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WHEN Lulutho Mgweba left her village home in Buntingville, Ngqeleni, to pursue a degree at the University of Fort Hare (UFH), she set herself the goal of graduating top of her class.
Last week, during the Faculty of Management and Commerce 2024 Autumn Graduation ceremony, Mgweba realised that goal, graduating with an Honours Degree in Public Administration, cum laude.
The 24-year-old, raised by a single father after her mother’s passing when Mgweba was just 11, said she could not have thought of any better way to pay tribute to her mother’s memory, and honour her father, than by achieving academic excellence.
“I have always told myself that I want to make my late mother, my family, and myself proud. I knew that getting an education would bring great honour to our family, and as Elin Nordegren once said, ‘Education is one thing no-one can take away from you’. This degree, and the more to come, is my inheritance,” she said.
Mgweba enrolled at UFH in 2020 for her undergrad studies, after completing a college qualification in Public Relations.
On completing her undergrad, she enrolled for an Honours degree in Public Administration, and her pursuit of academic excellence grew more fervent.
“I invested my time and efforts towards achieving good marks. Even though I was worried about striking a balance between my research and coursework, I soon mastered it and as such I passed both with good marks.”
Mgweba’s efforts did not go unnoticed; in fact she was lauded for it.
“I received an award for being the top achieving student in my honours class. The award was significant because it affirmed that achieving cum laude status was within my grasp.”
According to Mgweba, her journey was not without doubts, but those quickly evaporated when she remembered why she came to university.
“I pushed myself because I knew that the One who is in me, is greater than the one who is in the world.
“Even though the doubts from others, I told myself that in my weakness, God’s strength is always perfect to keep me going, and here I am graduating top of my class.”
Beaming with pride, Mgweba’s 60-year-old father, Daliwonga Worthmond Mgweba, a retired security guard, could not hold back his tears when he spoke about his daughter’s achievement.
“When my wife passed away, I was left with six children and no steady income. It was a very dark time, but one thing was certain, these children were dependent on me, and only me. In addition to being their father, I had to try and fill the void left by their mother’s passing.”
According to Daliwonga, an ordained preacher, in consoling his family during his wife’s burial, one of the village women said, “This household will one day produce graduates,” and her words came to manifestation.
Mgweba is the family’s second sibling to graduate from Fort Hare. Last year she and her sister, Zetu Mgweba, graduated from their undergrad studies in Public Admin.
“I would like to thank the University Of Fort Hare for playing an integral role in realising both my daughters’ dreams. They went to Fort Hare and came back successfully, holding exactly what they came here to achieve,” said Daliwonga.
“A disadvantaged background should not determine how far you can go. What your parents did for a living, or having no parents, where you grew up, or where you went to school, should not affect your chances in life,” said Mgweba, in advising young rural girls and boys with similar aspirations.
The day after crossing the graduation stage, Mgweba got on to a bus to complete her new journey, a Master of Public Administration degree at Stellenbosch University.
-ISSUED BY THE
UNIVERSITY OF FORT HARE
