JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Mining Qualifications Authority (MQA) handed over a cheque of more than R23-million to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) on Friday.

The money would go towards the salaries of seven mining engineering lecturers and bursaries for 236 students in the analytical, chemical, electrical, industrial, mechanical, metallurgical, mining engineering and geological disciplines.

Speaking at the handover ceremony, School of Mining Engineering head Professor Fred Cawood said the partnership between Wits and the MQA dated back to 2005 and had strengthened to the extent that the authority entrusted the university with such a “significant sum of money”.

He added that he hoped that this partnership with the MQA set an example for other sector education and training authorities.

The total amount assigned to lecturers was about R4.624-million, while R18.868-million was allocated to bursaries and R100 000 was provided for needy and deserving students within the school, who could not afford to buy required necessities for their studies.

The MQA also supported the school’s kitchen project, which fed students who could not afford lunch. The school had seen an almost 99% success rate among the needy and deserving students who had been given food and money to buy necessities, noted Cawood.

Also speaking at the ceremony, Wits vice-chancellor and principal Professor Adam Habib agreed with Cawood that the MQA had set an example for other industries and reminded those present that the historical disenfranchisement of many South Africans had created enormous levels of inequality, which could only be addressed through collective action.

“How we begin to bridge institutional boundaries has become important. This partnership with the MQA paves the way for collective action and long-term sustainability, and is testimony to what can be done through collective action,” said Habib.