Khuzwayo’s journey DUT student rises above barriers on the road to entrepreneurial success… Up-and-coming entrepreneur and Durban University of Technology (DUT) Diploma in Business Information Management student Nqobile Nomfundo Khuzwayo has not let her disability become a deterrent in her academic studies or entrepreneurship journey.
Khuzwayo’s study journey “My study journey began at Ekuthuleni Combined School, KwaMashu, where I completed grade one to grade three. I then attended the Paul Sykes Primary School from 2006 to 2010.This was followed by attendance at Hill Grove Secondary School until 2011. It was then that my life changed forever. I suffered from Hypoxic Brain Injury (a brain injury that forms due to a restriction of oxygen supplied to the brain), so I had to find another school that would accommodate my disability,” she said. Khuzwayo completed her matric in 2018 at the AM Moola Spes Nova School, which specialises in education for persons with disabilities. She could not apply for university in 2019 because she did not have a motorised wheelchair and so decided to take a gap year. In 2020, she was so excited to get an opportunity to become a student at DUT. However, with the onset of COVID-19, she could not attend physical classes and is now doing her studies online, which she admitted has its disadvantages. She immediately joined the Differently Abled Students Association (DASA) on becoming a student, which has been a great support structure for her.
Know your rights! “It is vital to be part of the association because you get to know your rights as a student living with a disability on and off campus. Students can follow our Disability Rights Unit on Facebook as it’s important to be educated about disability,” she said. Explaining how her journey as a person with a disability had impacted her, Khuzwayo conveyed that it had changed her life as she now has to, at times, rely on other people to help her with her daily routine.
Business Information Management student Nqobile Nomfundo Khuzwayo is a thriving student and entrepreneur despite suffering from Hypoxic Brain Injury.
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She struggles with doing daily chores but gets help from friends and family in getting ready for school or doing her washing and ironing.
