Stellenbosch student third in Budget Speech competition

Congratulations to Melissa van Rensburg, who was the second runner-up in the 2009 Nedbank and Old Mutual Budget Speech Competition postgraduate category. Melissa's many achievements include being awarded the ABSA prize for best Honours thesis by the Economic Society of South Africa in 2009, being a Top 10 and Top 20 finalist in the Budget Speech Competition in 2006 and 2007. She was also awarded the Rector's Award for outstanding academic achievement in 2008.

The 2009 finalists were hosted at a banquet in their honour on the eve of the Budget Speech on the 17^th February 2010 and were congratulated for their efforts by the new Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan.  The banquet offered students the opportunity to engage with some of South Africa's most prominent business people and government officials.

Stellenbosch University was represented by no fewer than four top 10 postgraduate finalists, which included Melissa, Jacques Verreynne, Cathy Bashala and Stephen Reid.