The Mpumalanga Department of Education has firmly dismissed allegations that local students sent to study in Russia were left destitute and hungry, following an article published by Sunday World on 17 November 2025. The online report accused the Department of sending learners abroad and abandoning them without adequate support.
In a detailed statement released on Wednesday, 19 November, the Department refuted the claims as misleading and lacking factual basis. It emphasised that since the inception of the Russia study programme, it has consistently processed tuition fees, accommodation, and stipend payments for participating students.
The Department acknowledged that an unexpected delay in stipend payments occurred due to the expiration of the facilitator’s contract. When the tender for a new facilitator was advertised, only one bid was received, rendering the process unresponsive. However, the Department said it worked closely with the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) to ensure that students continued receiving their stipends while supply chain processes were being addressed.
According to the statement, any suggestion that learners were knowingly abandoned abroad is both inaccurate and disingenuous. The Department insisted that urgent measures were implemented at every stage to prevent students from being left without financial support.
The statement further clarified that the two deceased students mentioned in the Sunday World article did not pass away in Russia, as claimed. Both were in South Africa at the time and died of natural causes. The Department added that it has no record of ever initiating a repatriation process for any student in the programme.
The Department also rejected suggestions that the Russia study programme amounted to wasted expenditure. Out of the 368 Mpumalanga students who enrolled, 296 successfully graduated in fields such as General Medicine, Civil Engineering, Mathematics and Science Education, Aeromedical Engineering, Veterinary Science and Information Technology.
Some of these graduates have already entered internships through provincial departments:
• Thirty-nine veterinary graduates are placed under the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs (DARDLEA).
• Seventeen civil engineering graduates have joined internship programmes under the Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport.
• Ninety medical graduates have written board exams funded by the Department, with fifty already placed in internships by the National Department of Health.
An additional seventy-four medical graduates are awaiting invitations to write their board exams with the Health Professions Council of South Africa. Upon completing their internships and community service, the medical graduates will qualify as medical officers.
Throughout the programme, the Department says it has consistently funded living expenses, accommodation, medical insurance and visa costs for all students abroad.
“No amount of fabricated information can undermine the Department’s efforts to empower young people and prepare them to contribute meaningfully to Mpumalanga’s socio-economic development,” the statement concluded.
