De Lille gives youngest PhD graduate a job
CAPE Town mayor Patricia de Lille has hired the youngest student to be awarded a doctorate at Cape Peninsula University of Technology after learning he was jobless.
De Lille meeting Lukhanyo Mekuto, 28, yesterday‚ and her spokesman‚ Zara Nicholson confirmed that the newly capped young PhD graduate would be advising the city on recycling grey water as part of its emergency
Nicholson said the paperwork had yet to be finalised but Mekuto would also help with water department training programmes.
Mekuto‚ the son of a domestic worker and a gardener from Philippi‚ could not be reached for comment about his new job but earlier said he was delighted to have received an award from the National Research Foundation for his PhD work on purifying mine waste water.
Growing up‚ Mekuto decided he would not follow the same path as his peers.
“The mistake we in the township make is that we want to go with the crowd.
“I decided in Grade 10 that I was not going to do that any more‚” he said.
“I tell learners‚ ‘define who you are and what you want’.
“Once you’ve done that‚ you have to make a conscious decision to go after what it is that you want.”
Mekuto said he had decided not to let his upbringing define his future.
Mekuto obtained his BTech in 2011‚ followed by a postgraduate degree‚ a Master’s completed in 18 months and now his PhD‚ which took him three years.
He tutors high school pupils in mathematics and physics over weekends. — DDC tweeted her decision after drought interventions.