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Thuso Lempetje – from service worker to Business School graduate

06 May 2022 | Story Dr Nitha Ramnath | Photo Supplied

“Stop settling for things you know you don’t like” and “loving what you do can open doors for you” certainly holds true for Thuso (Julius) Lempetje, who graduated against all odds with a Bachelor of Management Leadership (BML) from the UFS Business School in April 2022.

Fresh out of matric in 2012, Lempetje worked as a cleaner in the Centre for Business Dynamics, hoping to study one day. An avid reader, Lempetje often borrowed books from Danie Jacobs, the former manager of the Centre for Business Dynamics. Mostly business-related, the books motivated Lempetje to understand the world of business. Lempetje’s breakthrough arrived when the Centre for Business Dynamics offered him the opportunity to study towards the Management Development Programme (MDP). Although it was not something he preferred to do, Lempetje nonetheless seized the chance to supplement his matric certificate with another NQF level.

Lempetje did not stop here – after completing the certificate programme, his motivation to continue studying was further boosted by his exposure to students from all walks of life and age groups in the Business School. Taking on the BML was no easy feat, particularly since Lempetje did not have the extensive work and management experience for work-related assignments as his peers in the cohort he was studying with.

It was not easy for Lempetje to complete his degree, as some of the modules required practical experience. This forced Lempetje to dig hard and to open up his curiosity to how things work in the business world.

Lempetje’s advice to students and anyone who wishes to study, is that “you should never link age to studying and regardless of your age, your brain is never too rusty to study”. He adds that, “studying really does open the mind to new and innovative ideas”.

“There is a lot of motivation in the UFS Business School, as it gives opportunities to adults who never thought they would have a degree in their life,” says Lempetje. “Seeing older people study and work while also parenting, shows that there is more to life than the limitation we set ourselves by saying that we are too old to study, or we are too busy to study. Once you finish, you realise that you can actually do this, and you stop settling for things you know you don’t like.”

News Archive

Prof Barney Pityana to deliver the inaugural Bram Fischer Memorial Lecture

2013-04-24

Prof Barney Pityana
Photo: Supplied
24 April 2013

Well-known academic and human rights lawyer Prof Barney Pityana will deliver the inaugural Bram Fischer Memorial Lecture on Friday 26 April 2013,honouring the life and legacy of the anti-apartheid stalwart. Prof Pityana will be joined by Fischer’s daughters Ruth Rice and Ilse Wilson and his nephew Peter in the President CR Swart Auditorium on the Bloemfontein Campus.

Prof Pityana has an impressive track record of accomplishments:

He is the current Rector of the College of the Transfiguration in Grahamstown; one of the founding members of the South African Students' Organisation; an important figure in the Black Consciousness Movement with Steve Biko; and an exponent of Black theology.

Prof Pityana is the former Principal and Vice-Chancellor at the University of South Africa (UNISA) and also a former chairperson of the South African Human Rights Commission.He has served on the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights at the Organization of African Unity in 1997. Prof Pityana’s work in human rights has been widely recognised and in December 2002 he was awarded an Honourable Mention of the 2002 UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education.

In April 2006, Prof Pityana received the Award of the Order of the Grand Counsellor of the Baobab: Silver from former President Thabo Mbeki.

Prof Pityana will meet with students from the Faculty of Law during the day of the lecture. At 12:00 the Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice will host a critical conversation discussing Bram Fischer as a father and Afrikaner communist lawyer. The conversation will feature the perspective of his daughters. The Bram Fischer Memorial Lecture will commence at 18:30.

Programme:

1. Critical Conversation: Bram Fischer as a father and Afrikaner communist lawyer

Date: Friday 26 April 2013

Venue: Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice

Time: 12:00 – 14:00

2. Inaugural Bram Fischer Memorial Lecture

Date: Friday 26 April 2013

Venue: President CR Swart Auditorium

Time: 18:30 – 20:00

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