Flying in face of adversity – DUT graduate honoured

HAVING defied the odds, Sinegugu Magutshwa, 23, rose above challenging circumstances when she earned the prestigious Dean’s Merit Award for academic excellence.

Magutshwa graduated cum laude from the Durban University of Technology (DUT) with a Bachelor of Education Degree and obtained 21 distinctions out of her 29 modules.

She was among the School of Education graduates in the Faculty of Arts and Design who were honoured at the DUT Autumn Graduation Ceremony at the Royal Showgrounds, in Pietermaritzburg, on Monday.

Magutshwa, who lives in elovu on the South Coast, was the first person in her family to study at a tertiary institution and graduate.

She said this was a huge accomplishment considering the circumstances she had faced.

In 2016, while in matric, Magutshwa was expelled from school after falling pregnant. Discouraged, she almost gave up on her education. However, in 2017 she returned to complete her high school education, but the same year her father lost his job due to epilepsy. This resulted in her family relying financially on her mother, a domestic worker who worked just two days a week.

Magutshwa said: “In 2017, towards the end of the year, I received admission to DUT (Midlands Campus) to pursue the Bachelor of Education. The registration fee for 2018 was hard to raise, and some of the money had to be borrowed because I had no funding. My NSFAS (National Student Financial Aid Scheme) status was still pending, and the money saved by my mother was not enough for a deposit, tuition, registration and residence.”

Eventually funding became available and she was able to study but then tragedy struck when her father died while she was in her first year of studies. Despite the setback, Magutshwa persevered with her studies.

“I had to study, I had to build my life because my family needed it. My background pushed me to do this. The situation at home was not good and I added a family member, so I had to go back to school, study and become something.

“I wanted to be a good role model for my siblings as well and motivate them to study. I’ve been job seeking and I’m pursuing my Honours in education at UKZN, but I don’t have funding, I’m pushing for that,” she said.

“I hope to teach accounting, business studies and economics and there are additional subjects like languages as well that I want to teach. I graduated on Monday and on Tuesday I went knocking on doors at schools looking for a job. I got turned down, but I will keep trying to find a job,” said Magutshwa who’s hopeful her persistence will once again be rewarded.