Ingquza Hill Local Municipality, which governs Lusikisiki, Flagstaff and the surrounding villages in the OR Tambo District of the Eastern Cape, funds a limited number of undergraduates from its own area. The scheme runs under the council’s Policy for External Bursary, published on the municipal website in September 2025. That policy is the most detailed public source on the bursary; the municipality has not posted a 2027 advert online.
The six programmes in Ingquza Hill’s policy
- Information and communication technology
- Town and regional planning
- Civil and building engineering
- Electrical engineering
- Maritime studies
- Financial studies
The policy leaves a small opening outside this list: learners from indigent families may be considered even if their qualification falls outside these fields. Postgraduate study is excluded.
Who the council will consider
- You must live within Ingquza Hill’s jurisdiction.
- You must have passed Grade 12 or an equivalent, and meet the admission rules of a South African institution.
- You must be from a designated group and aged between 18 and 35.
- Your family must be unable to pay. Households whose parents or guardians jointly earn less than R350,000 a year get first preference.
- You need proof of strong academic results and proof of enrolment or acceptance at a recognised institution.
Income proof depends on the household: payslips for salaried parents, a certified business certificate or three months of bank statements for business income, or a certified copy of grant receipts for grant-dependent families. The policy disqualifies applications that arrive without the required supporting documents.
What a bursary from Ingquza Hill pays
The policy calls the external bursary a full bursary and makes the municipality responsible for registration, tuition, boarding and study material as the institution prescribes. It then sets specific caps: a meal allowance of at most R1,500 over 10 months, a R5,000 book allowance and a R7,000 laptop allowance, and it says these allowances apply only to continuing students. A separate clause says the municipality will pay the registration fee only for 20 new deserving students. The wording is not fully clear on how first-years are funded, so read the contract you are offered closely.
Students must use their institution’s residence and meals where available. If the institution has none, the municipality pays 80% of the cost of approved alternative accommodation and meals.
Strings attached to the contract
- Send the municipality your results within two weeks of each exam period.
- Pass at least 70% of your registered modules each year to keep the bursary.
- Do not change course or institution without the municipality’s approval; an unapproved change can make you liable for costs.
- Repeating up to three modules may earn a second chance; failing more lets the council end the contract.
- Do practical training at the municipality or an approved organisation if your course requires it.
- Serve the municipality or community for the period your contract sets.
Ingquza Hill is not obliged to employ you after you qualify. The policy does promise graduates a place on a two-year municipal internship at R3,000 a month, subject to available funds.
How and when the advert appears
The policy says the municipality advertises in local newspapers, at high schools and on municipal notice boards, and that the closing date for the following academic year will be no later than 20 January. The council may also skip a year’s advert if it still carries many bursary holders, or if the budget is short. A training committee shortlists applicants once a year, and the Municipal Manager approves the awards.
Read the full Ingquza Hill external bursary policy (PDF) on the municipal website. To ask whether a 2027 advert is coming, contact the municipality’s offices in Lusikisiki (039 253 1096, 66 Main Street) or Flagstaff (039 252 0131, 135 Main Street), or email info@ihlm.gov.za. The Skills Development Facilitator in Corporate Services handles bursary matters.
Other Eastern Cape and technical funding
Eastern Cape students in STEM fields can apply to the East London IDZ bursary. Civil, electrical and planning students should also try the MISA bursary for municipal infrastructure skills, and those heading for accounting can look at SAICA’s Thuthuka Bursary Fund.