Leading the “girl power” as the 2022/23 elected Student Representative Council (SRC) at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) is Ms Thandolwethu April. She is the SRC Deputy President.
April (22) hails from Butterworth in the Eastern Cape. She completed her high school years and tertiary education in Pietermaritzburg. She feels this helped her a lot with learning to speak IsiZulu.
She joined DUT in 2019 when she enrolled for her National Diploma in Accounting at the Riverside campus in Pietermaritzburg. Adapting to the university life was not easy for her. She revealed that her first year was tough, leading her to fail a module causing a delay in her time to complete her studies.
“Thandolwethu is basically a people’s person. I love people and love being around them. Growing up I was very shy. I then decided to put myself on a challenge, to try and force myself into getting used to people. This was to help me to get rid of my social anxiety. I am happy with myself for taking that step to be social, it has led me to greater things,” she said while describing herself.
April was not into politics when she joined DUT until she was assisted by a popular SRC member at the DUT Midlands who was affiliated with SASCO, during her first few days at the university. She was impressed by the service provided by the young man who approached her to help at a time where she needed the help.
“You know when you are new at the university and do not even know where to go. This guy came up and offered to help me. He could have noticed that I was troubled and nervous at the same time. I did need help with accommodation, he took my problem and made it his problem. Even the next day he accompanied me to where I needed to go for help. He didn’t want anything in return, he was so kind. I remember that day, it was a very sunny day. He even offered me to come to the SRC office for a cooldrink. He would check up on me from time to time and this made me want to become just like him,” explained April.
According to April, the help she received from the SRC made her to not feel alone and know that she has people to report to when she faces problems at the university. April joined university politics after realising that student leaders are there for the benefit of the students.
“I was inspired by the good work the SRC had done for the students. Most of my roommates were assisted by them to get accommodation. I told myself that I wanted to be like them, help other students in a positive way and leave a mark. I remember one of the former 2019 SRC members who helped me during my first year graduated last year, 2022. When he graduated most students thanked him for assisting them to get their qualifications. Everyone was happy, even the parents were thanking him. Such things motivate me to bring change to people’s lives,” said April.
She believes being kind, helpful and humble helps people to get far in life as no one knows what life has in store for them. According to April, it is important to help those in need when you can provide the assistance.
Her main goal as the SRC Deputy President, is to bring change in the students’ lives. She hopes to also inspire other female students to have confidence in themselves and strive to enter the leadership positions.
“Most women belittle themselves and don’t believe that they can be in leadership positions. I want to prove them wrong and show them that it is possible for women to lead and do better,” she expressed.
April concluded that she hopes most women will find it easy to approach her to discuss matters that they find hard to discuss with males. She has vowed to represent the students well and try her best to find solutions to their problems.
She will be graduating at this year’s Autumn Graduation to be held in May 2023.
Pictured: DUT SRC Deputy President, Thandolwethu April.
Simangele Zuma
