Graceland Hotel Casino & Country Club, through its CSI initiative, The Southern Highveld Community Development Trust (SHCDT), annually helps make dreams come true for local youngsters by giving full scholarships.

This year five candidates have been selected to have their tuition, accommodation and books covered as well as being given laptops by the Trust. Among them are three eMbalenhle residents, Mphoma Mokhethi, Cindy Mahlangu and Solomon Zucule. Also included in the Class of 2018 are Phindile Gule of Kinross and Sthembiso Mtsweni of Leslie.

While Mokhethi, who matriculated from Kiriyatswane Secondary School, will now be able to study Accounting Science at the University of the Witwatersrand thanks to the Trust, Mahlangu, who matriculated from Thomas Nhlabathi High School will study for a B.Sc degree in Chemical Engineering, also at Wits.

Zucule, a product of Sizwakele Secondary School, will be heading to the University of Pretoria to study for a B.Sc in Chemical Engineering while Gule, another former Thomas Nhlabathi pupil, will be able to continue her studies for a B.Sc  in Environmental Health at TUT.

The final bursary recipient, Mtsweni, who matriculated from Chief Ampie Mayisa High School will now be able to do a B.Com Finance at Wits

The final recipients were selected from hundreds of applications and had to make it through a stringent selection process as well as a nerve wrecking interview with a panel of judges.

In addition to having all costs paid in full, these fortunate students will also receive workshops and psychological support to sustain them throughout the academic year. “Over the years we have found that we are able to increase our graduation rate by offering learners additional support throughout the year. We do not just leave them to their own devices, says Trust Manager Jenny Findlay. “To this end the Trust has achieved a 85% graduation rate for the past 10 years. This is exceptional considering that the learners are from township schools and that the national graduation rate is 22%.”