Graduation ceremony is where those who worked hard celebrate their achievements and share pictures on social media, but Dumisani Ngobese from the University of KwaZulu-Natal walked on stage as his name was called out in tears and touched the hearts of many.
23-year-old Dumisani Ngobese from a rural area outside Empangeni called Bhukhanana was conferred with a Bachelor of Arts degree at a ceremony held at the UKZN’s Westville Campus on Friday.
South Africans online were left in tears as Ngobese collected his degree dressed casual because he could not afford to buy a suit. Congratulations messages were pouring in, and others were making pledges into the young graduates future.
Ngobese is currently pursuing an Honours degree at the university and did not allow the fact that he could not afford a suit prevent him from collecting his degree. Raised by his maternal grandmother, who could not make it to the graduation ceremony, Ngobese wept on stage as his name was called out reflecting back on the journey which he described as “long and very difficult”.
Ngobese said his grandmother could not make it to the graduation ceremony as she was ill. “My grandmother was a street vendor and the sole breadwinner in the house where there were over 10 children,” he said.
There were people who commented on his outfit as he attended the ceremony wearing a black golf-shirt and black pants. “I could not afford to buy a suit, but I just had to be there at graduation,” he said.
Source: The Witness, EB News Daily, Africa Newz, Twitter, image from Twitter