Dr Yvonne Maphosa says the Vice-Chancellor’s Prestigious Achievers Award “is not just a bursary, it’s an acknowledgement of outstanding postgraduate students who have shown academic excellence and an embodiment of the CPUT graduate attributes”.

Here Maphosa talks about how grateful she was to receive it.

The Zimbabwean-born academic obtained her Doctorate in Food Science and Technology during the CPUT Autumn Graduation Series 2022.  Maphosa completed her BTech in Food Technology (Cum Laude) in 2013 and was awarded the Vice-Chancellor’s Medal as the best graduating student in the Faculty of Applied Sciences. She passed her Master’s with distinction and graduated in September 2016.

Reflecting on her career journey, the bubbly author says: “A PhD is not a walk in the park. It requires a lot of emotional and financial support. It’s a very difficult journey that requires commitment and strength. I was blessed with the support of my family, friends and fellow postgraduate students. I had amazing supervisors as well. They held my hand and guided me through. I will forever be indebted to them. The CPUT postgraduate centre was also very helpful and always there to assist.”

The last born of six says a PhD is very expensive and the VC’s Prestigious Achievers Award provided for her tuition, residence and everything she needed to successfully complete her PhD.

The VC’s Prestigious Achievers Award played a huge role in the completion of her studies.

“It also came with tremendous non-financial support from the committee and the VC’s office, all of which I’m deeply grateful for.”

A believer and a go-getter, Maphosa says: “It is [a] motivation to keep on excelling. It inspired me to be the best I could be.”

Growing up in Mambale village, deep in the rural areas of Plumtree, Zimbabwe, working hard came naturally for Maphosa. “Working [hard] was instilled in me from a young age. Waking up early to work the fields before running many kilometres to school, then running to the river to fetch water after school taught me that in life you have to work hard. It also taught me balance and time management.”

Maphosa, who has always been an A student, has won numerous prestigious awards throughout her academic journey in the form of funding, medals, trophies, certificates, and scholarships. “They serve as acknowledgements, reassurances and motivations to accomplish more.”

Besides being an academic, she is an award-winning author. and has published two fiction novel series; The y in yOUR Man is Silent (national bestseller) and Grasping at Straws (award winning).

Maphosa is also involved in charity work. She runs a campaign called Buy-A-Pad with Yvonne. She collects and donates sanitary pads to disadvantaged women and girls. She also has a writing competition, Luvone, aimed at discovering young, unpublished writers. From this competition, the book: Luvone: an anthology of short stories was published. Maphosa is involved in several community projects in Zimbabwe, especially those aimed at empowering the girl child and advocating for women rights.Summiting Mount Kilimanjaro was another highlight of her life.

In her message to prospective students, Maphosa says: “Be yourself. You can only realise your true potential if you are truly yourself. Don’t waste your life mimicking other people or chasing the wind at the expense of your dreams. Focus! Set your goals and work towards them.”

Maphosa also acknowledged the support she received from the Vice-Chancellor and the awards committee.  “Thank you for awarding me the Vice-Chancellor's Prestigious Achievers Awards. I am sincerely humbled and elated that you found me a suitable beneficiary for this honourable award. It made a remarkable difference in my PhD journey and my life as a whole. I’m truly grateful.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce

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Financial constraints nearly frustrated him out of the doctoral degree programme, “Glory be to the almighty God for an open door of opportunity to be a recipient of Vice-chancellor Prestigious Achievers Award twice”.

Here, Dr Imisioluseyi Julius Akinyede shares his story.

Akinyede was born into a polygamous family in Ado-Ekiti in Ekiti State of Nigeria to the family of the Akinyede-Asamo dynasty. 2013, he registered for MTech in Construction Management at CPUT and graduated in 2015. He then worked as a project manager from 2015 to 2016. Akinyede commenced his DEng degree in 2016. His work experience manifested in his research on affordable, sustainable housing delivery, and his role as a research assistant, mentor and lecturer helped him “tremendously with research outcome”.

His mother, Felicia Akinyede, a trader, made Akinyede understand that the road map to success is through education, and she encouraged him to achieve his set target in education morally and financially. The primary factor that helped him to get to the present position is his endurance and perseverance “through God's guidance.

“And I always set a target for myself and focus on the achievement.”

