Partnership with the JB Marks Education Trust Fund

The JB Marks Education Trust Fund (“the Trust”) was established by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in 1997 to address the need to empower NUM members and their children or dependents, particularly those graduates entering the mining, energy and construction sector.

The Trust was named after legendary South African leader and activist, John Beaver Marks, a man who will forever be associated with the struggles of the African Gold miners who were recruited from inside and outside the borders of South Africa. John Beaver Marks valued education above all and believed that the truest form of empowerment and emancipation of workers was through education. His long history of courageous leadership for the course of liberation deservedly made him a household name among the oppressed and exploited people in Africa, inspiring confidence in his ability to lead. The principles that guide the JB Marks Education Trust Fund were formed on the backbone of his ideals and beliefs.

Today, the Trust has grown beyond what the NUM envisioned when they first created it back in 1997. The vision and mission of the Trust is still highly concentrated on educationally funding beneficiaries of NUM members, however, the scope and reach of the Trust has evolved and grown with changing times over the past 20 years.

A partnership formed in 2011 between Sanlam Employee Benefits and the Trust already culminated in the graduation of a total of 20 students since inception. The students obtained qualifications in accounting, marketing, communication, business management and psychology.

More information on the Trust can be obtained at www.jbmarksedutrust.co.za