Two students achievers were recently given the chance to introduce themselves to CPUT executive management.
Anele Gebenga, recipient of the Abe Bailey Travel Bursary, visited Bellville campus while the two shortlisted runners-up, Luchulumanco Nanto (ND: Accounting) and Kaylinn Higgs (B Ed: Foundation Phase), were unable to attend the meeting. Anele was accompanied by Yamkela Ndumo, founder of the CPUT Book Club which recently scooped several awards at a national competition.
An MTech student in Business Administration and Project Management Anele embarks on his trip at the end of November. He described his itinerary which includes a visit to the African Union in Addis Ababa and a whirlwind tour around United Kingdom universities.
“I have applied for this scholarship since 2016. Generally I am a focused person so I would like to say getting this scholarship is as a result of me not giving up on my dreams. I am the first person from my township who will travel abroad. (While Anele now lives on res as postgraduate student, he is originally from Mount Fletcher in the Eastern Cape)
“The fundamental reason I applied for the bursary is not to boost myself, I was doing it for my community. I want them to see me as motivation. It will also assist me in my leadership skills and give me a global perspective to understand other cultures and be able to respect other people,” said Anele.
Vice-Chancellor Dr Chris Nhlapo congratulated both on their achievements and said the positive news the two were generating is important to show that focusing on the core business of the institute will help the university go places. “Around the world our students are occupying senior positions and I think you are following in their footsteps and we appreciate and are proud of you,” said Nhlapo.
Yamkela, a third year student in Real Estate, explained how the CPUT Book Club has grown over the past three years in its mission to instil a reading culture at the university and to enhancing reading skills while fostering a love for indigenous languages. He sources books in various local languages from the National Library and the students meet regularly to discuss and review the books.
At the ninth Funda Mzantsi Championships held in George at the beginning of October the CPUT Book Club competed and won against 186 other books clubs in four categories.
“It is still so surreal to me. English was the one which was the toughest competition because most, if not all, of the book clubs work in English so for our book club to win over them and take number one position in English overall gave me great satisfaction and joy,” said Yamkela.
They were also placed in position two for isiXhosa, Xitsonga and siSwati.
Yamkela told the gathering that he would like to see the book club expand to other campuses so each can send their own representatives to the Funda Mzantsi Championships.
Written by Theresa Smith
