From a wobble to cum laude, missing middle student triumphs thanks to a bursary
When Thabiso “Touch” Erasmus graduated with a BA degree cum laude from Nelson Mandela University, scoring distinctions in all but four of his subjects over three years, his family were not there in person to share in the joy of his achievement.
Quite simply, the nine-hour drive from their home in Matatiele in the northern part of the Eastern Cape to Qqeberha was just too costly. However, his father and younger sister made it to his media studies honours graduation this year.
His family’s absence at the previous graduation is just one way of illustrating what it means to be a “missing-middle” student in South Africa, the term for those who fall into a perilous financial gap.
Erasmus did not qualify for the government to fund his varsity studies through its National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). To qualify requires an annual family income of not more than R350 000. His mother is a high school business studies teacher, his father is a self-employed insurance broker contracted to a major company, and their income is more than the NSFAS requirement but not enough to pay for their children’s university studies.
Erasmus is clearly worthy of being at university. In fact, the BA that he graduated cum laude in 2023 was his second undergraduate degree at Mandela University. He first did a BSc in Environmental Sciences, majoring in geography and zoology, in 2019. Somehow his family made sacrifices and paid for that. “They took out a series of loans and at the end my mother had to pay back a lot of money. I also had to get a job to assist her,” he says.
But Erasmus’s initial passion to become a zoologist, and his love for animals and the natural environment began to wane and was supplanted by a new passion. He met a group of friends who were studying media at Mandela University and became hooked, helping them with their activities. “We used to work with small advertising companies or private clients and create adverts in terms of social media posts. And we would host small events, getting the word out to people. I really fell in love with that process. So round about my third year of doing environmental sciences, I had this change of mindset,” he says. It led to a slight wobble with his studies, involving an additional year at university, but “I still love the environment” he says and is proud he finished the degree.
After two years of working, he was determined to study media formally, but there was no way his family could afford to fund yet another degree. Yet Erasmus was determined to go ahead. “I just made a decision: I am going back to school. I will make a plan. I threw myself in the deep end and hoped for the best.”
He buckled down and studied as if his life depended on it. In his spare time he scoured ZAbursaries.com, applying for bursary after bursary, with no luck.
What did help is that he started his BA Media, Communication, and Culture, majoring in copywriting, during Covid. Classes were online, he was at home in Matatiele, and his only university costs were the fees. Plus he was contracted as a project officer to the LIMA Rural Development Foundation in the area, using his geography knowledge to help rural communities who do not have access to municipal water.
By the time second year started, “things started becoming a bit fuzzy because my savings fund was running low and it looked like I wouldn't be able to finish my studies. That’s when I got the bursary.
“Our university has the email communication, including one for bursaries, which they send out once or twice a week, depending on the availability of the bursaries, and I came across MDDA, which is the Media Development and Diversity Agency.
“I applied, and got it, and they funded me from my second year right through to my honours year, solely based on my academic performance.”
Erasmus is one of 47 recipients of a MDDA bursary at Mandela University, said Nkululeko Mkosana, Administrator of the Learning and Teaching Portfolio in the Faculty of Humanities. MDDA established an Economic Development Fund for deserving black students in 2021. Expiring at the end of this year, the fund was for fulltime students from second year to honours, focusing on media, advertising and graphic design.
For Erasmus, the biggest impact of the bursary is how it helped open doors for him. “With my BSC degree, I found out, quite late, that if you really want to thrive in that industry, you have to take your education right through to master’s or even doctorate. And my marks at the time were not strong enough for me to make an argument to pursue my honours.
“Being awarded the bursary, I was able to continue with my studies and, last year, as I submitted my last research paper, I received a job opportunity. And not because I applied for it, just because I developed a very strong relationship with my lecturers and some people in the institution. They knew my work (he was an assistant lecturer last year). So it was through word of mouth, by referral,” says Erasmus, who is now contracted to the Faculty of Health Sciences as a Digital Designer and Marketing Assistant.
“The bursary provided the opportunity for me to grow as an individual and become established as a working individual in South Africa. The bursary gave me the chance to prove that I am able to put my mind to something, to accomplish something, and I feel competent to enter the corporate world with valuable input that I can contribute.”
Hard work is not a new venture for Erasmus. Besides his academic successes that include qualifying as the top 15% of his class and so being eligible to become a member of the International Golden Key International Honour Society, he has had so many jobs since matriculating at the King Edward High School in Matatiele that if one looked only at the experience section of his LinkedIn profile, it would be hard to believe he has actually fitted in most of these positions between his studies.
Erasmus bubbles with enthusiasm for his job at Nelson Mandela University. “It's a lot of work because everything gets dumped on me and I prefer it that way, because I'm trying to gather as many skills as possible. It's been great.”
The best part of Erasmus’s job is not just the chance to learn about promotion and marketing with the aim of starting his own media company one day. Or the chance to consider continuing his studies with a master’s degree. It is being able to make his family proud and be able to help them. To be their rock.