MOTHER OF INVENTION
Mother takes law course with her child after family trauma
Zanelle Mngadi is a degree above
● International lecturer Zanelle Mngadi already had more than 10 degrees under her belt, but when her daughter began failing at university, she decided to add another one to her list and signed up for the same course.
The dedicated mom’s move to become daughter Niña Hammond’s study partner paid off when the two graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand last week with LLB degrees.
But it was not without its challenges. Mngadi, a finance professor at the University of Zurich in Switzerland who teaches at various institutions, had to fly back and forth for lectures at Wits.
Mngadi said the decision to become her daughter’s study buddy was brought about after tragedy struck the family.
“Five years ago my elder daughter, Nakedi, was strangled. It was such a traumatic event for my daughter and me. She failed a course and the following year failed again. She fell into deep depression,” said Mngadi, who was born and raised in Soweto.
“I thought about how I could help her, and decided the only thing I could do was come and sit with her in class for three years.”
Mngadi, who has also taught in the US and Austria over the past 11 years, joined her daughter’s second-year class after the university granted her recognition of prior learning.
She juggled classes with lecturing at various institutions and running her foundation for children in need, called Emangadini.
“When I arrived she was already very independent, so she wasn’t used to having a mom around who would tell her what to do.”
For 27-year-old Hammond, her mother’s plan came as a complete surprise.
“It was about March or so of my second year and my mother sent me an e-mail with an attachment of a law timetable. It was similar to mine but with her name on top. I didn’t quite understand it at first.”
The same day, Mngadi showed up in Hammond’s class.
“Often she would give me a day or two’s notice when she was coming or leaving, but I had no idea,” said Hammond.
“At first I was like, ‘Oh, my mom’s here. Can I still say what I want and act like I have been doing?’ It was quite awkward for a day or two, then it became normal.”
Hammond, who was raised in Hyde Park, Johannesburg, and attended Roedean School, added: “I think that her coming here put a bit of pressure on me. She pushed me to focus on my academics a bit more.”
In time, Mngadi became a mother figure to many of her fellow students.
“I feel many of the people, some older than me, looked up to her a lot, not only because of her age and wisdom but because of her stature and qualifications,” said Hammond.
“I think she was even more qualified than many of our professors.”
For Mngadi, it was a rewarding experience after being out of South Africa for a period of 11 years.
“People started relying on me. I adopted 49 students and paid the fees for some of them. It exposed me to a lot of suffering I had been oblivious to. I ended up with so many children under my wing. Students would come to me with different problems.”
Hammond is now thriving and doing her articles while she pursues a master’s degree.
Mngadi, who finished school at 15, has been continuously studying part-time for the past 35 years. She started school when she was just four years old after accompanying her elder sister to school and refusing to leave.
She said her family had been extremely poor and she had spent 18 years of her life sleeping on the kitchen floor and sometimes would not eat for days.
“I was determined to pull myself out of the situation,” she said.
When she was 11, she started her own business braiding hair to help pay her and her siblings’ school fees. After school she worked while studying for a BCom through Unisa. She eventually started working in international banking in Switzerland before becoming a lecturer.
Her LLB was her first time studying fulltime and it had its challenges. She said it was very different from the financial field and required a vast amount of reading.
“After having done every avenue of study, law has made everything make sense. It has put everything in perspective and is extremely helpful. I’m seeing life through a completely different lens,” she said.
I thought about how I could help her, and decided the only thing I could do was come and sit with her in class for three years Zanelle Mngadi Lecturer