Nelson Mandela received an honorary doctorate in law from Wits University in 1991. Pic: Wits University.
Nelson Mandela has left about R100 000 to Wits University in his will. This was revealed earlier today at a reading of the will in Houghton.
“The University of the Witwatersrand is honoured and deeply appreciative to learn that it is a beneficiary of former president Nelson Mandela’s legacy, and we are indeed humbled that he chose to remember the University in his will,” said Wits vice-chancellor, Professor Adam Habib.
The Clarkebury Institute, Fort Hare University and Orlando West High School also received the same amount from the former statesman who passed away on 05 December, 2013. Mandela studied law at Wits University in 1943 and received a honorary doctorate in law from the university in 1991.
“Wits accepts this generous bequest from one of our most illustrious alumni and commits to using it to address the development of higher education in South Africa,”
Habib also said the university understood that the “endowment brings with it a tremendous responsibility, given the character and legacy of our great leader and his commitment to the transformative power of education.
“Thank you, Tata, for remembering us in your will – you live on in our memory and in our lives”
The will was read by Deputy Chief Justice and Wits University chancellor, Dikgang Moseneke. Mandela’s estate is said to be worth around R46 million.
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