Twitter strangers help student settle university debt

Never underestimate the power of social media or ubuntu.

This statement proved to be true for Vaal University of Technology student Christon Ngoveni‚ who turned to Twitter to ask for assistance in paying his outstanding varisty fees.

"Dear Twitter family Please RT [retweet] for awareness. I have hours left to save my 2018 academic year. Plz help me cover up this historical debt … I managed to raise R1,010 and short of R940.00."

This was the message that Ngoveni‚ who is studying power engineering‚ sent earlier this week and‚ before the end of that day‚ four strangers‚ including one from Namibia‚ had offered him help.

"I was just trying my luck but I turned to Twitter because I knew there are organisations who helped disadvantaged people there and I had to find a platform [to ask for help]‚" Ngoveni said.

"I got help from four people. One is not from Twitter. In total‚ they gave me R1,700‚" he said.

Chris‚ who joined Twitter only in November last year‚ said he did not know any of the people who had helped him.

"It was my first time interacting with them and I didn't believe [they would really help] until the first one deposited‚" he told TimesLIVE shortly after registering at the institution on Friday morning.

One of those who answered his call for help was 5FM DJ Rob Forbes.

Replying to those who had commented on his gesture‚ Forbes wrote: " It's payday for me‚ I've got a little left over this month‚ and Chris must finish his year‚ get a job‚ buy a house & car‚ etc. The universe aligned nicely today."

It hasn't been an easy academic journey for Ngoveni.

In 2016‚ he got a bursary from a government department.

The bursary paid out before the final account was issued by the tertiary institution and when the final account came‚ he had an outstanding balance of R7,000.

In 2017‚ he failed to secure funding to register again and settle his debt but fortunately he secured practical training‚ which came with a stipend.

With that stipend he managed to pay off most of his R7 000 debt and also give financial support to his parents‚ who are both unemployed.

Now Ngoveni is hoping to secure funds for this academic year and hopefully graduate next year.

"Now I'm academical active/unblocked with the institution. Have started with my registration. God bless you all. Will invite you all to my graduation‚ 2019 April‚" he tweeted to all those who had helped him.