Unisa online - SBL launches academic scholarship in honour of Judge President

Judge President Bernard Ngoepe and Prof David Abdulai at the launch of the SBL's scholarship in honour of Judge Ngoepe

On Wednesday 13 July 2011, Unisa’s Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL) launched their first ever academic scholarship in honour of Judge President Bernard Makgabo Ngoepe. The scholarship is a CSI initiative established by the CEO, management and academic staff of the Unisa SBL to enable brilliant but needy students to pursue or complete their studies at the SBL.

Unisa SBL Executive Director and CEO, Prof David Abdulai, said this was an opportunity for the SBL to contribute to and empower emerging leaders to hone their skills and help to overcome our current socioeconomic challenges.

“We are very excited and honoured to name this scholarship after Judge President Ngoepe to serve as a motivation to needy South African students to attain an MBA, MBL or DBL at the Unisa SBL. His passion for education and his contribution to society was the inspiration behind naming the scholarship in his honour,” said Prof Abdulai.

In his acceptance, Judge President Ngoepe said: “I am proud to be associated with the scholarship because it offered a true and irrevocable gift, because once somebody has given it to you, nobody can take it away. The scholarship is launched at a time when the country craves a pool of genuine intelligentsia to serve as the nation’s conscience, an intelligentsia that engages in informed criticism, debate and analysis – all of which are essential in nurturing and sustaining our democracy.”

Judge Ngoepe is currently the Judge President of the North and South Gauteng High Courts. He holds an honorary doctorate from Unisa and is also currently the Chancellor of the University of South Africa. He is renowned for his sterling contribution to modern South Africa. In the early 1990s, he was one of an eight-person team which drafted the country’s new Constitution. He was a member of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) where he served on the amnesty committee. In 1998, he acted as Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal and a year later, after a stint in the Constitutional Court, he was appointed to his present position, Judge President of the High Court in Gauteng South and North. In addition to these duties, he is the Chairperson of the Court of Military Appeals and the Magistrates Commission, as well as a member of the Judicial Service Commission.

Each year, the SBL will award 10 scholarships towards the MBL and DBL degrees. About 50 percent will be allocated to black female students, 30 percent to black male students, 15 percent to Indian and coloured students, and 5 percent to white students.

The successful recipients will, in turn, be expected to provide research or teaching assistance at the school.