“I can’t describe my happiness right now. With this achievement, I hope to inspire the upcoming generation to also fight for their dreams despite their unfavourable circumstances. Though I am happy in an imaginable way, I pray that God helps me to remain humble and respectful despite what I have achieved which is what my mom had taught me throughout the time of my life I had spent with her,” said an ecstatic Dr Mbulelo Ngongoma.

Dr Ngongoma  graduated with his  PhD degree in electrical power engineering at the Olive Convention Centre, Durban on 20 May 2024.

Dr Ngongoma grew up in Kenterton in the South Coast region at Umzinto. “I lived with my dear mom, Ms Bonakele Monica Ngongoma (may her soul rest in peace) in a one room space that we had rented for over 10 years. She was living with a disability (polio), and we relied solely on her social grant for a living,” he said.

Dr Ngongoma was an academic achiever from primary school to high school attaining distinctions in all his subjects.

When he  was at Siphapheme High School, he scored an international bursary to complete high school and tertiary education in a country overseas. Unfortunately, he could not accept the offer since his mom had started to fall ill and it rapidly worsened until his mom had passed on. As a result, he had to relocate to KwaXimba at Catoridge and move in with a relative, Mr Themba Alois Ngongoma. Under his guardianship, he then enrolled at a local Ngangezwe High School from Grade 10 to 12 and matriculated in 2013 with distinctions.

In 2014, he received a bursary from the African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) and completed his BSc. Electrical Engineering (Heavy Current) in 2017, with Honours, in record time with a first-class award. He then completed an MSc. Electrical Engineering (Heavy current) in 2019 with Cum Laude. In October 2022 he enrolled for a PhD degree in electrical power engineering at DUT and completed all the requirements for this degree in October 2023.

The 28-year-old Dr Ngongoma  currently works as a lecturer in the Department of Electrical Power Engineering at DUT.

“Doing a PhD has never been easy as historical testimonies suggest. It was not different in my case either. PhD studies require the highest level of commitment, discipline, dedication, and endurance.  There are times when I felt lonely, there are times when I felt like I had hit a dead end in my studies, and all this had an impact on my physical being. During that process, my research topic changed three times but when I isolated the correct research gap, I took off and never looked back. If it was not for the combined support of my supervisors (Professor Musasa Kabeya and Prof Katleho Moloi), my family and particularly my partner, Ms Kwanele Hlatshwayo, I would not have been able to complete my PhD way before the minimum record time,” he explained.

Dr Ngongoma  indicated that whilst he is overjoyed at the result, he had encountered some challenges whilst studying.

“I needed to use an Artificial Intelligence tool called Machine Learning; it is something completely new to me. Though I already had software programming experience when I started my PhD studies, however, I had never created a typical Machine Learning Algorithm; not to mention that I did not even know how Machine Learning worked at all. So, it took me so much time and dedication to first learn what Machine Learning is, as I attended countless online seminars, and internet tutorials,” he stressed.

In terms of the way forward, Dr  Ngongoma  says he is supervising over 10 honours, master’s, and doctoral postgraduates’ majority of which are working on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning-related studies as a way of passing the knowledge he had gained through his PhD study.

“I have been accepted in the Future Professors Programme which comes with more than R300 000 in research funds. I am going to use this funding to create prototypes and that can be tested in local farms. I am also working on a patent for one of my original innovations that have the potential to revolutionise the area of power changer-over switching between main and back-up power in industries,” he added proudly.

For Dr Ngongoma, one of his short-term goals is to further attain the NRF-rating, at least P status, within a year.

“My long-term goals include attaining an associate professor or even full professor status at the age of 32,” he confirmed.

In terms of educational development, Dr Ngongoma  will aim to continue to produce research, to supervise postgraduates, to peer- review for journals and conferences, to engage in community services and to innovate which will help to reach his professorship goals.

For Dr Ngongoma  he believes his mom can see his life though she is no longer in her physical being.

“I believe she can appreciate my efforts in trying to transform the condition of life in which we lived previously. The thought of her in this way keeps pushing me and hinders me from doing things she would have condemned if she was still alive,” he replied.

Also graduating with their Degrees of Doctor of Engineering in this session were: Dr Jonas Dakota, Dr Moses Kabeyi, Dr Akinio Mogbojuri and Dr John Olusanya.

Pictured: Dr Mbulelo Ngongoma

Photography: Mnqobi Ngobese

Waheeda Peters