South Africa’s biggest private employer bursary will help you get a driving licence
Shoprite has announced the “final call” for its comprehensive bursary programme, which now includes the added benefit of helping students get their driving licence.
The retail group’s bursary programme for the 2025/26 academic year is still open until 30 September 2025, but this is a narrowing window, it said.
Applications for Shoprite’s bursaries open in February and again in July of each year for study in the following academic year. The next window will open in February 2026.
The bursary programme is one of the most comprehensive, covering full academic funding, a grocery allowace, on-campus accommodation, academic support and access to employee wellness resources.
However, the group has now also added a new benefit, offering support for students to get a driver’s licence.
One of the key benefits of the bursary, however, is that most beneficiaries are offered employment within the Shoprite group upon graduation.
This opens a career path for graduates, with mentorship and career development at the biggest private sector employer in the country.
The Shoprite Group employs over 163,000 people.
The comprehensive bursary programme is open to high-achieving students pursuing degrees in:
- Accounting (CA Stream – SAICA)
- Retail Business Management
- Supply Chain & Logistics
- Biological and Agricultural Sciences
- Food Sciences
The programme is open to South African youth under 27 years, who are registered for undergraduate or post-graduate degree study at an accredited university.
Interested candidates can apply for the bursary online.
“Over the past three years, Shoprite has invested more than R50 million in its bursary programme, supporting over 630 students across South Africa,” the group said.
The bursaries offered are currently mostly focused on its head office in Brackenfell, Cape Town, however there are opportunities for its national network of stores as well.
Compared to South Africa’s other major grocery retailers, Shoprite is still rapidly expanding its operations and store network.
In a trading statement for the 12 months ending 29 June, the group announced that it had opened 194 main banner supermarkets over the past year.
This included 43 Shoprite stores, 38 Usave stores, 29 Checkers stores and three Checkers Hyper stores. In addition, the LiquorShop business added 36 Checkers and 45 Shoprite LiquorShops, respectively.
“We continue to expand our footprint as part of our omnichannel growth strategy designed to extend our reach in adjacent categories where we are currently under-represented,” it said.
These openings stand in stark contrast to other major retailers, which are slowing down expansion or continuing to downsize their footprints to secure revenue growth and profitability.
Loading ...