A MOTHER’S LONG PRAYER ANSWERED AS DAUGHTER GRADUATES AT WALTER SISULU

For years, Nomathamsanqa Matolengwe carried a quiet prayer in her heart, one day, one of her children would graduate and change the story of her family.

On Friday, that prayer finally came to life as her 22-year-old daughter, Andiswa Matolengwe, graduated with a Diploma in Public Management at the Komani Campus of iYunivesithi Walter Sisulu.

Amidst loud cheers and jubilations, Matolengwe walked the graduation stage with her mother and older sister watching proudly from the floor. For the family from Ngqamakhwe in the Eastern Cape, the moment carried years of sacrifice and perseverance.

“No words can describe how happy I am at this moment. I have been praying for this day all my life that I can also have a child who is a graduate,” said Nomathamsanqa Matolengwe.

As the last born and the first graduate at home, Andiswa represented more than her own achievement.

Her mother raised three children alone after their father left for Johannesburg while Andiswa was still in pre-school. He later returned years later, shortly before she enrolled at university, before eventually passing on.

Matolengwe said life had never been easy, but she never stopped believing that education would one day rescue her children from hardship.

“I have raised my children single-handedly since their father left and came back years later and passed on,” she said.

“I have worked as a domestic worker to provide for them, and I hope now with Andiswa graduated she can secure a job and build us a home and put our family name on the map.”

She described her daughter as a child who had always carried promise and determination from a young age.

“My child has been my beacon of hope, since her primary days and high school she has been a promising child, sometimes she would play roles of being a lawyer in their drama activities.”

“And on top of that there has been something significant about her from birth and I was told that one day she’s grown up to be something in life, and today it is just a beginning of that.”

For Andiswa, graduating was the fulfilment of a dream she had carried since childhood, but also the beginning of a responsibility she has long prepared herself for.

“I am so grateful for this day, and I can guarantee my mother that the next step is to find employment and take care of our family,” she said.

“I have always seen myself in this space of graduation since I was young and today, I am realising my dreams,” she added.

She also took time to acknowledge the people who helped shape her academic journey, especially her lecturer, Mr Zimele Tomoso.

“I would like to thank my lecturer, Mr Zimele Tomoso, who taught me Public Strategic Policy, he made school easy and classes enjoyable,” she said.

With emotion still written across her face after the ceremony, Andiswa shared a message to young people back home in Ngqamakhwe, a reminder born from her own lived reality.

“To the youth in my home town it is possible, and honestly it is only education that can rescue you from poverty,” she added.

By: Yolanda Palezweni