The Department of Journalism at Stellenbosch University (SU) is pleased to announce that the Mandy Rossouw Bursary for 2016 has been awarded to Ms Nation Nyoka (26), a BA Honours Journalism student at the University.
The bursary, to the value of R40 000, was instituted in 2013 by friends and colleagues of the late journalist, Mandy Rossouw, and is awarded to a female BA Honours Journalism student with an interest in politics. The bursary goes towards covering class fees of the recipient.
In awarding the bursary, the selection panel said that Nation “impressed and charmed” them “from the word go”. “We all believe you will carry the Mandy mantle with confidence and distinction.”
Nation hails from Johannesburg and completed an undergraduate degree in Media Studies at Rhodes University. “I am very humbled,” said Nation. “I hope I can live up to the journalistic integrity that Mandy Rossouw set as a precedent.” She said she hopes to leave a similar long-lasting impression on the political journalistic sphere.
Mandy, an alumna of the Department of Journalism, is well-known as a renowned political reporter and the first journalist who wrote about the Nkandla saga. She passed away at the age of 33 in March 2013.
The 2016 selection panel included, amongst others, Waldimar Pelser (editor-in-chief, Rapport), Adriaan Basson (editor: News24), Ferial Haffajee (editor: City Press) and Mandy’s sister, Megan Rossouw.
The previous recipient is Ms S’thembile Cele, a journalist at City Press. The bursary was not awarded in 2015.
