By Ntsako Mgiba is the founder of exciting startup JONGA, a Mail & Guardian Top 200 Young South African, a Mandela Rhodes Scholar, a Mechatronics Engineering graduate (UCT) and a current Masters in Information Technology student (UCT). When a good friend and I first considered starting a business of our own,
Cape Town: a Brief Reflection
This past Tuesday, I finally said goodbye to Cape Town after 4 and a bit years. While I had anticipated to leave at the end of last year, the bonus few months I had back in the city really allowed me to refocus, reflect, learn a lot about myself and
The UCONNECT Event
This past Monday, Matthew Mercouris and I hosted our second UCONNECT event. This event, different to the last, had a specific focus on the power of collaboration. We invited a range of students who have signed up to our platform (from different faculties, backgrounds and varying skillsets) to take part in an
The Story Behind UCONNECT
For those of you who have been following me on social media, you probably would’ve gauged by now that I’ve been working on a project for most of this year. In fact, myself and two close friends, Matt (medical student) and Zolile (PGDA student), decided to pursue this idea. The
What Graduation Meant to Me
Over the course of the past few weeks, I have witnessed UCT’s graduation season in full swing. I think that one of the things that intrigued me the most was how different students (from different backgrounds) and their families react and celebrate the closing of this chapter. One the one
Corporate SA: Old Boys’ Clubs
During the course of last year (at university), reality eventually set in and I realised that I had to start looking for work opportunities for this year. Even though I had one particular goal in mind, I was well aware that I couldn’t put all of my eggs in one
Wise Words for Students from my late Grandad
What’s the harm in asking? Over the course of my university career, I found great value in the practical learnings from industry experts and businesses alike. I got into a habit of reaching out and asking for opportunities to learn and/or collaborate. I’ve also often simply reached out to conference/event
The Research Excellence Award
On Monday, Holly Beckley, Joel Perlman and I presented our Honours thesis findings at a conference at the University of Cape Town. I’m really proud to say that we received 91% for our final thesis report and topped our class for the year! As a result of this, we were
The Power of Collaboration and Synergy
One of my highlights this year has been a course called Strategic Thinking (all 4th year Business Science students at UCT are required to do it). We were randomly selected into groups of 6 to complete two major projects across both semesters. With a lot of luck, I was placed
Making University Assignments less Hypothetical
I’ve made a conscious decision to stop looking at university assignments as being purely hypothetical, but rather choose to make them more realistic and industry relevant. It’s such a pleasure being able to collaborate with open-minded, real industry leaders while studying: This past week, Pieter Groenewald and Jarrod Stewart from
