I studied logistics in my undergrad, I felt logistics had something that connected it to maritime studies, because they both deal with transportation,” she said.
The PEWC was formed in 1936 to support and advance opportunities for women at the time.
However, unable to pay their municipal rates that cost R6,000 a month and with dwindling member numbers, the PEWC decided to sell its assets in 2022, including a building in Summerstrand to the university.
The club donated R2.5m from the sale back to the institution to reward deserving female postgraduate students with a fully-funded bursary.
Looking back at a different era, club member Denise Long, 84, said: “A friend of mine remembers her mother going by bus to meetings wearing her hat and gloves.
“All members were well dressed, lunch was served for members and non-members.
“During the war years 1939-1945 [World War 2] money was raised for war charities, a sewing circle was also formed.
“After 16 years in the Cuthberts building, the club purchased two semi-detached houses in Bird Street.”
She said the club also bought and renovated an abandoned church building in Summerstrand which was officially opened in 1991 by then mayor John Vieira.
“After 30 years in our own building we were forced to close down, we had declining and ageing numbers as women could now thankfully follow any career they were interested in.
“We donated money to the university for a bursary for a female in a postgraduate degree.
“The money that is invested will hopefully benefit the lives of many young SA women in the future.
“We are so pleased to meet Hazel, we wish her all the best in her chosen career,” Long said.
NMU Humanities executive dean Prof Pamela Maseko said it was an honour to celebrate the contribution that had been made by PEWC to the university in support of women’s education.
“The PEWC embodied a commitment to upliftment, community service and advancing opportunities for women for over eight decades.
“It is humbling to acknowledge that this legacy will now continue.
“Through the education and empowerment of our female students, the club’s contribution of R2.5m is a testament to its members dedication to fostering an enduring impact on future generations.
“NMU has carefully invested this fund, allowing the interest generated to sustain bursaries for female postgraduate students in perpetuity, creating a lasting legacy of empowerment,” Maseko said.
The NMU dean of learning and teaching, Dr Phumeza Kota Nyati, said the university had 31,400 students enrolled in 2023 — 3,143 were postgraduate students, representing 10% of the student population.
“Nationally, postgraduate students represent 15.2% of all students registered in universities and your contribution will help increase this number, 57% of our students come from quintiles one to three schools, less advantaged and less resourced, 60% are female.
“They have shown significant success as the top graduates in the university.
“Being awarded a scholarship is a big deal in the context where naturally, postgrad studies could cost between R22,000 to R50,000,” Nyati said.
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