Real financial know-how reaches students across three campuses

by Angeline Marokoane

Most students will tell you that nobody teaches you how to actually handle money. You learn about compound interest in a textbook, maybe, but nobody sits you down and explains what to do when you are drowning in debt, tempted by a flashy investment scheme, or just trying to make a grocery budget stretch to the end of the month. The NWU Student Leadership Academy, working alongside the Student Representative Council, set out to change that and, in the first week of May 2026, it did.

Across three campuses and three consecutive days, a series of Financial Literacy workshops were rolled out that were anything but your average lecture. Students did not just sit and listen. They asked hard questions. They visited interactive stalls. They spoke, face-to-face, with the very institutions that shape South Africa's financial landscape.

The driving force behind it all was the SRC's Treasurer-General, Sive Ncelekazi, under whose portfolio the project fell as part of the 2025/2026 SRC programme. But the ambition stretched well beyond one office or one portfolio. The workshops brought together a remarkable coalition of partners. The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) and the National Gambling Board (NGB) headlined the programme, with additional participation from the FAIS Ombud, the National Credit Regulator, the Banking Association of South Africa, Nedbank, the Council for Debt Counselling, the Department of Higher Education and Training, the Credit Bureau Association, and SARS.

It is a list that reads like a who's-who of financial governance in South Africa, and the fact that all of them showed up on campus, in person spoke volumes.

The Vanderbijlpark Campus hosted the first session on 4 May, followed by Potchefstroom on the 5th, and Mahikeng on the 6th. Each stop followed the same format: structured presentations on key financial themes, complemented by interactive stalls where students could engage directly with representatives from SARS or the NCR and receive practical guidance tailored to their individual concerns.

And the topics covered were exactly what students needed to hear: saving, budgeting, , responsible spending, understanding credit scores and what can damage it, and managing debt before it manages you. But the workshops did not stop at basic financial survival skills. They also explored wealth building, covering investment basics, entrepreneurship, and what it actually takes to start a business as a young South African.

One of the sharper conversations centred on gambling, a topic that does not often make it onto the agenda but quietly affects more students than universities typically acknowledge. The National Gambling Board did not shy away from the statistics, laying out plainly how gambling-related financial stress bleeds into academic performance and mental well-being.

What made the initiative successful went beyond the content itself; it was the thinking behind it.

The goal was not just to hand students a pamphlet and call it financial education. It was to give them tools they would still be using years after graduation when they are navigating a car loan, thinking about retirement savings, or figuring out whether that business idea is actually viable. Senior Industrial Psychologist for Student Counselling and Development, Juan-Ri Potgieter, said “By encouraging responsible financial behaviour and creating awareness around financial risks, the workshop contributed to developing future-ready graduates who are better equipped to navigate personal and professional financial responsibilities.”

The workshops reflected a more purposeful approach to student leadership, one grounded in understanding students’ realities and responding with initiatives that equip them with practical skills for life beyond university.