Determined student rises above tragedy
CAPE Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) student Zamile Maqwathini has been dealt his fair share of heartache and near-death experiences. But he is determined to succeed. Last month his best friend and renowned puppet maker, Ncedile Daki, was gunned down during a hijacking.
Daki achieved worldwide acclaim for making the puppets used in the stage production and Maqwathini is still grieving the loss of his friend.
A few years ago Maqwathini also pursued a career as a puppet maker, and along with Daki was the co-founder of Masiphumelele Youth Development, which later evolved into Ukwanda Puppetry and Design Collective.
Maqwathini later left the collective to pursue his ambition of studying Travel and Tourism at CPUT.
During a university recess in his second year in 2015, Maqwathini nearly lost his life.
He was back home in Masiphumelele and sleeping alone in his shack when he heard people breaking into his home.
“At the time I was a boxer, so I was very fit,” he said.
Maqwathini said four of the attackers ran away when he fought them off, but one had a chilling message.
“He told me ‘Tonight we die together’, but I fought hard and put him down on the ground with a punch. I got up and walked towards my door, I didn’t know he was behind me with a dagger,” he recalled.
The attacker plunged the dagger into his left eye, and fled as Maqwathini collapsed He was taken to hospital and doctors told him he was blind in one eye.
Very quickly Maqwathini had to come to terms with a life-changing disability.
Within a week of the incident Maqwathini was back at varsity, driven by a determination that no one would pity him.
“One of my lecturers referred me to Student Counselling, and initially I didn’t want to go because these types of things are not part of my culture,” he said.
“Today I can say that those sessions saved my life because they helped me come to terms with what happened to me and to move on,” he said.
CPUT’s Disability Unit, also assisted Maqwathini with everything from student loan applications to adjusting to a new way of learning, using a scribe to take notes.
“Through all of that my wound was still painful and I had to have many frustrating hospital visits, but I will always be grateful for the help of those two units,” he said.
Despite this major setback the 32-year-old will graduate later this month, with two distinctions, and said he hoped his story would inspire others.
“Today I can say I am definitely a different person. This could have killed me, but it made me a better person,” he said. – Staff Reporter
THIS COULD HAVE KILLED ME, BUT IT ACTUALLY MADE ME A BETTER PERSON