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ArcelorMittal South Africa Offers Bursary to Star Student

01/17/2011 - In support of its commitment to help South African transform its future, ArcelorMittal South Africa has granted Matimba Mabonda a bursary to pursue his dream of studying for a degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Cape Town.

In support of its commitment to help South African transform its future, ArcelorMittal South Africa has granted Matimba Mabonda a bursary to pursue his dream of studying for a degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Cape Town (UCT).
 
Mabonda says his interest in Chemical Engineering was sparked by a visit he undertook at a leading chemical company in Sasolburg. “From that day onwards, my mind was set on becoming a Chemical Engineer”, he says enthusiastically. He said the ‘burner’ — the long chimney-like structure emitting a plume of fire at the plant — was his inspiration. “I would think about the ‘burner’ whilst studying and reassure myself that I was working to be part of that mystical and interesting world of engineers”.
 
Lack of funds nearly cut short his dream. ArcelorMittal South Africa learned of Mabonda’s plight through a local newspaper and decided to offer him a comprehensive bursary.
 
“Mabonda comes from a very challenging social background, but he still managed to achieve such good results,” said Themba Nkosi, General Manager for Human Resource at ArcelorMittal South Africa. “He is the kind of person ArcelorMittal would like to have in its employ - a person who challenges daily hurdles to achieve greatness.”
 
ArcelorMittal will cover the full cost of Mabonda’s studies at UCT to the tune of R400 000 over four years. This will include tuition and boarding fees, laptop, books, travel and living allowance.
 
His bursary is one of the 35 that ArcelorMittal South Africa will be offering this year to new University candidates. Mabonda will also become one of the company’s current 120 engineering bursary holders at Universities who have access to a mentoring program aimed at helping them navigate their studies and provide support. This will include access to the company’s engineers at its Saldanha plant, in Cape Town’s West Coast for further support.
 
“I still do not believe that such a big company has decided to provide a comprehensive bursary. It just shows that if you work hard and believe in yourself, God will make sure that your dreams come true,” said Mabonda.
“I know that the next four years are going to require me to work even harder. I am up for the challenge!”
 
ArcelorMittal South Africa has a comprehensive pipeline provision program that addresses the skills required by the business. At the end of 2010 the program had 3221 learners spread over different categories. Most of the learners in the pipeline are studying engineering-related disciplines but provision is made for non-engineering disciplines such as internships for staff division skills, production related skills and supervisor programs. The main categories covered within the pipeline apart from the training of ArcelorMittal South Africa employees include Engineers, Technicians, Artisans, Production employees, Graduates for staff divisions, and Supervisors.