The ruling came after Daphne de Villiers from Stellenbosch in her last will and testament determined that the trustees of the Jean Pierre de Villiers Trust, which she created, must allocate R250,000 yearly to white students at four universities for certain degrees, the Beeld newspapers reported.

These were the universities of Stellenbosch, Pretoria, the Free State and Cape Town.

Five appeal court judges found on Friday that it would not help to apply in court for the bursary to go to pupils of another race as it was not the person's last wishes.

De Villiers was warned before her death that this might be problematic but she was insistent, according to the report.

After her death all four universities refused to become involved with the bursaries due to the racial connotation.

The administrators approached the court to remove the word 'white' on grounds of discrimination.

It was ruled that if white student could not benefit from the bursaries that the money should go to a charity as De Villiers stipulated.