I first met Stanley, as he was introduced to me, in
2003. He was nominated, by his Umlazi
high school, Zwelibanzi High School, to receive a prize awarded by the
University of Cape Town. Along with one
of the current Deputy Vice-Chancellors, I travelled to Umlazi to attend the
prize-giving ceremony.
The criterion for the award was simple: academic
excellence. He was the unanimous choice
of the school’s staff, I was told. Upon
hearing his name being called, Stanley walked to the stage, which was really
the front of a local church, where the ceremony was held, head bowed, staring
at the floor ahead of him. This was my first vision of Stanley: a nervous and humble boy.
In subsequent months we discussed Stanley at length with his teachers, and were
told that he was from a poor family, who lived in dire circumstances locally. However, he apparently worked very hard and
had a great deal of potential.
Naturally, we watched him very closely, and supported him where we
could. He applied to UCT for admission and it came as surprise to me later
that year when Stanley was deemed ineligible for need-based financial aid. Eager to understand this inexplicable
response to his application, we set about an informal investigation, and soon
arrived at the reason. The National
Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) used a means test to assess elgibility,
and one of the many indicators was the postal code of the applicant. Stanley’s mother, a single parent and
domestic worker, used her employer’s postal code as a more reliable code for
his application. It was indeed this
code, from an affluent Glenwood community, that disqualified Stanley for
financial assistance. The correction was
made and, of course, he had the resources to attend UCT from 2004.
To say that UCT was a challenge for Stanley and his
classmates from Umlazi, a sprawling, poverty-stricken township south of Durban,
would be misleading at best. The
transition was simply one that I could not understand, and could only witness
in its various forms, trying to support these young ladies and gentlemen where we could. From the modes of
teaching and learning to the social interactions with wealthy fellow students
from a wide range of contexts, the enormous gap threatened, seemingly every
day, to undo the promise of a better life.
Still, they soldiered on.
During the early months I was frequently visited in my
office on the campus by one or more of these students, including Stanley
himself. I would listen to stories of
despair. In one case a medical student
was terrified of the groupwork she was forced to participate in daily. Standing in front of a class, speaking on
behalf of her group, is something she had never done before. To make matters worse, many were English
first language speakers, and very confident.
Another student told me how he was simply trying to understand the
lecturer’s accent, and then understand the work. Taking and filing notes was a secondary
concern, as were others such as academic writing of essays, projects and so on.
Despite all of their hardships, they persevered, one year
following another. Yes, some did not
make it, sadly, and were forced to change to other institutions. But those who remained faced these challenges
with the resilience they were able to muster.
Study groups were formed among themselves, and they developed a new
discipline. I once encountered Stanley coming
down Jameson steps around midday, heading for his residence room for the first
time that day, having spent the night studying on upper campus. Even here, he remained an example for those
who came with him, and those who followed.
By 2006, two years after he first arrived, Stanley was instrumental in
receiving new UCT students from Umlazi, and providing, along with with other
students from back home, their own brand of orientation. One of those students was his younger brother,
Khayalethu “Khaya” Nkontwana. Khaya started
the MBChB programme, amidst tremendous excitement.
During this period Stanley, as well as other students from
Zwelibanzi High School, successfully nominated their Physical Science teacher,
Mr Sibusiso Maseko, for the Stella Clark Teacher’s Award. The awards ceremony for the event drew a host
of Zwelibanzi High School students who were currently registered at UCT, and
bore further testimony to the relationship that had developed between the
school, and indeed the broader community, and UCT.
Vice-Chancellor Ndebele, Mrs & Mr Maseko, and Stanley Nkontwana
Stanley also invested in UCT and his contribution to his
residence in his latter years, Forest Hill, was used by many students long
after he had left. Realising that the
residence needed its own library resource for the assistance of its many
students 9 in excess of 700 – Stanley set about procuring resources, and space
for a library of its own. Within months
Forest Hill had their own library, and his tremendous contribution was
acknowledged by the University.
After five years, Stanley graduated with a degree in
Economics and Statistics. It was a
special moment for many. He immediately moved
to Johannesburg, where he started working at the Allan Gray Orbis
Foundation. I recall visiting Stanley
during a trip to Johannesburg. He
received me at their Melrose Arch offices, and I could not believe what I was
witnessing. Here was a confident, highly
respected young man strutting around the offices, introducing me to
colleagues. He even briefed me about his
entrepreneurial ventures, which appeared to be doing well. In addition, out of his deep sense of
commitment to the plight of the youth in Umlazi and elsewhere, he established
the Phumlani Nkontwana Foundation, which raised money to support you with
uniforms and other requirements to assist them in school.
In 2013, Khaya graduated with an MBChB, and in January 2014
started his internship at a hospital in Umlazi, serving the community from
whence he came. Shortly thereafter,
Stanley registered for a Master’s in Econometrics at the University of
Johannesburg. On Saturday, 26 April
2014, Stanley opened a franchise fast-food business in Diepkloof, a Soweto
township, his brother driving from KwaZulu-Natal for the launch. I write it now as though it’s the culmination
of something, when I know that it is not.
There is still so much that he will achieve.
Stanley is one of the first customers at his new fast food outlet in Diepkloof
How can Phumlani Stanley Nkontwana not be the South African
youth icon we can all illuminate as the example for others to follow?
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