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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