The Moola Motlomelo & Muslim Hands Scholarship 2026 is giving 20 young South Africans and Lesotho residents the opportunity to access fully funded technology education, mentorship and career support. Here’s what the scholarship could mean for young people looking to build skills and create new career opportunities.
For many young people, matric is supposed to be the beginning of what comes next. But when further study is financially out of reach, that next step can feel much harder to find.
That is the gap the Moola Motlomelo & Muslim Hands Scholarship 2026 aims to address.
Launched by HyperionDev founder and CEO Riaz Moola, with support from Muslim Hands South Africa, the scholarship will provide 20 young people with 100% tuition funding for selected HyperionDev programmes and programmes delivered through eligible university partners.
With scholarships worth up to R2 million in total, the initiative is designed to give young people who may not otherwise have access to further education a practical pathway into the digital economy.
Applications are open from 21 September to 9 October 2026.
When potential meets opportunity
South Africa has no shortage of ambitious young people.
The challenge is that ambition alone cannot always overcome financial barriers to education. At the same time, technology continues to change the way businesses operate and the skills people need to enter and progress in the workplace.
Software development. Data science. Cyber security. Artificial intelligence.
These are just some of the areas where technology skills are becoming increasingly relevant across the workplace.
The Moola Motlomelo & Muslim Hands Scholarship was created around a simple idea: talent should not be limited by someone’s ability to pay for their education.
As Riaz Moola explains in the scholarship’s launch messaging, South Africa’s challenge is not a lack of talent, but access to opportunities that can turn potential into employable skills.
That is where education can make a difference.
The scholarship is about more than covering the cost of a course. It is about creating an opportunity for someone to develop practical skills, gain confidence and begin building a future that may previously have felt out of reach.
Why technology education matters
The world of work is changing quickly.
Artificial intelligence is transforming industries. Businesses are becoming increasingly dependent on data. Cyber security is becoming a critical priority. Software and digital platforms are now part of almost every sector.
That means technology skills are no longer relevant only to people who want to become software developers.
They are becoming part of the wider skills landscape.
For someone starting their career, this creates exciting possibilities. But it also creates a challenge. How do you gain the skills needed to participate in a digital economy when traditional routes into higher education may not be accessible?
The scholarship offers one answer.
Successful applicants will have the opportunity to study selected programmes in areas including Software Engineering, Data Science, Web Development, Cyber security and Artificial Intelligence. Programmes are delivered online, allowing learners to study either full-time or part-time.
That flexibility matters. Education does not always happen in a classroom, and people’s circumstances are rarely the same.
More than a scholarship
Tuition funding is at the heart of the initiative, but it is not the only support available.
Scholarship recipients will also receive access to mentorship, learner support and career-focused training designed to help them apply what they learn in a workplace environment.
That practical focus is an important part of the HyperionDev learning experience.
Learning a technical skill is one thing. Understanding how to use it to solve problems, build projects and prepare for the workplace is another.
For someone entering technology for the first time, having access to people who can provide guidance along the way can make a significant difference.
It can mean having someone to turn to when a concept is difficult, feedback when a project needs improvement, and support when it is time to think about what comes next.
The goal is not simply to help scholarship recipients complete a programme, but to build skills they can take beyond their studies and into the workplace.
A partnership built around impact
The scholarship brings together two organisations with different areas of expertise but a shared focus on creating opportunity.
HyperionDev was founded to make digital and technology education more accessible, while Muslim Hands works across areas including education, community development and poverty alleviation.
The partnership creates an opportunity to connect those areas of work.
The partnership brings together Muslim Hands’ focus on education and community development with HyperionDev’s experience in accessible, career-focused technology education.
As Ibnul Hasan, Muslim Hands SA Country Director, puts it:
“We do not measure our work by the hands we fed, but by the hands that learned to feed others.”
That idea sits at the heart of what this scholarship hopes to achieve. The impact of an education opportunity can extend far beyond the individual recipient.
A young person who develops valuable skills and moves into employment can contribute to their household, support their family and potentially create opportunities for others.
One person’s progress can have a much wider ripple effect.
That is why the scholarship is about more than 20 places on a course. It is about what those 20 opportunities could lead to next.
Who can apply?
The Moola Motlomelo & Muslim Hands Scholarship 2026 is aimed at young people who may face financial barriers to further education.
Eligible applicants must be under 30, have matric as their highest qualification and meet the scholarship’s employment and household income requirements.
Applicants must also meet the relevant citizenship or residency requirements and provide supporting documentation as part of the application process.
Importantly, previous technology experience is not required for many of the eligible programmes.
You do not need to already know how to code.
You do not need to have worked in technology before.
What matters is having the motivation to learn and a clear idea of where you want your skills to take you.
What could your next chapter look like?
There is no single route into technology.
One person might discover a passion for building websites. Another might be drawn to data and problem-solving. Someone else might see a future in cybersecurity or artificial intelligence.
The important thing is having the opportunity to explore those possibilities.
For someone who has finished matric and is unsure what comes next, a scholarship like this could provide a starting point.
For someone who has always been interested in technology but never had the opportunity to study it, it could be the first step towards a new career.
And for someone who already knows the direction they want to take, it could provide the skills and support needed to start moving towards it.
Your starting point does not have to determine where you go next.
Sometimes, what changes your direction is simply having access to the right opportunity at the right time.
Applications are now open
Applications for the Moola Motlomelo & Muslim Hands Scholarship 2026 are open from 21 September to 9 October 2026.
Twenty young people will receive 100% tuition funding for selected HyperionDev programmes or eligible programmes delivered through university partners, alongside mentorship, learner support and career-focused training.
If you meet the eligibility requirements, this could be your opportunity to take your next step.
Know someone who could benefit? Share this scholarship with them.
Because matric should be the beginning of what comes next, not the end of the road.
Applications close on 9 October 2026. Apply today.
