Making a difference

GIVE a man a fish and he eats for a day; teach a man to fish and he can eat for life. The old adage perfectly fits the story of Dr Lukhanyo Mekuto, a CPUT PhD Engineering graduate who had been struggling to find work since handing in his thesis in February.

Mayor Patricia de Lille read about his story in the Cape Argus and promptly invited him to a meeting and offered him a job.

And this was no charity case – Mekuto’s thesis focused on using micro-organisms to break down a poisonous substance found in drinking water in KwaZulu-Natal responsible for the deaths of cattle in the area.

With Cape Town in the grips of a water crisis, and the municipality considering purifying waste water to be pumped back into the supply infrastructure, Mekuto is the perfect person to provide advice on purification techniques.

His story is one to be lauded: the only son of a domestic worker, living in a township in Philippi, he overcame the odds to achieve an academic milestone few even dream of attaining. He also wants to further his studies, and there was no shortage of opportunities for him to do so overseas.

However, Mekuto wanted to give back to his community and serve the people who helped him get where he is today.

And that’s what makes his story unique among the many other graduates struggling to find work.

Unemployment is a blight on our country and should not be ignored, but we celebrate the difference that may have been made to one man’s life.

De Lille saw an opportunity to improve the life of a man committed to serving his community and took that opportunity to help Mekuto realise his dream.

By accepting the position, Mekuto saw the opportunity to help his fellow man by using his skills to help the entire community of Cape Town.

There can be no better example of umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu (a person is a person because of other people) and this deserves to be celebrated.