Ceramics lecturer Phineas Makhwiting never let his physical disability decide which career was available to him. He’s a massive inspiration to his students!
Pretoria, South Africa (16 September 2026) – Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) is shining a big spotlight on one of the incredible people teaching its next generation of artists.
Phineas Makhwiting is 58 years old. He’s a respected ceramic artist and a part-time lecturer in the university’s Department of Fine and Studio Arts. He works with senior students, sharing the wisdom and knowledge he’s gained over many years behind the pottery wheel.
His story is incredible. Phineas lost his left arm while he was still a child after a soccer game ended in a serious injury. He broke his arm just above the wrist, and complications later led to gangrene. Doctors eventually had to amputate to save his life. He then spent two years in hospital undergoing therapy and learning to adjust to life without his left arm.
Gerrit Bester, author of TUT’s story about Phineas, writes about a man who has long since stopped seeing his disability as an obstacle. Working with one arm is how Phineas has operated for most of his life.
He completed a B Tech degree in Fine Arts at TUT in 2010 and has since built an impressive career in ceramics. His work is regularly exhibited and commissioned, with his distinctive ceramics known for their quality and form. Much of his work carries cultural influence.
His students say his guidance has shaped their artistic journeys. Third-year Fine Arts student Reabetswe Malete remembers watching him work during a ceramics project and wondering how he was making it look so effortless.
“At first, I thought, ‘Who is this guy?’” says third-year Fine Arts student Reabetswe Malete. “Later, when we started working on a ceramics project, I thought to myself, ‘How is a person with only one arm able to do this and I’m struggling with two?’”
We truly love stories like Phineas’. They remind us that when life forces you to work differently, you can still build something entirely your own from it. Phineas found a way into a famously hands-on art form, became exceptionally good at it and now teaches what he has learned. That’s inspiration to roll with.
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