| ####

39 / 40

39 / 40

37

M U T

S P I R I T

/ /

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

Electrical engineering graduate to help manage

Pietermaritzburg’s Msunduzi municipality

Mathonsi wants to remove the notion that students

who graduate from universities of technology

(UoTs) are less valuable than those from traditional

universities. One of the bigger plans he has for opening

an accounting firm is to be able to employ mostly

students from UoTs, particularly MUT graduates.

Mathonsi has been an unrecognised tutor for MUT

students for the past nine years in Financial Accounting,

Taxation and Cost and Management Accounting.

Seeing students who used to get 30 to 40% in their

tests and exams getting 70 to 90% after attending his

tutorial classes is extremely satisfying for him.

In 2018, he launched an accounting competition known

as Power of Accountancy, sponsored by the profession’s

second largest accounting association, the South African

Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA).

Even the COVID-19 pandemic couldn’t stop

Mathonsi’s passion for helping students. He opened

a WhatsApp group where accounting students ask

difficult questions and he lets other students exercise

their understanding first, then gives them the correct

answer. He believes this way he is able to let them

evaluate their own understanding of the principles of

the subject.

Mathonsi values mentorship which has assisted him

in every phase of building his trade. He has mentored

many students and will continue to contribute to

knowledge generation through his ventures. He

believes in the saying that “it takes a village to raise a

child” because he was once that child.

He was only 19 years old and had no

registration cash when he enrolled

at MUT for a National Diploma in

Electrical Engineering. But with Grade

12 distinctions in Maths and Physical

Sciences and a passion for learning,

Cyncol Akani Sibiya succeeded in

acquiring financial help from the

National Student Financial Aid Scheme

(NSFAS) and focused on building a

brighter future for himself. Less than four

years since he graduated, Sibiya will be

starting his new job in Pietermaritzburg

as a manager for metering and tariffs at the Msunduzi

municipality. This is the result of Sibiya’s outstanding

dedication towards his work.

He is also about to finish his Master’s degree in

Electrical Engineering at the Central University of

Technology. He is being supervised by MUT’s Dr

Papy Numbi who, upon receiving news of Sibiya’s

appointment as manager, said, “You have made MUT

proud; only four years from your graduation, you are

now a manager in a municipality…WOOW!”

Sibiya’s very senior appointment comes amid a very

gloomy atmosphere in which people are losing jobs as

a result of COVID-19. Dr Numbi believes his success

can be used to motivate other students.

“Akani can also help as a point of

contact who can assist for student

placement for the in-service training of

our students,” said Dr Numbi.

Much has been said about the character

of an individual and the people he or

she associates with. Sibiya says that

he considers himself lucky to have got

close to people who have influenced his

life. Some of these are MUT academics. “I

got very close to people like Dr Numbi, Dr

Owolawi, Dr Mulangu, Prof Kusakana, Mr Magenuka

and my uncle Jerry Nwamba, a TUT lecturer, to name

a few. They all said they saw a lot of potential in me,

being a hard worker and a good student. They always

believed in me and made it clear that I can get to their

level and beyond,” said Sibiya, who would like to

pursue his studies up to PhD level.

Born in Johannesburg, 27-year-old Sibiya went to

Mawila Primary School in Meadowlands, Soweto.

After passing Grade 3 he went to Giyani, Limpopo,

and continued at Samson Shiviti Primary School.

He did his high school education at Mavalani High

School. His brother told him about MUT, and the rest,

as they say, is history.

Akani Sibiya