Bus driver’s children score
Nompumelelo Shange becoming the fifth member of the family to receive a postgraduate qualification.
|||Durban - Watching her four elder sisters win one academic accolade after the other did not pressure Nompumelelo Shange to perform better at school. Instead, it motivated her.
The daughter of a bus driver and housewife from Inanda received her MSc in food science from Stellenbosch University on Wednesday, becoming the fifth member of the family to receive a postgraduate qualification.
“I’m very excited to be sharing this moment with my family. I hope to make them proud,” she told The Mercury after the ceremony.
For her MSc, said the university, she took a close look at hygiene and food safety aspects in the South African game meat industry, as pertaining to harvesting and slaughtering practices.
“I was very undecided as my schooling came to a close. I had done both science and business studies so was torn between the two fields. A friend suggested the (food science) field to me and I did some research. It was fascinating.”
Fikile Shange, her mother, and most of her siblings were present at her graduation.
Lindiwe Shange, 42, has an MSc and is working on an MBA; Lungile, 40, has a post- graduate qualification in agricultural sciences, and an undergraduate degree in business; Philisiwe, 35, has an MSc in agricultural sciences, and Nikiwe Ndawonde, 30, has an MBA and studied agricultural economics.
Nompumelelo served as a mentor and a house committee member of Erica residence at Stellenbosch University.
She said her father, Lawrence, who died in 2009, emphasised the value of education to get ahead in life.
“He often used to say that it was the only way you could attain anything. I believe that too. The only thing stopping you is yourself. Education can open the doors to your dreams.”
She said finance had been a problem for her, but her family had done its best to help; she had also applied for bursaries.
When Nompumelelo was about to enter high school, her oldest sister, Lindiwe, started a new job, and invited her to live with her in Pietermaritzburg.
Lindiwe subsequently also funded Nompumelelo’s private school education at Grace College in Hilton.
Nompumelelo then received an undergraduate bursary from the Department of Water Affairs, Agriculture and Forestry, and completed her BSc in food science (with biochemistry) at Stellenbosch University in 2011.
“(My sisters) always stood behind me, urging me to study hard to get bursaries,” she said.
“Once you have that bursary, you have to study hard to keep it, and not be swayed with other things happening on campus.”
Nompumelelo dreams of becoming a food auditor, and is currently gaining valuable experience as a food microbiologist working at Klein Karoo International research company in Oudtshoorn.
She joined the company last year after completing some of her experiments for her MSc there. The company also funded her postgraduate studies.
The Mercury
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