This week the Central University of Technology celebrates two of our academic employees who started their careers from humble beginnings and persevered to where they are today. Congratulations to Dr Leana Esterhuizen from the Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences – Department of Life Sciences and Dr Aaron Mnguni, from the Faculty of Humanities in the Department of Communication Sciences.

Dr Leana Esterhuizen joined CUT in 2005 as a lecturer’s assistant. After serving seventeen years in the CUT employ, she finally became the Senior Lecturer position this year. She mentioned that COVID-19 was a significant challenge in achieving her career success. “The pandemic postponed my promotion as it bought a sudden stop to a few planned projects,” she said.

Dr Esterhuizen said she is passionate about her career because she finds pleasure and satisfaction when she sees her students grasping the concept she delivers to them, engaging and participating in class. “I love talking and interacting, and when I receive a response and full participation from my student, all the hard work and efforts put in is worthwhile.”

Asked why she decided to pursue the career she is in, she said that her passion lies with the environment. “I grew up in the Free State and have seen the devastating impact of drought and the destruction of the 1988 floods. For the past decade, water has been listed as an international priority, emphasising the importance of water & sanitation. What I love most about my current position is that I influence what happens in my department. I can also see how my passion for environmental health can shape the future when I interact with students and scholars alike.”

She also mentioned that she’s happy to be part of CUT because “I am empowered and was given an opportunity to grow and develop within my career paths. Our university also provides full support when needed, for example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we were not ready for online classes, but the eThuto team came up with various training sessions to assist all staff and ensure that we are able to carry out our tasks and improve our online teaching and assessment. I feel so content,” she said.

Dr Aaron Mnguni from the Faculty of Humanities in the Department of Communication Sciences served the university for eight years as a lecturer responsible for Language and Translation Practice I, II, III, and IV. He acted as the main supervisor for postgraduate students and was requested to serve as an external assessor for postgraduate students for UNISA and TUT. He recently won Best Paper Oral Presentation Award presented by INFES 2022 (ERU-USA and ERC-INDIA).

Coming from a disadvantaged background, he had to take breaks and make sacrifices to raise funds towards his studies in order to change his life for the better. “I have made many sacrifices in the past to get where I am today. When I resigned as a temp to enrol at a university, most people in my community thought that I was somehow selfish and insane. I was not pleased with my living conditions and wanted to change my life and family history. Today, I am a role model and an inspiration in my community, thanks to my resilience. “

Dr Mnguni’s area of research specialisation is in Translation and Language Practice, and he sees himself attaining a professorship in the field. “I also wish my parents would understand what it is!” he chuckled.

He said that becoming a lecturer was a natural call for him, “I was a Language Practitioner for years in both public and private sectors. I still could not find fulfilment in what I was doing, so when the lectureship opportunity surfaced, I grabbed it with two hands. I wanted to be in academics, I yearned to teach and train our future Language Practitioners and plough back all the knowledge I have accumulated into the youth.”

Dr Mnguni believes that CUT provides plenty of opportunities for its employees to grow professionally and academically, and his advice to employees is to maximally exploit those opportunities, put more effort into all they do and in return, plough back the knowledge gained back into the university, and add value to the CUT brand.

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Dr Leana Esterhuizen and Dr Aaron Mnguni, CUT academics from humble beginnings.