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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