Pheneas Makama, the proud father of Simphiwe Zwane, has been a forecourt attendant for the Total Brakpan service station since 2006. While working as a forecourt attendant he heard that Total South Africa was offering a bursary programme to children of long-service employees at their service stations, so he applied for his daughter to receive a bursary to study teaching. Simphiwe completed her bachelor of arts in education at the University of Pretoria in 2013 and applied for an internship position as a teacher at Edleen Primary School in Kempton Park, where she has taught grades one and four for the past 17 months.
“As a young boy I had dreams of being great and of doing great things with my life, however that just wasn’t possible for me due to my circumstances,” says Makama. “When I became a father my dreams were for my children to have excellent opportunities and make something of their lives. Thanks to the bursary awarded by Total, my daughter is living her dream. Simphiwe is a qualified teacher and the first university graduate in our family.”
The Total South Africa bursary programme targets the children of Total South Africa’s service station staff and car-wash attendants, who usually lack the financial means to provide their children with tertiary education. At least one of the parents must have worked at a Total South Africa service station for a minimum of four years. The initiative is a joint sponsorship project between Total South Africa, its employees and service station dealers, who are encouraged to assist colleagues with their children’s tertiary education tuition.