University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) alumni have donated R250 000 to the Wits food programme to help students from disadvantaged backgrounds during the exam period which began last week.

Through the South African Student Solidarity Foundation for Education (SASSFE), Wits alumni raised R250 000 for the programme, the Masidleni Daily Meal Project.
 
The Masidleni Daily Meal Project falls under the Division of Student Affairs and is run by Wits Citizenship and Community Outreach and supports hundreds of students with a hot, nutritional lunch from Monday to Friday every week.

Chairperson of SASSFE’s Board of Trustees, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba says the objective is to bolster and strengthen programmes at Wits which aim to provide needy students with a dignified and caring environment necessary for academic success.

“SASSFE has focused on mobilising funds from alumni to show solidarity with, and to find ways of materially supporting, the current generation of students. We have found that many alumni are keen to assist the thousands of students in need at South Africa’s tertiary education institutions,” says Makgoba.
 
SASSFE was set up in April 2016 with its first chapter based at Wits. The foundation has plans to expand its activities nationally. It envisages that SASSFE chapters, made up of and driven by alumni, will be established at many other tertiary education institutions around South Africa.
 
In addition to Makgoba, SASSFE’s trustees are retired Judge Richard Goldstone, Judge Azhar Cachalia and Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng. Tiego Moseneke chairs the SASSFE management committee.
  
Moseneke made a clarion call for alumni across South Africa to dig into their pockets and make a contribution. 

“Small, regular contributions by a large number of alumni would make a big difference to the lives of bright young minds, who require support.  Through our contributions we can provide students with basic, yet essential, needs that will allow them to fulfill their dreams for the future,” says Moseneke.
 
For donations SASSFE  can be contacted at http://sassfe.org.za/contribute/