CIDA City Campus – Interviews with Graduates and Top Achievers 2010

By Amanda Dormehl

Management Today’s Amanda Dormehl spoke to four recent success stories from CIDA about the past, the present and the future.

On the 8th of July 2011 CIDA City Campus held their annual Graduation Ceremony. Of the 216 graduates, 17 passed with distinction. Special awards in the marketing, human resources management, investments, international finance and Extranet were awarded. Amidst joyful ululating by friends, family and mentors Management Today met with four top students. We spoke to them about their backgrounds, their experience of everyday campus life, their futures and their achievements.

Thandeka heard about CIDA during one Business Economics Class while attending high school in Ladysmith. She had been accepted at the University of Johannesburg. Her parents had passed away when she was very young and her grandparents did not have the finances to support her at UJ. She was accepted to CIDA on full scholarship in 2008. CIDA has instilled in this young

graduate a sense of uBuntu. Thandeka won the Goldman Sax award for her community involvement. It did not just stop at the award - she donated some of her winnings back in to her community. “Do not expect the Government to do everything in terms of community upliftment. You can give someone hope even in the little things that you do. And

about new approaches to business that have become prevalent in South Africa. “Look at the Wal-Mart / Massmart relationship. Internationally, there is faith to invest in South Africa”. This highly driven young lady grew up in the Kroonstad area and is the first person in her family that has obtained a degree. She has been employed by T-Systems South Africa as one of their Apprentices for 2011. “I find myself in an environment comprising of mostly white men. I am so positive about that because I experience every day how many opportunities there are for young black women in the ICT community” she commented. She has represented CIDA on many

“You can give someone hope even in the little things that you do.” – Thandeka Zulu

T

he CIDA City Campus Top Student Award went to Thandeka Zulu. In her acceptance speech

Thandeka mentioned a “Group of 9” with great humility. CIDA students work on assignments in groups. “Each and every mark that I received was based on assignments we did together. Some students excel at IT, others at Marketing or Networking. I think my success was based on my group being able to allocate work to the person with the best skills needed to deliver the assignments. We had a few situations were an individual did not deliver but we dealt with those situations professionally” she commented.

84 Management Today | August 2011

“How do you expect somebody else to believe in you if you don’t believe in yourself?” – Patricia Montsioa

network, network, network. Don’t wait for someone to come to you” has been some of her learning. Thandeka felt that her generation

was very talented. She expressed that many developments in the Finance and IT sectors had been happening and that she was very excited and motivated

fronts. One was achieving 2nd place overall in the Standard Bank National Traders Trophy Final. Patricia went on to share her learning from this experience with students from her own community. “I taught the students at my old school about the financial markets in South Africa and I encouraged them to further their studies”. Patricia expressed gratitude towards

CIDA for teaching her to celebrate diversity: “We were encouraged to have open discussions about topics ranging from Xenophobia, leadership, people’s HIV status. They have created an environment that feels like home. My fellow CIDA students feel like my brothers and sisters. At CIDA we, the students, were expected to help with cooking meals and keeping the campus clean. It has taught me that no task is to small or insignificant to contribute to any organisation. It has also kept me humble”. Kenyan-born Gertrude Kitongo said:

“I have to give back in some way. I do it because of my love for community and because someone has worked tirelessly to ensure that I had an opportunity to study at this wonderful institution”. Gertrude was awarded the Cambridge University Press Extra Mile Award in 2011. It started when Gertrude became a CIDA Spark in her Foundation year, a