Listen to this article.
• Twenty six year old Thabang Molefe lost both parents in 2021 and now teaches private ballet classes to pay off student debt after failing to secure financial aid.
• She charges R500 per lesson and spends weekends teaching up to four children a day to survive and slowly work towards returning to university.
Thabang Molefe is using ballet to fight her way back to university.
The 26 year old civil engineering student offers private ballet classes to children to pay off her student debt.
Molefe lost both her parents to Covid 19 related illnesses in 2021.
After their deaths, she was left alone with no financial support.
She said her life began to fall apart after her second year of study.
She lost her parents, repeated her second year and was later diagnosed with major depression.
“After my second year, that’s when things began to go bad in my life. I lost my parents, I repeated my second year, I have debt and I was diagnosed with major depression,” said Molefe.
She said she was rejected by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme and could not secure a bursary.
Because of this, she took out a student loan.
Molefe said she first tried working part time and taught ballroom dance.
She said the work did not bring in enough money in the township.
“I didn’t get many clients in the township and that’s when I had to rethink my business,” she said.
She said there were times she had to choose between paying her fees and buying groceries.
At first, she charged R250 per month but said it was not enough to survive.
She then began advertising her ballet lessons at schools in the north of Johannesburg.
She now charges R500 per lesson, excluding taxi fare.
“Now I charge R500 for each lesson and taxi fare. My weekends are booked out, per day I have four clients who live close proximity,” she said.
Molefe said it took over a year to build trust and grow her client base.
She said the money has helped her slowly reduce her debt.
“Getting this far with my hustle has helped me to pay my debt. The process is slow but I will get there,” she said.
She said once her debt is cleared, she plans to register again and repeat her second year.
She said she hopes to graduate and continue teaching as a side hustle.
“In this economy one needs more than one income,” she said.
More than 720,000 students are currently affected by student debt, which prevents them from registering or receiving their qualifications.
Pictured above: Ballet shoes
Image source: Supplied
