Disadvantaged South African students receive a boost

A large number of disadvantaged South Africans lack the funding to attend university. We’re working to change that.

Research & developmentOur impactBrands

12 May 20213 minute read

Approximately 250,000 black South African university students don't have the necessary funding to progress with their studies. We’ve joined forces with Wits University to give more students access to the education they deserve

In 2020, we launched our ‘Aspire Higher’ initiative in South Africa to help change the future of young people through sexual health innovation. But our support for the next generation of Africans hasn’t stopped there.

We are delighted to announce our partnership with Wits University, Johannesburg (rated #1 university in Africa in 2019) in a multi-year programme to:

provide access to education for disadvantaged black students
give our own talent access to executive education at Wits Business School
and to build the talent of the future through a graduate accelerator programme

Approximately 60% of the students accepted to Wits University cannot afford to take up their places as their family income is above £17,500 a year, meaning they cannot access state funding but equally cannot afford the cost of tuition and living away from home. This “missing middle” represents as many as 250,000 black South Africans students every year.

In year one of the programme, we’re providing full bursaries for seven students, including all tuition and living costs. These students will also receive mentoring and opportunities to intern alongside Reckitt colleagues. Thee seven newly created “purpose scholarships” will also grant Reckitt colleagues access to attend Wits Business School’s executive courses.

As both organisations aim to come up with innovative solutions to tackle societal problems in their own sectors, we see this partnership as the start of more to come.
Bheki Moyo
Director of Wits Business School’s Centre of African Philanthropy and
On behalf of Wits University, we would like to thank Reckitt for choosing Wits University as a talent and transformation partner. Through this sponsorship, Reckitt will be channeling its “Access” investments over the next three years to disadvantaged students and support them in the best possible learning trajectory for lifetime success.
Maurice Radebe
Head of School at Wits Business School
This partnership is extremely important to us. In order to be a good business, we need to be a positive force in society as well and play a role in the transformation of local communities.
Russell Taylor
Reckitt Regional Director – Africa, Health,
We’re guided by our compass to do the right thing. And this is just another example of making a positive change in our local communities that will have real impact. We look forward to partnering with Wits in the years to come and to contributing towards the development of the next generation of leaders for the continent.
As both organisations aim to come up with innovative solutions to tackle societal problems in their own sectors, we see this partnership as the start of more to come.
Bheki Moyo
Director of Wits Business School’s Centre of African Philanthropy and
On behalf of Wits University, we would like to thank Reckitt for choosing Wits University as a talent and transformation partner. Through this sponsorship, Reckitt will be channeling its “Access” investments over the next three years to disadvantaged students and support them in the best possible learning trajectory for lifetime success.
Maurice Radebe
Head of School at Wits Business School

From left to right: Bheki Moyo (Director of Wits’ Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment (CAPSI)), Russell Taylor (Regional Director Africa, Health, Reckitt), Maurice Radebe (Head of School at Wits)