By Lungani Zungu
Nombuso Mkhize is armed only with a blanket and her matric results. She has no food or money. But she has a will of steel to better herself.
The 19-year-old Mkhize is from the Bangamaya village in Nongoma, 280 km north of Durban. She is one of several students who have braved cold nights sleeping in the open outside the Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT). They’re all desperate to get a place at this university based in Umlazi.
Mkhize has been sleeping outside the gates of the university since Monday when registration opened.
Despite her ordeal, she is undeterred. She wants to register and make her family and village proud.
“I will continue to fight for my future even if it takes me sleeping outside the gates of the university. This is my future, and I will fight for it,” she vowed.
Mkhize told Scrolla.Africa that she studies towards a qualification in accounting, which would be the beginning of her journey of becoming a Chartered Accountant, her childhood dream.
She is going after registering, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), would also cover her residence costs.
MUT is currently registering the scores of would-be first-year students.
Thabiso Ngcobo from Mandeni, north of KZN, has been part of the snaking queues since Monday and still hasn’t registered.
However, the 19-year-old’s hopes of studying civil engineering are still alive.
“I live by the saying ‘no pain, no gain’. I hope my days of sleeping outside the university and going days without food will pay off for me and the other students here,” he said.
The pain the potential students share has forged a solid bond between them.
“We take each other as brothers and sisters. And we have shared our stories and dreams of what we want to become when we complete our studies in the few years to come,” said Ngcobo.
The university has deployed patrolling teams along Griffiths Mxenge Highway, formerly Mangosuthu Highway, to ensure the potential MUT students were safe at all times.
Zolisa Gqamane, deputy register of MUT, said the university is ready to welcome new students.
Pictured above: Some potential MUT students sleeping at this university in the hope of getting spaces
Image source: Supplied
