An endowed Trust, the OMT was founded in 1958 by the late Mr Harry Oppenheimer to honour the memory of his father, Sir Ernest, and it has a long tradition of investing in education, public interest activities and other philanthropic causes. The Oppenheimer family donated an additional sum of R1 billion to the OMT in 2012, underlining the family’s commitment to making a positive difference to South African society.

The Trust makes grants to public benefit organisations and institutions, principally in the education sector. It also supports the arts and a range of civil society organisations engaged in policy research and advocacy work.

Scholarships for Graduate Study are awarded on a merit-basis to South African nationals who intend to read for higher degrees at Master’s or Doctoral level or pursue Postdoctoral study at public universities in South Africa. A limited number of scholarships may be awarded annually to exceptional candidates for international studies in exceptional cases – candidates who propose to pursue programmes in unique or highly specialised disciplines in which advanced studies are not readily available in South Africa and who are able to demonstrate that they have advanced to a level where international tuition under the direction of global leaders is appropriate to proceed meaningfully in their chosen fields.