JOHANNESBURG The Presidential Scholarship Fund (PSF) has withdrawn financial support to 10 students allegedly as punishment for supporting Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirais MDC-T party, officials from the former opposition party said last week.The MDC-Ts South African chapter gave the names of students expelled from the PSF programme as: Admire Tonderai Chamisa, Tawanda Lennon Maponga, Appreciate Chiheya, Vitalis Mubayira, Owen Gwanzura, Vusimuzi Tutani, Prince Mafu, Andrew Mayigeta, Elisha Mutizwa and Tapiwa Shumba.
The students are on various programmes at South Africas famed Fort Hare University. The Zimbabwean on Sunday was unable to confirm with the students whether they had been dismissed from the scholarship fund, while fund director Chris Moshowe was not immediately available for comment on the matter.
In a statement the MDC said: The 10 students who were on Robert Mugabe’s Presidential Scholarship fund were unceremoniously dropped from the academic facility after accepting leadership positions in the MDC structure at the University.
The party, which claimed that PSF administrators could cut funding to more students suspected of disloyalty to Mugabe, said the 10 students who had funding withdrawn were now almost destitute. It appealed to well wishers to assist the students.
The PSF, launched by Mugabe in 1995 with the help of Fort Hare, is in honour of the Zimbabwean President, who studied at the famous South Africa university.
The fund was originally meant to assist deserving young Zimbabweans to acquire university education at Fort Hare University and other South African universities without regard to beneficiaries political background.
But it has since evolved into a partisan programme benefiting children of supporters or members of Mugabes Zanu (PF) party.
Post published in: News