Akinyede received the Vice-Chancellor Prestigious Achievers Award in 2019 and 2020.  “It helped me greatly to complete my doctorate within the record time as scheduled by the university. I was a debtor to the university, and registration became difficult due to the debt I owed the school [CPUT]”. Immediately, I received this award, and after that, I could register in 2019 and 2020, respectively.”

“The Vice-Chancellor Prestigious Achievers Award impacted my career and life significantly. I was on the verge of dropping out of school because of financial challenges, but the monetary value attached to the award helped me pay the fees and accommodation expenses.”

Akinyede, the construction management and quantity surveying lecturer, passed his master’s degree at CPUT. During the master’s degree programme, he presented and published nine conference papers accredited by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) for subsidies. His excellent work manifested in his doctoral degree programme, consequently, Akinyede published an article in an international journal accredited by DHET and presented five conference papers at local and international level. His thesis focussed on affordable housing delivery, based on the challenge of housing affordability and availability in South Africa.

Reflecting on the support he received from CPUT staff during his studies, Akinyede says: “My departmental staff are virtuous people, ready to assist at all times. The love and kindness shown to me by the academic staff of the Department of Construction Management and Quantity Surveying during this study was wonderful and appreciated.”

Akinyede also pays tribute to the Vice-Chancellor and the awards committee. He acknowledged the support of the Vice-Chancellor for skill development at CPUT. “I am one of the beneficiaries. The formation of the Vice-Chancellor Prestigious Achievers Award is a good initiative by the CPUT management team. My appreciation goes to the award committee for nominating me as one of the recipients.”

“I will forever be grateful to the Vice-Chancellor and the awards committee for the financial value attached to the award. Furthermore, I appreciate the Vice-Chancellor for the letter he sent to me on my graduation. I am willing to continue my academic career at CPUT about the content of the letter sent to me by the VC to join a group of talented academics at CPUT.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce

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The Client Service Account Manager at advertising agency M&C Saatchi Abel, Sivenathi Jayiya, says the Vice-Chancellor’s Prestigious Achievers Award assisted her in completing her Master’s degree in Public Relations Management, “which was the biggest accomplishment of my life”.

“The greatest highlights of my life were being awarded with the VC Prestigious Achievers Award and graduating with a Cum Laude for my Master’s degree,” Jayiya enthuses. The Stutterheim (Eastern Cape)-born Advertising Account Manager embarked on a higher education journey at CPUT in 2013. Jayiya had initially applied for Journalism, which she wanted to study, but my interview letter was delivered a month after the deadline. She then forfeited her spot in the Journalism department. Her name was then forwarded to the Public Relations (PR) Department, and at that point, she had no idea of what PR was.

However, Jayiya enjoyed the course, graduated with her Diploma in 2015, and enrolled for her BTech, which she completed in 2016. In 2018, Jayiya registered for a Master’s Degree in PR to further equip herself in corporate communication, strategic communication and corporate social responsibility with the hope of landing a job in corporate communications. Her Master’s degree took longer than she had expected due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, “with God’s grace, I managed to complete my Master's Degree in 2021 and graduated with a Cum Laude” with the assistance of the Vice-Chancellor Prestigious Achievers Award.

She says receiving the VC Prestigious Achievers Award motivated her to do her best to get good marks without the stress of academic finances. “Being a recipient of such an award was a great honour and a privilege as I got to study without worrying about my fees or academic expenses. I am [not] where I want to be in my career yet; I am currently an Advertising Account Manager, hoping to become a lecturer one day. It has been a struggle, but graduating for my mater and being a recipient of the VC prestigious achievers award will hopefully open up doors for me and my career.”

Reflecting on her life journey, Jayiya reveals that she comes from a family of four, raised by a single mother who never got a chance to finish high school after she lost her parents at a very young age.

“Growing up on the Cape Flats was never easy; crime was at its peak, young girls were being raped, young boys were getting pulled into drugs etc. One had to decide which route she wanted for herself.

“I grew up telling myself that I would go to school, graduate, get a job and move my family away from that life, but the reality is that life is not as smooth, but we can only do our best to navigate the hardships we go through.”

In her message to the younger generation from a similar background, Jayiya says: “Believe in yourself. Believe in your uniqueness as a person. Ignore the pressures around you, telling you you’re not anybody unless you have this or you have that. Ultimately, you have to affirm yourself and not compare yourself to someone else. Remember, you always have a choice and can always do something to change a situation.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce

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