Cape Town - South Africa's first black observational ocean biogeochemist has earned his PhD after graduating from UCT.
Mhlangabezi Mdutyana is the son of a domestic worker and security guard from Mthatha in the Eastern Cape. He is a first generation graduate and the first of his siblings and cousins to receive a degree.
“I come from a family with an extremely uneducated background, my parents did not have formal education and I was the first one to get a grade 12, so even that was big,” said Mdutyana.
Mdutyana is proud to set an example for his family.
“It’s extremely surreal to be honest, and it's a beautiful moment to be somebody that is becoming a trendsetter for your family, to be somebody that your family looks up to.
“For them to say if you want to achieve, here is evidence that if you work hard enough you will be able to get what you want,” he said.
Mdutyana faced struggles while pursuing his masters degree, sleeping on a friend's couch and being a part-time surfing instructor in order to make ends meet.
He later received news that his masters research was upgraded to a PhD, owing to the exceptional scope of his research.
“Receiving word that my master’s would be upgraded to a PhD was unbelievable. Ask anyone, this doesn’t happen in a hurry, and here, out of the blue, it happened to me. I was in complete disbelief,” he said.
Mdutyana believes he now has a huge responsibility ahead of him as the first black person to have obtained this degree, he feels he has a duty to pay it forward.
“This is ocean sciences so there are no black people there, so one wants to share the same information and knowledge that one has to try to bring more black people into ocean science.
“It comes with some sense of responsibility, not one that is bestowed or forced on me, but something that is intrinsic, that you would want to make the space more black than it is,” Mdutyana said.