Vice-Chancellor’s award goes to resilient Don!

Vice-Chancellor’s award recipient: Mr Don Kizanga

Puleng Maphisa

The Vice-Chancellor’s awards are mostly given to an individual who’s obtained the highest average in their faculty, and this year’s VC Award went Mr Don Kizanga who now holds a National Diploma (Cum Laude) in Information Technology.

Don was motivated to register and study at Vaal University of Technology in 2014, after seeing his young sister matriculate. Don, who matriculated in 2010, saw the importance of going back to school and studying further. In 2015, he was forced to take a break from his studies due to financial issues at home. He said that not being able to study or go back to school was very hard for him – especially for a year.

Mr and Mrs Kizanga also mentioned that it was very hard for them to see their son sitting at home, not studying because he had no financial support. Mrs Kizanga said that at that time, her husband was not working, and she is a market seller (hawker), so they barely made enough to cover all living costs.

“During the time of my husband’s unemployment it was hard for my family, I had to sell my clothes so that I can raise funds for my son to study further and in 2016 he came back for his second year. My son made us proud, I can see that my money never went down the train, I am very grateful for his achievement,” said Mrs Kizanga.

Mr Kizanga said that he is grateful for his son and his achievement, especially because he has never bought any study books for him, he doesn’t even know how much they cost. “Don used to say to me, “daddy don’t worry about my study materials, I will make a plan and pass.” And indeed he did pass,” his father said with pride.