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34

M U T

S P I R I T

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S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 0

ALUMNI CORNER

MUT graduates heed management advice and start their

own businesses

Two former students, Bright Hlongwane and Njabulo

Mabaso, have taken a page from Professor Marcus

Ramogale’s book. The Acting Vice-Chancellor is on

record emphasising the need for students to be job

creators, and not job seekers, and has proposed that

business studies be part of the mainstream academic

programmes. This would offer graduates a chance

either to be employed or to create jobs.

Both Bright and Njabulo have taken the decision to

become businessmen, and their willpower is likely to

take them further.

Bright’s story clearly indicates that this young man is

way ahead of his time. Bright, who recently graduated

with a Diploma in Public Administration, has been

nominated to serve on the Presidential Youth Working

Group, chaired by President Cyril Ramaphosa. He

has also recently been nominated for the Prestige

Awards by his colleagues at the Isimangaliso Group,

a media, marketing and communication firm based in

the Durban CBD. Bright’s colleagues were responding

to an invitation from Corporate LiveWire, the London-

based organisation that is organising the awards in

South Africa and overseas.

Bright, who also runs a non-profit organisation called

Youth in Business, was nominated for his sterling

efforts in youth business participation. “Corporate

LiveWire sent us an invitation upon seeing my profile

Njabulo’s colleagues loading coal into a truck

Hard at work! Njabulo Mabaso

Wood ready to be delivered to customers

online. They invited us to take part in the nomination,”

said a very excited Bright.

According to him, the reason for the Prestige Awards is

to recognise the effort young entrepreneurs put into the

economic development of their countries. “I feel very

excited and proud to know that our efforts as young

South African entrepreneurs are known and recognised

abroad,” he said. The event is planned to take place

towards the end of the year, or early in 2021 in London,

UK, but it will all depend on the coronavirus situation.

Bright, who attended the Advanced Entrepreneurship

Programme at Stanford University in the United States

in 2017, has become known as a staunch advocate of

entrepreneurship. During Youth Day on June 16 this

year, he was on Ukhozi FM and eTV News, talking

about how important it is for the country’s youth to get

involved in business as job creators, not job seekers.

Njabulo’s story is equally inspiring. This intrepid

young marketing graduate from the Class of 2019

set a deadline for employers when he sent out his

job applications (usually it would be the other way

around), and his impatience to get started resulted in

the creation of his own business. Some months ago,

26-year-old Njabulo started a business venture that is

poised to make a mark on his immediate community,

and his family. Having previously tried a number of

other business ventures, he spotted a gap to start a