It was a double celebration for the Yengwa brothers, Siyabulela, 22 and Ayabonga, 24, who both graduated cum laude (with distinction) during the autumn graduation ceremony of the Durban University of Technology (DUT), held at the Olive Convention Centre recently.
The siblings were two of the numerous adaptive graduates who were honoured for their outstanding academic achievements in the Faculty of Accounting and Informatics.
The brothers, who both completed a Diploma in Library and Information Studies, obtained their qualifications with multiple distinctions, earning Siyabulela a Deans Merit Award for Academic Excellence and Ayabonga a distinction pass.
Hailing from a small town called Nkonzo, near Flagstaff in the Eastern Cape, the two brothers registered at DUT in 2021. Siyabulela felt that their journey at DUT was astonishing, yet challenging because it was a huge jump for them coming from a rural high school to a highly rated university. The transition saw him initially missing assignment deadlines.
“At the start, I experienced various challenges in terms of assignment and test submissions, especially in my first year, during the Covid-19 pandemic when online learning was introduced. I was not previously exposed to various learning platforms which were used, as a result, I ended up not completing my first test due to slow pace of writing. I was so desperate to get high marks in all my modules and afraid of failing, so I trained myself by listening to both lecturers and post lecture recordings to write my own notes, based on my comprehension and this assisted me to improve my studies and my self-confidence towards my studies,” he said.
Siyabulela shared that Library and Information Studies was his first choice of study, as he believed in providing access and exposure to information so that a culture of reading and learning could be promoted and used, regardless of the environment and make everyone aware of their expectations as a responsible citizen.
Ayabonga described his journey with DUT as one jammed with many challenges such as online learning.
“It was really difficult for me to go to the library because of the pandemic and I was unable to learn other activities performed in the library, to boost my understanding. I used electronic sources for my academic requirements, and I was unable to retrieve relevant sources. I watched DUT videos all the time to learn more about facilities, services, implementation of new technologies in DUT libraries, as well as other libraries such as National Library of South Africa in Cape Town and Pretoria, to retain the interest I have in library sector,” he said.
Sharing their thoughts on graduating cum laude, the Yengwa siblings are hoping to secure jobs or bursaries to pursue further studies.
Ayabonga is hoping to use this achievement to motivate his community to reopen the library that was closed due to inadequate resources.
