MIT

Meet some of the students at JB Marks Education Centre…

Aubrey Manamela is employed as a financial manager at USAid in Pretoria.  He studied Financial Accounting at TUT (Tshwane University of Technology) and he intends to study further and obtain a BCompt (Accounting Science) degree.  Both his parents were a great influence on his keeness to study and to work hard at school believing that he would go far with a formal education and qualification.  Dad, Ezekiel (Bigboy) Manamela, was a member of NUM and worked at Implats Platinum for many years.   Aubrey’s favourite subjects were accounting, mathematics, economics and business economics.  Aubrey grew up in the dusty village of Bethanie on the outskirt of Brits, he attended the local farm schools.  Aubrey paid homage to the people who filled him with motivation; Ms Thuli Mofutsanyana, Eddie Madjadibodu, Betty Macuacua, Margaret Ngwazi, Frans Baleni and another Frans all those at EBMTC.

Dr Salome Phasha is serving her second internship year at the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital (Johannesburg General Hospital )and gaining plenty of experience in all disciplines of medicine. She will be completing one year community service next year and her preference is to work in a small community hospital.  After this she aspires to specialize in anesthesiology, which will require another four years of hard study. Dr Pasha hails from the Steelpoort Valley in Mpumalanga where her father, Johannes Pasha worked at Tubatse Ferrochrome. He became a member of NUM many years ago and wasn’t even aware at the time of how this would ensure his daughters’ dream of becoming a doctor one day.

Sithembele Singleton Molefe is an architectural technologist and works for Stauch Vorsters Architects in Johannesburg.  He has been part of the design team for luxury homes, five-star hostels and even golf courses. He plans to make South Africa look beautiful in terms of building design and encourage more pleasant open spaces.   Singleton hails from Umuzimbuhle Village near the mining town of Orkney in North West Province. His Mum, Nowtsa, is a member of NUM whilst Dad is in personnel management at Vaal Reef’s Mine.  At an early age he discovered a love for creativity and enjoyed sketching and drawing. His favourite subjects were mathematics, science and technical drawing.  He graduated from University of Johannesburg in 2004 in Architectural Technology and feels excited about life and what the future holds for him and his family.

 Miss Tshegofatso ‘Tshego’ Tlhapi is a Chemical Engineer working in the South African office of one of the worlds leading engineering companies, KBR. She thrives on the daily challenges she encounters in the multi-billion dollar petrochemical industry.

 

There are a number of commonalities between the students and we note the following:

• They started school earlier than most children
• Foundation phase was at a farm school or small urban primary school but high school was city based
• Their parents encouraged them to study and take school seriously
• During primary school the students tended to enjoy their own company and didn’t show leadership qualities until much later
• They all have a love for learning and enquiring minds and they all liked science and maths
• They also all serve on the JB Marks Core Team, giving back, volunteering time and offering support to new students.