Education was key to rural kid's success

NYIKO Mabunda lost his parents as a teenager.

But their constant reminders that education was the key to success stuck with him.

Now, at 28 , he holds master's degrees in public administration and political science, as well as international developmental economics, and will study towards his doctorate this year. He also inspires rural youngsters as a motivational speaker and is involved in building rural schools.

Originally from Giyani in Limpopo , he studied for hours just so that he could get into university .

Although he was exempted from paying fees because he came from a poor background, he recalls standing in long queues in the hot sun at the University of KwaZulu-Natal for almost a week waiting for his turn to get funding. "I knew I did not have anyone to pay for my registration. My parents were not there. But I remembered how they encouraged us to get educated," he said.

Money was hard to come by during his studies and he sometimes went to bed on an empty stomach.

But that did not deter him, and he is now a specialist on governance and public policy at ECIAfrica, a research and consulting company that gives advice on economic development, policy and governance issues.

It also gives technical advice to government departments and the Treasury on how to improve finances and implement infrastructure.

Not forgetting his own background, Mabunda has been involved in the government's urban renewal projects, which focus on poverty alleviation through investment in economic and social infrastructure.

He was part of a team who, in 2010, consulted with the Presidency on how government can speed up service delivery.

He said his late father encouraged and cajoled him and his five siblings to read, and if they answered questions correctly about the books they had read, they would be given pocket money.

Today he gives motivational talks at rural schools after he and some friends started a non-profit organisation, Upliftment Project, to raise funds to build schools and improve infrastructure.

The team of young professionals identified schools in dire need of classrooms in KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and Limpopo.

He said he was touched by the plight of pupils who had to learn under a tree or in mud huts. "When it's raining, mud houses collapse and children get hurt. We have to make learning conducive in schools."