Shock over alcoholic PhD case
FORMER colleagues of Durban-born scientist Tobias Ntuli, 47, say they hope he can get back on his feet again.
Ntuli, who graduated with a PhD in cell biology from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2004, is homeless and has been living on the streets of Pretoria since December 2011.
Ntuli has a profile on social networking site LinkedIn which shows that he has worked as a lecturer at the Mangosuthu University of Technology and as a postdoctoral fellow at other institutions.
He has posted his CV on LinkedIn and is also regularly active on Twitter and on Facebook.
Yesterday his former colleague at MUT, Akash Anandraj, said he was shocked to find out what had happened to Ntuli.
“It is a terrible shame to find out what has happened to him. When he worked here, he got along with me. He was very friendly and had friends wherever he worked. He is a humble person despite his qualifications and experience. He was very enthusiastic about his research, he took it very seriously.”
Anandraj said he had only found out about Ntuli’s alcohol problem, which Ntuli spoke about in an article published in The Mercury on Tuesday, after he had left the institution.
“It’s a medical condition and he needs to be treated medically for it.”
Anandraj said Ntuli could be “an awesome scientist for the country”.
“I just wish that he can get the treatment that he needs.”
UKZN professor Norman Pammenter and his late wife, Professor Patricia Berjak, cosupervised Ntuli’s doctoral thesis. Pammenter said he remembered Ntuli well and had kept in contact with him through the years.
“He has a serious alcohol problem. Even back then, as an undergraduate student, he used to disappear for days. It was because of this problem that he was not always an exemplary student.
“Intellectually, he is very capable which is why we were happy to take him on to supervise his research.”
He said he would be “very happy” for Ntuli if he could get a “trial run” at a job.
“He would need to get the alcohol problem under control first but once that is done, it would be good if he could get an opportunity. He deserves it.”
Pammenter said Ntuli’s life had been ruined by alcoholism.
“I feel for him because it is a very serious problem but it is curable.”
On Facebook, Ntuli’s friends commented that they were surprised to find out that he was homeless and unemployed. One friend commented that Ntuli should be helped: “I am prepared to try to help. As a person working in the university sector, my heart bleeds that there is a PhD languishing on the streets. We really can’t let him go to waste.”
A former UKZN student commented: “This is just too sad. I know Tobias, he was my senior in Prof Berjak’s laboratory while he was doing his MSc… very brilliant mind.”
Ntuli’s relatives declined to speak to The Mercury yesterday.