From caretaker to Phd graduate
WITH only a few weathered colonial schools and churches spread along the vast rural village of Mhlanga in Lady Frere, the area may be overlooked as a place of academic wealth.
However, LLD PhD graduate Phindile Ntliziywana hopes to turn this around and inspire more people in the village to obtain their PhDs.
Dr Ntliziywana, a lecturer at UCT, became the second person from the village to obtain his LLD PhD at UWC earlier this month. Ntliziywana was capped by the first-ever PhD graduate from his village, Professor Loyiso Nongxa, after Ntliziywana requested he be capped by his kinsman.
Ntliziywana said Professor Nongxa was the torchbearer who showed him the way 35 years ago, and he now hopes that together their achievements will encourage others in their village to follow in their footsteps.
“I was motivated by the fact that there is someone who did it in my village. He said he is quite touched that I have asked him to robe me on my special day.
“There are another two PhD candidates from the village and we had healthy competition competing about who would be the second doctor.
“The only infrastructure in the village is schools built by missionaries years ago, so you can imagine what it looks like now. There was also a school built by our parents.
“Through my organisation, the Mhlanga Development Forum, we hope to encourage the youth to reach for the stars.”
Ntliziywana said most villagers who complete school go to work in the mines, and it is the end of the road for them academically, but he hopes to expose the village youth to other opportunities and bursaries that are available to them.
Ntliziywana said the non-profit Mhlanga Development Forum is dedicated to rural development and bringing opportunities to residents.
It’s currently taking in donations of books to build an information and communication technology and library centre.