Dumisani Ngobese landed a job he didn’t apply for, because the story of his struggle to graduate inspired a Durban-based businessman to create a job for him.
KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (20 May 2022) – It is graduation season and many hopeful university graduates will be looking to find gainful employment now that they have their degrees in hand. Dumisani Ngobese is one of those students; he never dreamed his story would inspire a local businessman to create a job for him.
Earlier this month 23-year-old Dumisani Ngobese graduated from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He climbed up to the stage with tears in his eyes and the moment went viral on social media.
The university captured the heartwarming moment and shared the story behind Dumisani’s tears of joy.
Dumisani collected his Bachelor of Arts degree at a ceremony held at the UKZN’s Westville Campus. He shared that the emotion was linked to how much he had to overcome to be able to accept his degree; calling it a long and difficult journey.
Living in Bhukhanana, a rural area outside eMpangeni, Dumisani shared that he was raised by his maternal grandmother with 9 other children. She was the sole breadwinner in their family and worked as a street vendor. Sadly, she was unable to attend the graduation ceremony due to ill health but Dumisani’s mom and aunt were in attendance.
“I could not afford to buy a suit but I just had to be there at graduation”.
Despite his lack of suit, Dumisani looked very neat, he wore a simple pair of black pants and a black golf t-shirt. He shared that many people have reached out to support him since his photo went viral. One such person is businessman Calvin Mathibeli, based in Durban.
Mr Mathibeli was so moved by Dumisani’s story, he created a role within his business and offered Dumisani the job. In addition to the job opportunity, Mr Mathibeli has undertaken to pay for Ngobese’s Honours degree studies which he is currently pursuing at UKZN.
“I was so moved by his story because of his resilience but also because of the similarities that we have in terms of background. I spoke to him yesterday and I was very moved by his story,” said Mathibeli the owner of Calvin and Family Group of companies.
“I had other vacancies but I thought let me create one, especially for Dumisani. He will be starting work on Monday, it will be a good position and a permanent one. He said he studying online and we will also be paying for his studies”.
“I was also raised by my grandmother in a big family but our resilience has made us who we are. I want to ensure that Ngobese is able to earn a living so that he can also contribute to his family. All I need from him is to respect the job”.
Dumisani started his job last week and has been loving it!
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