Thesis (MDF)--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / In 1997, SACTWU established the SACTWU Educational Trust, which includes the SACTWU bursary programme in aid of tertiary education. In honour of the launch of the trust, the union released a statement, which clarifies the intentions of the organisational decision to focus its resources on education. The General Secretary of SACTWU at the time, Jabo Ngcobo, emphasised the union’s acknowledgement of education as the only tool that can arm people with the required knowledge to make independent decisions. In so doing, education empowers ordinary citizens from the lowest economic ranks, to become confident citizens who are prepared to access the opportunities present in the democratic South Africa. SACTWU remains committed to the priority of the organisation, which is to uplift the working class members of the clothing and textile industry. Hence, in their pursuit of this goal, they decided to extend their network of support to the families of their members. An interview with the National Bursary Officer, Ms. Lizzy Chetty, reveals that the focus of the union is primarily on tertiary education as this is the logical route to ensure that the union makes a direct contribution to the national economy in the short term. This is achieved through empowering previously disadvantaged citizens to become active participants in the economy. In addition, individual members of the union can be acknowledged and supported directly in this viable and easy manner. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the outcomes of the SACTWU bursary programme. The detailed analysis of the information outlined in Chapter 4 follows in Chapter 5 in order to reach a conclusion about the overall progress of the union’s programme (based on this study’s limited focus on the relevant years i.e. 2004, 2005 & 2006 and regions which include the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Kwazulu-Natal and Western Cape).