Mandela Rhodes Scholarship
The Mandela Rhodes Foundation
Full funding plus a leadership development programme for African citizens aged 19-29 to do a one-year Honours or two-year Masters degree in South Africa. Applications for the Class of 2028 open 9 March 2027 and close 14 April 2027.
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Eligibility
- Who can apply
- Africa
- Education required
- Bachelors completed
- Age
- from 19 up to 29 (You must be between 19 and 29 in the year of applying, and under 30 at the time you take up the scholarship)
- Fields
- Any field of study
- Language
- Must be able to do written and verbal academic work in English at postgraduate level
- Residency
- You must study in residence at a South African institution; you cannot study in your home country and distance learning is not allowed
- Also required
- Citizen of an African country, wherever you currently live or study
- By 1 Jan 2028 you must have an undergraduate degree with results above 70 per cent or upper-second class Honours
- For postgraduate study (Honours and Masters) only - undergraduate study, MBAs, block courses and predominantly online courses are not funded
- You must apply separately to your chosen South African institution; the award is conditional on being offered a place
- Applicants from outside South Africa may need SAQA verification of their qualifications, which can take 4-8 weeks and is not paid for by the Foundation
- Attendance at the residential leadership workshops and regional pods is compulsory
- You may not hold other scholarships or funded opportunities, and may not do paid work for more than 12 hours a week
About this opportunity
The Mandela Rhodes Scholarship funds young leaders from anywhere on the African continent to do postgraduate study in South Africa, and pairs the degree with a compulsory leadership development programme built on the Foundation's founding principles of reconciliation, education, entrepreneurship and leadership. The programme is delivered mainly through week-long residential workshops with your cohort - three in your first year in residence and two in the second if you are on a two-year programme - plus regional pods and an optional mentoring programme. Attendance is a condition of the scholarship.
Eligibility is tightly defined. You must be a citizen of an African country, be between 19 and 29 in the year you apply and under 30 when you take the scholarship up, be able to study at postgraduate level in English, and have an undergraduate degree with results above 70 per cent or an upper second-class Honours by 1 January 2028. Citizens of African countries outside South Africa are explicitly eligible, wherever they currently live or study, but you cannot study in your home country or by distance learning - you must be resident at one of the 24 listed South African institutions, which include the universities of Cape Town, Pretoria, Stellenbosch, the Witwatersrand, KwaZulu-Natal, Fort Hare, Limpopo, Venda and Western Cape. Any field is supported except MBAs, block courses and predominantly online courses, and funding is capped at two years with no exceptions.
The scholarship covers tuition and registration fees paid directly to the institution, plus allowances for study materials, accommodation and meals, medical aid and personal expenses, research and conferencing grants on request, and economy-class flights from your home country to your South African university at the start and end of your studies. It does not cover university application fees, SAQA accreditation of your existing qualifications, or visa costs. Applications for the Class of 2028 open on Tuesday 9 March 2027 and close at the end of Wednesday 14 April 2027, 23:59 GMT+2, with no late or incomplete applications accepted. You apply online, write two short essays - one on your personal journey and one on a question relating to the Foundation's principles - and register three recommenders who must upload their letters to the platform themselves before the deadline. Shortlisting runs through July and August, interviews are held in South Africa in October with finalists based abroad flown in, and results follow by the end of October.
- Level
- Master's
- Where
- South Africa
- Duration
- One year for an Honours degree or up to two years for a Masters; a strict maximum of two years with no exceptions
- Difficulty
- Very high · about 10 weeks to prepare
Funding
Fully funded
- tuition
- accommodation
- books
- stipend
- travel
- health insurance
- research costs
Tuition and registration fees as set by the institution and paid directly to it; a study materials allowance; accommodation and meal allowances; a medical aid allowance; a personal allowance; research and conferencing grants available on request; and economy-class flights for international scholars from their home countries to their institutions at the start and end of their studies. Allowances are paid twice a year. Not covered: university application fees, SAQA accreditation of existing degrees, and visa application costs.
What you will need
- Degree certificate
- Academic transcripts
- Reference letters (3)
- Essays
- Passport or national ID
Certificates of completion for your degrees, academic transcripts, and scans of ID and passport documents, all in English; two short essays, one on your personal journey and one on a question relating to the Foundation's principles; and three letters of recommendation in English uploaded by the recommenders themselves through the application platform. The application cannot be submitted without the letters.
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