Desmond Tutu’s granddaughter Natasha Thahane lands in hot water, after R1m government scholarship
By Mcebo Makhaye
Almost five years after she enrolled at the New York Film Academy, actress Natasha Thahane has landed in hot water after divulging that she received more than R1m in funds from government.
It all started when the Skeem Saam’s star was invited by the YouTuber MacG, in an online show called “Podcast & Chill” where she revealed that she needed financial support from government to pursue her studies at the New York Film Academy, in the United States, in 2017.
It is understood that Natasha is a granddaughter of the South African well-known Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu.
After trying numerous attempts to get funding, including emailing Barack Obama’s Foundation but she said no one responded and she tweeted screenshots to back her statement.
Natasha said she then made a call to Baleka Mbete who was the African National Congress (ANC) chairperson and the speaker of the parliament at the time to help her with money to study.
She added that Mbete allegedly reached out to the Department of Arts and fortunately, her studies were paid afterwards.
Listen to the short video below which taken from the full podcast conversation with MacG:
“Mama (Baleka), I need to go and study. I’ve been accepted, I don’t know what I’m going to do…can I have funds? Please arrange something for me? and she managed to speak to the Department of Arts and Culture and then they gave me funding,” Natasha explained during the podcast.
She went on to say that her studying fees required an amount of over R1 million for the entire academic year.
“I think, I spent around about…I think the entire year was a million plus,” she said adding that R1m studying fees excluded other expenses like food and other things.
Regardless of screenshots that Natasha shared on Twitter, tweeps were left furious and they came guns blazing to the star. Some were accusing Natasha of flaunting of privilege, saying how “easy” it was for her to get huge amount of money to study, while others especially National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) recipients who are still facing financial challenges every year.
However, some tweeps sided with Natasha saying she is not wrong because she used connections that were at her disposal and the money had been used for education.
Here are some of the comments about this matter:
Compiled by Mcebo Makhaye.
