Mineworker’s son receives postgraduate diploma
Growing up in different households and eventually ending up in Duncan Village in East London, Velisile Bukula was faced with two options — become a gangster or make the best of the unfortunate situation.
Fortunately, the senior communications officer at Rhodes University and father of three girls chose the latter and during the institution’s graduation ceremony he received a postgraduate diploma in media marketing, with distinction.
The son of a mineworker said it was always his late father Amos’s dream to see his him succeed in life.
“I dedicate this qualification to my late father,” Bukula said.
“I say, you would have been proud, Dlamini (his clan name), that the son of a mineworker holds a postgraduate qualification from one of the finest and well-respected institutions of higher learning in Africa and the world.”
Shipped between family homes in his early years, Bukula, now 37, and his older sister, Sisanda Ntiyantiya, made their way to East London in 1994 at the behest of their father who had remarried and had four sons after their mother died.
But it was not a pleasant time for the siblings as, according to Bukula, they were mistreated by their stepmother and were eventually taken in by their uncle, Moses, who lived in Duncan Village.
In February 2003, Bukula’s father committed suicide, but left him money to continue with his studies.
“He said to me I must focus on school because my inheritance would come from there.”
After matriculating in 2004, Bukula was accepted to study towards a national diploma in journalism at Walter Sisulu University (WSU) which he obtained in May 2009.
In 2010, Bukula went on to study for a BTech in journalism at WSU. He intends working towards his master’s degree in the future.