Stellenbosch University (SU) student Humairaa Moosa can now add Rhodes-Scholar elect to her long list of accomplishments and awards. The BCom Honours student has been named as one of the 2024 cohort of 10 Rhodes Scholars-elect from the Southern African constituency (South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia and eSwatini) and the second for SU this year.
“The University is thrilled with the election of a second Rhodes Scholarship winner this year,” said Prof Stan du Plessis, SU’s Chief Operating Officer, and SU’s ambassador for the Rhodes Trust. “We are delighted that students with Humairaa’s outstanding academic track record and history of entrepreneurship are being recognised. I hope she will enjoy the opportunity to study at Oxford and make the most of their outstanding academic offering.”
Driven by her frustration with government’s “failure to lead ethically” and the need to “actually do something” about the problems facing young Africans, Moosa is interested in the convergence of entrepreneurship and social advocacy within an African context. She believes the opportunity to study at one of the world’s leading universities will provide the “platform and support” she needs to amplify her impact by connecting her with global experts and resources.
“Academics at the University of Oxford are doing ground-breaking research on issues that I hope to explore, such as equitable design principles for EdTech [education technology], and how to finance the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy for developing countries. With the scholarship, I will be granted the opportunity to work directly with world-leading academics on these issues and more.”
According to Moosa, education is the “most powerful tool for the realisation of our inherent potential”. A former President of both the UNICEF and Golden Key International Honours Societies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) where she graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Commerce Degree, Moosa has notched up several awards and fellowship during her academic journey. She also received the Abe Bailey Travel Fellowship and the Brenda Gourley Scholarship in recognition of her academic excellence and commitment to service. “These roles deepened my commitment to service and activism by teaching me the power of collective action, and the potential for change that arises when people come together for a shared purpose. I learned to view activism as a responsibility.”
Until now, Moosa has used entrepreneurship as the avenue for the pursuit of education, which she describes as her passion. After matriculating from Star College in Westville she studied accounting at UKZN as an Allan Gray Orbis Foundation Candidate Fellow. In 2021, Moosa co-founded Bursary Buffet, an Ed-tech startup that helps students from various backgrounds access financial assistance to study further. “However, with the Rhodes Scholarship, I can now transition to viewing educational issues from a policy-making lens, which is where the systemic change happens.” Moosa will pursue an MSc in Sustainability, Enterprise and the Environment, as well as an MSc in Education (Digital and Social Change) at Oxford.
She admits that news of her latest achievement hasn’t quite sunk in yet. “There are moments when I am overjoyed and excited about all that awaits at Oxford, and other moments when I wonder if I am dreaming.” But one thing she does know is that she wants to use the opportunity to make a difference. She describes her life’s purpose as “net-positive”, a philosophy of leaving the world slightly better through her actions and the causes she supports. “I resonate strongly with the words of the scholar, Hillel: ‘If not me, then who? If not now, then when?’ We often underestimate ourselves and the potential of what we can achieve as individuals,” she adds. “Seemingly small acts can accumulate into something significantly impactful – we just have to take that first step.”
