I listened to the most amazing story this week on a warm early afternoon in Tshwane. It was the kind of weather that leaves one feeling scorched if you are in the sun and gives you the chills when sitting in the shade. But with a perfect mix of the two, it was a beautiful day to chat to Dr Masixole Lugongolo.
When we were introduced by her boss at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in eastern Pretoria, I immediately recognised her – and we instantly connected the dots. It turns out she is a lay preacher at the Methodist Church.
I have had several opportunities to hear her preach, and hear her voice fill the entire church, and watch her as she leaves the pulpit, reciting scriptures as if she is still looking at her notes.
She tells me she added the title Dr to her name in December when she graduated with a PhD in biophotonics from Unisa.
She explains that in lay terms it is the study of the application of light in medical science or biosciences. Her PhD research explored it for HIV.
As we are chatting, I learn that this amazing woman, whose sermons open the heavens, had her first permanent job in 2018, a few months before turning 40.
It was her search for her job, any job, that opened the doors of further education and ultimately led her to her job as a researcher.
After graduating with a diploma in biotechnology from the then Natal Technikon, Lugongolo, who is from Mount Frere in Eastern Cape, came to Soweto to live with her cousin when she couldn’t find a job.
She sold vegetables, recycled bottles and cans, did domestic work and babysat to put food on the table.
And one day she thought of her qualification and went knocking at the then Wits Technikon in Doornfontein and asked to volunteer to keep what she had learned fresh.
God had lined up everything she needed to realise her full potential on that day.
A lab technician referred her to the lab manager, who became a great mentor – and gave her the opportunity to volunteer assisting post-diploma students with their experiments.
She continued to do odd jobs – laundry for two of her neighbours, to be exact – to buy toiletries and pay for transport from Soweto to Doornfontein for her volunteer work.
Her mentor encouraged her to further her studies and helped her find funding. She graduated at the University of Johannesburg with a master’s of technology in biotechnology.
She tells me she just wanted a job; that studying was the cherry on top.
From stipends and finally getting a contract job to having a full-time job at the CSIR, she says she now jokes with her mentor that she is better qualified.
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