For Daniel Vilakazi, hard work and consistence is what paid off for the results-driven lad.
The 28-year-old graduated Cum Laude with his Postgraduate diploma in Management Sciences in Business Administration at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) 2025 Autumn Graduation Ceremony. The ceremony was held on Wednesday, 21 May 2025 at the Olive Convention Centre (OCC) in Durban.
Vilakazi comes from a place called uMzinyathi, in the Qadi area. Currently, he works at the DUT: Technology Transfer and Innovation (TTI) as a Business Support Administrator, under the Faculty of Research Innovation and Engagement.
His career path in higher education and entrepreneurship development is distinguished by providing administrative, procurement, and finance business support services to the departments and academic support structures.
“DUT has been a home for me, apart from all the financial constraints that I had encountered, especially from my undergraduate studies, coming from a disadvantaged background,” he shared.
He had completed his undergrade Diploma in Marketing with Cum Laude, apart from financial constrains in 2019. His journey continued with him obtaining an internship at DUT .
“I completed my Advanced Diploma in Marketing obtaining Cum Laude, while working for TTI as an intern, I then got absorbed by the department from an intern into a DUT staff member in 2021.
“I did not look back since the experience was massive and exposure was good, and it continued until 2023. I then was referred to the innobiz DUT Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation for more training and experience, “ he explained.
Vilakazi further explained that he was groomed by the manager of innobiz DUT Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation into an employee where he is now well experienced in business management and project management.
Vilakazi mentioned that he had developed more experience around entrepreneurship, finance management, and procurement which led him to further his studies while working at DUT.
He gave his sincere gratitude to all the staff who had entrusted him with work at DUT and had allowed him to showcase his ability at work and his studies, especially Dr Pinkie Ntola, Interim Director of the Technology, Transfer and Innovation unit at DUT and Ms Nontokozo Ngcobo, innobiz DUT Centre Manager.
“Graduating with Cum Laude was my target since the beginning of the academic year. I feel honoured since I put a 100% effort and it was easy to master the art of response in exams since I already have massive work experience when it comes to business administration,” he said.
In terms of his future academic plans, Vilakazi has registered for a master’s in business administration.
His advice to future students is to focus on obtaining good grades, avoiding too many friends, as this is the strategy that helped him to focus on his studies.
Pictured: Daniel Vilakazi
Waheeda Peters
