Cape Town - A Worcester man who works as a cleaner at a petrol station hopes his life will change after his graduation from UCT on Friday with a degree he completed about 17 years ago.
Joseph Khohlokoane, 45, dreamt of becoming a social worker when he enrolled at UCT in 1992.
He studied towards a Bachelor of Social Science degree and completed his studies in 1996 but never graduated because of financial difficulties.
“I asked my mother for money, but she couldn’t help and told me to look for work instead.”
Khohlokoane, a father of two, then started working as a petrol attendant at the Ultra City Breede Valley in Worcester, where he is now employed as a cleaner.
Khohlokoane said he felt “small” when people who had studied with him saw him at the petrol station.
“This really hurt me. I started to feel ashamed of myself. I didn’t want to talk about it to anyone. I was without hope.”
He decided not to tell anyone at work that he had studied at UCT.
But things changed earlier this year when Clarence Johnson, former executive mayor of the Cape Winelands District Municipality, intervened.
His son, David-John, had heard about Khohlokoane’s story and told his father, who then contacted Khohlokoane.
“He told me that he hadn’t been able to pay. I decided to make contact with UCT and the Department of Higher Education and Training.”
He said that with the help of the department Khohlokoane’s debt was “written off”.
“I am so happy that I will finally be graduating,” Khohlokoane said.
His employer, Willem Venter, said that until about two weeks ago he didn’t know that Khohlokoane had studied at UCT.
“He is such a modest person. How many people would be so modest about the kind of things that he has achieved. I feel sad that I didn’t know. I told him that 17 years might have passed but now he has to look forward.”
Venter said he would drive Khohlokoane, who would be accompanied by his eldest child and his wife, to his graduation on Friday.
He said he hoped that Khohlokoane would now find a job that was relevant to his qualification. Khohlokoane said that during his studies he had been told not to pursue a career in social work because he stuttered, but he was hoping to get a job in community development and further his studies.
UCT confirmed that Khohlokoane had studied towards his Bachelor of Social Science degree at UCT in 1996 and would be graduating on Friday.
Cape Argus