Marwala praised by his community

The community of Duthuni village is excited with the recent news of the inauguration of Prof Tshilidzi Marwala as the new vice-chancellor and principal of the University of Johannesburg (UJ).

Marwala hails from Duthuni. The local traditional leader of the village, Chief Nndwayamatotswuku Ligege, said that they were thankful to God, who has given them a gift, as Marwala is a light to Duthuni and the country at large.

“We hope his appointment will help to inspire the young people in Duthuni that it does not matter whether a person comes from a poor family or rural village, you can excel and reach the sky,” said Chief Ligege.

Marwala has been described as an achiever from his high school days as he always performed well academically, and with his research he tried to come up with innovative ways to improve society. He has won numerous awards, including the Order of Mapungubwe, the highest award given by the South African government for outstanding achievement.

Marwala said he was excited about the inauguration. “This inauguration is just about bringing all our key stakeholders together and saying to them what we are doing for the next five years for the institution and society.”

The road to occupying the highest office at UJ has not been an easy one as during his early schooling Marwala attended classes under a tree, and he had to balance his school work with herding livestock for his family in Duthuni. He is a former learner of Mbilwi Secondary School in Sibasa. In matric, he entered and won the National Science Olympiad and was sent to the UK to attend the London International Youth Science Fortnight.

Prior to his appointment as vice-chancellor and principal of UJ, he was the deputy vice-chancellor of research and internationalization and the executive dean of the faculty of engineering and the built environment.

Date:19 April 2018

By: Silas Nduvheni

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