Malefetsane Letsika’s mother worked as a clothes hawker to pay his way to education. Later, he’d work in a pizza shop to survive poverty. Life threw him many potholes on his road to graduation, but this master’s graduate proved them wrong:
Cape Town, South Africa (12 December 2023) — Malefetsane Letsika’s road to graduating with a Master’s in Structural Engineering did not come without its potholes.
In fact, for someone with a different perspective, the entire road could’ve seemed like a no-go. But, this is not a story about someone who only looked as far as the eye can see. In fact, according to his university, the University of Cape Town, it’s a story about someone who latched to his vision like a bulldog and refused to let go.
Malefetsane’s youth in Lesotho was tough from the offset. His mother, Agatha, endured abuse from his father. Then, when she remarried, Malefetsane’s second dad later passed away while Malefetsane was still a child.
Agatha’s resilience became a source of inspiration for her son. A clothes hawker, she had a plan to get her children the best education she could afford; a promise she delivered by paying for his school fees at a private boarding school in the Free State—an accomplishment he is still inspired by.
After her death, poverty fell upon the family. Electricity had become a luxury, as had food and clothes without holes.
Malefetsane stuck to his promise of making education a priority, and worked at pizza franchise where he cleaned and prepared dough to both pay the registration fee for his first tertiary education opportunity and his entire livelihood.
Because of his hard work in his academics and his impressive commitment, he received a bursary to become a Civil Engineer at UCT. Money might not have been flowing, but that was just another pothole the student had learned to navigate.
Today, after years of work, learning, struggling, and most importantly, sticking the course, Malefetsane will graduate as a Structural Engineer with a master’s degree. He’s got a job at a consulting engineering firm, and his future is one he knows his mother would be so proud of.
Malefetsane attributes his success to his ability to look at circumstances unconventionally. When life’s potholes told him to stop, he found a new way of going around them.
“I’ve been able to see outside the box when tackling difficult life situations. Life has trained me, and engineering also teaches that,” he shares of his roadmap.
Paying it forward for others who may be going through similar circumstances and need some extra learning resources, he started a YouTube channel to help other students on their paths.
He will graduate later this week!
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