“It was a difficult but interesting journey where I had to change supervisors three times. It was disappointing doing so but finally I arrived at this point of graduation,” said the ecstatic Ms Zama Mncube, the first female President of the DUT Convocation.
The charismatic lass graduated with her Degree of Master of Management Sciences in Administration and Information Management. She had received her Master’s degree at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) 2024 Autumn Graduation ceremony which took place at the Olive Convention Centre on Wednesday, 22 May 2024.
Despite Mncube being tremendously excited about her achievement, she was also extremely sad that her triumph of her academic achievement could not be shared with her role model, her mom who had sadly passed on in November last year.
She had dedicated her Master’s degree to her late mom who she believed was always with her in spirit and watching over her.
For Mncube, she had expressed that she would not have chosen any other institution besides DUT.
“I hold DUT so dearly to my heart because this was where I grew as a student. My political activism started at this institution. Most of all, the support we had received as students from DUT was amazing compared to any other institution I had known. So I would not have gone to any other institution besides DUT,” she remarked.
Mncube is no stranger to achieving strides in her journey at DUT, having made history for also becoming the first female Student Representative Council (SRC) President to be elected in 2016 due to the people who believed in her leadership and wanted to see her grow.
Mncube also mentioned that she is a RTT coordinator and focused on balancing her various roles which had required time management.
As the first female President of the DUT Convocation, Mncube’s duties include presiding over AGMs and CONVEX meetings and her term of office is four years, expected to end in 2025. Prior to being elected SRC President, she served as Deputy Secretary-General of the SRC in 2015. She also worked as a junior lecturer in the Department of Information and Corporate Management.
Her previous leadership responsibilities included being a member of Council, SASCO Regional Executive Committee member, YCLSA Branch Deputy Chairperson and District Working Committee, ANCYL Branch Secretary and Regional Executive.
Mncube expressed her wish to complete her PhD ideally before the age of 35 and to also focus more on research as it was something she had found she was quite good at.
Her advice to future students wanting to study at DUT is: “Never let your background determine your destination. No matter where you come from you can definitely get to where you want to get as long as you are determined,” shared Mncube.
She further congratulated all graduates on their wonderful achievement.
“Your journey to fulfil your dreams and harness that untapped potential begins now. I know you are certainly filled with mixed emotions, the ending of one chapter and the beginning of a whole new journey filled with a sense of hope and excitement for what the future holds. No need to fear-DUT has equipped you well for the world of work. Go forth and cement your place in society and continue to excel in all you venture out to do,” she said.
Pictured: Zama Mncube
Waheeda Peters
