0 comments
0 viewsShe may look like another ordinary student, but Thobela Mfeti is proving to be much more than that. A self-assured and modest 22 year old, Mfeti, has just landed the title of TSiBA’s (Tertiary School in Business Administration) latest Nelson Mandela Rhodes Scholar.
TSiBA was founded just seven years ago, in 2004 by Leigh Meinert with the original campus in Pinelands, Cape Town followed by one in Karatara, Eastern Cape. It provides higher education to students who cannot otherwise access tertiary institutions, and has already produced four Nelson Mandela Rhodes Scholars. That is saying a lot for a small institution with a simple vision – to ‘ignite opportunity’.
Mandela Rhodes Scholarships are awarded to a small number of South African students each year, and the selection process is a gruelling one. The education institution nominates students that it deems worthy of the award – those with a high academic record, leadership qualities and entrepreneurial skills. Once the student nominee is shortlisted, the interviews and proposals begin. Mfeti seems to have taken it all in her stride, but behind her easy smile is a fiercely hard-working young woman.
Born in Nqamakwe, Eastern Cape, Mfeti matriculated from Brackenfell High School, Cape Town at just 16 years old and began her tertiary education at TSiBA immediately thereafter. After studying business administration for four years, she went on to study at UCT. “I loved TSiBA”, she smiles. “It’s motto is ‘igniting opportunities’, and that’s exactly what it did for me. It’s given me an opportunity as a young person, that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise” she explains. “It doesn’t only teach, it also allows students to grow. I believe so much in the quality of education that TSiBA gives. I was given more than adequate preparation for UCT at TSiBA”.
Thobela’s academic dreams don’t end at UCT – she still aims to receive an accounting degree once she has completed her tourism studies. “Give me five years and I’ll have finished everything that I want to study” she laughs. Next year she will begin her Masters in Tourism where she will focus on township tourism. In her application letter to the Mandela Rhodes Foundation she wrote, “I am a township girl and I am proud of it, but I know that there needs to be transformation and it starts with me. With my passion for townships and their development, I have no doubt that I will bring about change.”
“It still feels unreal to have won the scholarship”, she says earnestly. “It means such a lot, and is confirmation that I’m going in the right direction. The fact that the Mandela Rhodes Foundation acknowledges that, is such a huge thing for me. It means that I can dream. That I am capable. Young people shouldn’t give up on their dreams. Education is always priceless, and it’s much more sustainable than anything else. It’s also important to educate yourself, and young people here need to be doing that, not relying on others”.
Thobela Mfeti seems to be the embodiment of what TSiBA strives for – igniting opportunities and initiating social change.