Graduates of the Faculty of Applied Sciences rose the roof this morning as they cheered on a classmate who had achieved one of the highest honours the University can bestow on its students.

Dean Berry, who graduated cum laude with a BTech degree in Horticulture, is also the recipient of the Vice Chancellor’s Medal. This medal is awarded to the top Btech student across all 6 Faculties. Berry achieved six out of six distinctions in his final year of study with an aggregate of 85%.

Four MTech degrees were also awarded to Nina Septoe, Andre Lambrechts, Jade North and Natalie Newman. These candidates’ graduated with their Masters Degrees from the Departments of Consumer Science: Food and Nutrition, Environmental Health, Horticulture and Nature Conservation, respectively, while Adegbenro Peter Daso and Janes Doughari Hamuel were awarded Doctoral degrees in the Environmental Health Department.

Guest speaker Dr Gansen Pillay, the Deputy CEO of the National Research Foundation of South Africa spoke passionately of the quality of research being done in South Africa.

He says that in moving from a resource-based to a knowledge-based economy, South Africa offered a wealth of opportunity for bright young graduates to exploit.

“We have to focus and prioritise education in South Africa. I advocate the concept of liberation through education – it’s the one thing that can never be taken from you. And at the centre of everything, excellence and integrity needs to be non-negotiable. “

Graduation continues this evening on the Bellville campus where the Faculty of Engineering holds its second ceremony. On Saturday, the Faculty of Education and Social Sciences holds the final two ceremonies on Cape Town campus that bring a week of Autumn graduation to a close.

By Jan Weintrob

Photograph by Clive Galant

Written by CPUT News
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One of CPUT’s finest returned to the institution this week to encourage young graduates to reach for the top.

In his back-to-basics speech Gavin Mageni reminded the hall of the importance of small courtesies like greeting and looking neat at work.

Mageni, who is part of Executive Management at the Absa Group, graduated with his Human Resources BTech and Masters Cum Laude from CPUT and is currently completing his Doctorate through the institution as well.

The former teacher told graduates they needed to fall in love with their jobs regardless of how much it paid.

“As you venture into the job market find the sweet spot and make sure you never work a day in your life,” he says.

“Passion must overtake you. Be proud of your job. Earn it.”

Mageni also concentrated on the realities of entering an overpopulated job market.

“That piece of paper (diploma) will contribute 10% to your career,” he says.

Mageni told graduates that they needed to concentrate the other 90% of their efforts on things like appearance, interviewing skills and broadening their horizons by keeping up to date with current affairs.

“People make up their minds in the first 40 seconds about you so look decent and have an idea of what’s going on around you,” he says.

CPUT Vice Chancellor Prof L V Mazwi-Tanga encouraged the graduates to uphold the proud name of CPUT.

“Be our ambassadors and put in a good word for this university,” she says.

The third Business Faculty graduation ceremony continues in Cape Town on Tuesday morning and moves to Bellville that evening.

By LAUREN KANSLEY

Picture by CLIVE GALANT

Written by CPUT News
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A part-time student graduated Summa Cum Laude on Tuesday evening despite juggling his studies and a permanent job and undergoing two operations this year.

Marco Moolman, 25, is ecstatic about obtaining his ND: Public Management Summa Cum Laude and so is his family.

Marco achieved a 90% aggregate in 24 subjects over three years of study. 

He says he only realised halfway through this year that he was heading towards a Summa Cum Laude with his academic excellence after a classmate alerted him to the fact. This realisation propelled him to pursue this milestone even more.

He attributes his success to pure sacrifice which manifested itself in sleepless nights and lots of hard work. He adds that without the lecturers’ continued support he could not have achieved his success. “I had to stay focused, they say focus on one course until you are successful,” says the tenacious Marco.

The former Premier’s Advancement of Youth Programme intern adds that he derived his enthusiasm for his studies from enjoying the subjects offered which saw him giving 100% attendance in class. “I was constantly engaging all my lecturers and the environment was conducive for success.”

“I am of the opinion that CPUT should serve real people’s needs and I can indeed confirm that this was indeed the case, as I am living proof – being a young working student.”

He says that his father, Stiaan, is a source of his passion and drive for his studies. “He has been my rock and everything, I did it for him.”

One of the motives for his academic success is to climb the corporate ladder in his job as a Records Management and Registry Clerk of the Western Cape Liquor Authority, a job he has been doing for the last four years.

This year was particularly challenging for Marco as he had two operations and yet he maintained his 80% to 90% average of the past three years.

“The extraordinary part of Marco’s story is his that he truly was a unique brilliant hardworking student who did not allow any lecturer to proceed with a lecture unless he completely understood,” says lecturer Althea Whitaker.

“Marco was the quizzical student in the class. He took copious notes as you spoke. He would message and ask if he did not make sense of a lecture.”

Written by Kwanele Butana

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Academic success comes in different forms for everyone, and Summa Cum Laude is one of the highest honours to be bestowed on a student.

The Business and Management Sciences faculty celebrated this success with two students today.

Monwabisi Luthuli is a well-known figure at CPUT since he was once a popular SRC president. Luthuli says that while student politics was thrilling, he wasn’t achieving the academic success he knew he could achieve early on in his studies.

“I was very active as a student leader, and that compromised my academics, but then as I matured, I decided to come back to CPUT and completed my diploma, and passed all my subjects with distinction, and then I continued to the Advanced Diploma and also just passed Summa Cum Laude now,” he says.

“It has been an absolute great pleasure returning to CPUT.”

A fellow Advanced Diploma in Marketing classmate, Nkaiseng Mokhele, also received the top honour. She says she has always been a good student and achieved excellent marks because she listened to lecturers.

“Dedication, focusing and doing what the lecturers tell you to do has been my recipe for success. The pandemic was tough for me because I lost loved ones during this time, but I told myself that my goal is to graduate.”

To pass Summa Cum Laude, a student must pass all their subjects with distinction on the first try.

Luthuli and Mokhele were part of a cohort of 431 students who graduated during the afternoon ceremony at CPUT’s Bellville campus today.

Written by Lauren Kansley

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Liaises with the media and writes press releases about interesting developments at CPUT.