Former security guard Joseph Dalimfazwe will be turning 50 in April. He will also achieve a long-held dream of graduating with a university degree.
Bachelor of Education (BEd) graduate
The father of two from Middelburg, in the Eastern Cape, will graduate with Bachelor of Education (BEd) in intermediate teaching from the University of South Africa.
Dalimfazwe, who started as a security guard at Spark Schools Randpark Ridge in 2018, is now an online teacher at Spark Schools Rivonia. His focus is in mathematics, natural science and social science.
He dropped out of school in Grade 10 to find work in Johannesburg. The reason was to help his single mother take care of four siblings.
“I decided to discontinue my education, feeling the burden on my mother was too great,” he said.
Worked as a security guard
After doing a short course to become a security guard in 1999, he found a job. While working as a guard, his ambitions to complete his matric and further his studies encouraged him to study part-time. He matriculated in 1998.
In 2018 when he joined the school as a security guard. He was studying for a Higher Certificate in Adult Basic Education at Unisa.
When a position of supervisor for the aftercare programme became available at the school in 2019, he applied and was successful. It was the same year that he was enrolled for his BEd degree. He will graduate in April.
Qualified learning facilitator
In 2020 he was appointed a blended learning facilitator for online classes in natural science, social science and maths. This secured him a long-term position at the school. His role since the end of last year has been working with intermediate phase learners.
The father of boys aged 22 and 13, said his children are aware of the sacrifices he made to realise his dream.
Dalimfazwe’s youngest son started Grade 8 this year in George, Western Cape. His eldest dropped out of school in grade 11. He hopes his first-born will finally heed his advice to study at a technical and vocational education and training college.
Exemplary for his sons
“I tell him that I do not want him to face the same challenges I went through. He has an opportunity to learn a skill that will earn him a good living. I remind him that he can achieve anything if he is willing to put in the hard work,” he said.
