Time really does flies when you are driving positive change and
transforming lives! This is the theme which echoed as Sugar Industry
Trust Fund for Education (SITFE) held its annual graduation ceremony
which coincided with its 60th anniversary celebration.
The event took place on 27 June 2025 at Kwa-Shukela in Mount Edgecombe, Durban.
SITFE, which is administered by the South African Sugar Association, hosts an annual
graduation function for its beneficiaries who have successfully completed their studies and
graduated. This year’s graduation function was coupled with the 60th anniversary
commemoration, in recognition of SITFE’s 60 years immense contribution towards education.
The keynote speaker was prominent political figure and SITFE Alumnus, Dr Zweli Mkhize,
the current Chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and
Traditional Affairs. “For the (last) 60 years, SITFE has sponsored and supported children
from poor households, mainly from farms, and 10 300 of them have received tertiary
education that they may otherwise have missed, were it not for this assistance,” said Dr
Mkhize. He added: “I want to urge SITFE not to terminate but expand this service. I know
there is government programme called NSFAS. This programme has its limitations and
challenges, and there are blind spots and families excluded by income brackets that SITFE
may offer more appropriate support”.
Tim Murray, SITFE stalwart and former chairperson, hailed the Trust Fund, saying it had
achieved a lot and still had more to do. He pointed out that the sugar industry established
SITFE in 1965. At the time, during the apartheid era wherein black people were treated as
inferior beings and subjected to the atrocious system of Bantu education. Murray added that
the industry’s initial investment of R2.4 million in 1965 had grown to R60 million in 2025. The
Trust Fund has funded many projects including:
• Approximately 10 300 bursaries
• Built about 3 000 classrooms, 50 libraries
• Drilled and sunk 800 boreholes at schools for water access
• Invested in Natal Parks Board to establish the Rhino Centre at Hluhluwe Game Reserve
• Invested in the San Rock Art facilities in the Drakensberg
• Instrumental in the starting of the Zulu Language Facility at University of KwaZulu-Natal
• Invested in Early Childhood Development
One of the SITFE beneficiaries extolled the Trust Fund. “The bursary was very instrumental
in helping me achieve my academic goals by covering my tuition fees, thereby alleviating the
financial burden on my family. Additionally, the bursary provided me with a laptop, granting
me access to valuable digital resources and online learning materials, said Zipho Ngema,
who addressed the event virtually all the way from Denmark. He is currently working for a
dairy and crop farm in Denmark where he is undergoing further training and skills
development to be well-equipped as a dairy and crop farmer. He holds a Diploma in
Agriculture from Cedara College.
During its history spanning six decades, SITFE has at times enabled some of its beneficiaries
to find their soulmates. “So often when I thank SITFE, I recall that their bursary lasted me two
years, but that opportunity provided me with a lovely and beautiful wife (also a SITFE
beneficiary) that is still with me 51 years after we met. I am sure you would also be very
grateful for such a bursary,” said Dr Mkhize, whose wife is also a medical doctor.
Dr Mkhize proffered some crucial ideas as SITFE marches on to the future. “Based on my
observations, I think SITFE should also emphasise on digital knowledge and
entrepreneurship to build confidence and independence for students not only to await
employment in jobs created by others, but to create these jobs themselves. President
Mandela used to say: ‘Education is a potent weapon to break the intergenerational cycle of
poverty’. As a child of poor farm tenant worker, myself, I can only agree.”
