Graduation Celebration for Mjwara Family

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Ms Nomalungelo Hlophe and her niece, Ms Yolanda Mjwara, graduated together from UKZN. Hlophe received a Bachelor of Social Science degree and Mjwara a Bachelor of Arts degree.

‘It feels amazing to graduate and get my degree and it’s especially great to experience it with family. I’m proud of my niece Yolanda and I know she’s proud of me. Our entire family is celebrating this achievement,’ said Hlophe.

Their grandmother Agnes Mjwara, or Gogolozi as she is affectionately known, is the 89-year-old matriarch of the 80-strong Mjwara family in Lamontville. She has attended every graduation in her family’s history and was in the Graduation ceremony hall ululating to the graduating class of 2014 and especially for her family members.

‘Gogolozi has always instilled the value of education within us and we thank her for it,’ said Mjwara.

According to Gogolozi’s daughter, Ms Nonhlanhla Kunene, HR Manager for the College of Humanities, her mother had defied her own uneducated background, pushing her children to make sacrifices for their own children when the time came.

‘We recall her recurring promise that: “You may not have much, but you will have an education”,’ said Kunene. Today she has grandchildren who have graduated in a variety of fields from various universities across the country.

Both Mjwara and Hlophe plan to pursue their studies further.

-           Melissa Mungroo