A life spent investing in the mind
A life spent investing in the mind
Dr Blessing Mncube: Programme Manager at VUTSGSTP
Selina Rapulane
The Vaal University of Technology Southern Gauteng Science and Technology Park (VUTSGSTP) congratulates Dr Blessing Mncube on attaining his doctorate. He graduated on 6 May at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) Doctorate in Chemical Engineering.
To reach this great achievement, he has worked very hard and persevered through a number of trials to keep his eye on his goals for life.
The 39-year-old was born in Obanjeni, in rural Kwazulu-Natal. He attended Obanjeni Primary School where he first had visions of becoming a farmer and a builder.
In 1998 his family was forcefully moved to Inanda township, near KwaMashu. This made him miss a year of school. The following year, his family managed to enroll him at Phumuzuzulu Primary School. Life for him and his family was very strange in this new township because the environment exposed them to many social and economic issues that they had not experienced before.
“While studying at Ziphembeleni High School, I was very clear on my personal and career goals. I wanted to work at a petrochemical or sugar refinery. I completed Grade 12 with exemption and Transnet financed my undergraduate education. After completing my National Diploma in 2002, I found myself working at Transnet pipeline doing my in-service training. Then, a year later, I managed to work at Engen Refinery as a process engineer. My career goal was then achieved,” said Dr Mncube.
In 2005 he completed his bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering at the (DUT). At that time, he was working at Lucite International as a process technologist and he also had a construction business. In the same year, he completed his Sales Management Certificate at Varsity College. He achieved most of his desired goals while working on his construction businesses and selling properties part-time.
At the beginning of 2008, when the real estate and construction market crashed, he went to study towards his master’s in Europe. The programme was financed by KwaZulu-Natal Economic Development and Fibre Processing and Manufacturing (FP&M) SETA. Two years later, in 2010, he completed his master’s in Technical Textile Engineering at the Technical University of Liberec in the Czech Republic. He was then employed as a research and development engineer for a polymer science company called Beier Plastics. He later moved to Johannesburg to work as a specialist, then as acting director for the Process Energy and Environmental Engineering Technology Station at the University of Johannesburg.
He joined VUTSGSTP in 2018 as a programme manager. During that year, he completed his doctorate in Engineering through DUT.
As a programme manager at VUTSGSTP, he is responsible for creating programmes and fundraising. He has more than 17 years’ experience to offer VUT and he strongly believes that VUT is among the best institutions in South Africa. Since he managed to assist other institutions with projects, programmes and fundraising, he strongly believes that his abilities will also assist VUT to achieve its financial target, create programmes for students and communities. Dr Mncube is very grateful for the opportunity to be a part of VUT, confirming that it has contributed a lot to his life in many ways.
“Goal-driven people do not have spare time. I have a target of reading and finishing one book a month, a target of fundraising for VUT, a target of studying, a target of building businesses, engaging with communities and trying to assist entrepreneurs and farmers too. Most people spend hours watching TV and my advantage is that I don’t watch TV and I use most of my time investing in my mind. Maybe I will have spare time the day I have achieved most of my goals,” he said in conclusion.
Dr Mncube is currently studying and is planning to do his Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) or a postgraduate qualification in Mechatronics and Artificial Intelligence in June or July this year. “My retirement goal is to own a productive farm, contraction business, real estate business and engineering consulting company with research and development facility. So far, I am within my goal’s direction”, he said.