Basic Education

Musa was rejected and bullied within his village and at school for being poor, skinny and dark. Musa struggled to focus on his studies and grew resentful towards  school and dropped out numerous times. Musa’s teachers would search for his whereabouts and when they found him, they would force him to return to school – because he was talented, particularly in mathematics and music. He received  financial and emotional support from some of his teachers, to encourage him to focus on his school work. He found favour with his teachers.

Though Musa’s mother did not have an opportunity to go to school she did a thorough job of instilling discipline and the importance of education in Musa’s life.  A widow with no financial means, she tried her best to support Musa and his siblings with the meagre  earnings, ensuring that they have clothes and food. Musa still remembers his mother’s words when she would shout at him after missing school, “…I brought you into the world, but in the end, I am not responsible for what you become….Uzifundela wena (you are studying for yourself)”.

Unfortunately, all six of his siblings dropped out of School to look for job opportunities in Verulam as domestic workers and gardeners for Indian families. This left Musa as the only school going child in his family. Musa always knew from his mother’s teachings that the pathway out of poverty was through education, and promised himself that, as hard as it was and no matter the costs, he would not give up on school and his dreams. He considers his mother as a woman of tremendous determination, faith and courage, and blessed to have had a mother like her. He also believes that the source of his own determination was her great strength and love.

The hardships Musa’s mother endured caused her s  great emotional and physical strain. There were many instances, when  she fell ill causing her to refrain from and not working for a month or two. This left them dependent on help from friends, family and church members to get by. Musa took up working at his mother’s employer property as a gardener to raise money for his school fees, R70 per annum.  Through great determination coupled with the help of his mothers and teachers, he made it to matric. Musa often told his peers that he aspired to study at Wits University and become a doctor of science. when Musa was in Grade 9, Zodwa Ngcobo, a fellow church member and nurse by profession who offered to look after him and pay for the remainder of his studies., This  included  paying for his transport to attend additional support al Saturday classes in Tongaat, north of Durban. Her assistance blew Musa’s mind away and motivated him to focus all his energy on his education. As a Matric student, he found himself and his classmates without a Mathematics and Physical Science teacher. So he taught himself and others mathematics, physical science and biology. He obtained 100% for maths and 98% for physical science in matric. In doing so he became the first pupil in the history of the province to obtain 100% in maths.

Challenges and milestones 

In 2004, Musa’s mother and sister (who had two children at the time) became critically ill and were both admitted into the same ward at Osindisweni Hospital in KwaZulu-Natal. They both needed constant supervision and visits, and Musa was the only one to provide it since all his siblings had moved out of his mother’s house to look for opportunities elsewhere. This was a difficult period for Musa. He would travel from Johannesburg to Durban every Friday to help them through the pain and trauma. In some cases, Musa missed classes and stayed in Durban to care for his mother and sister using his bursary money. He was often concerned about supporting himself and those dependent upon him with the little he had, but he knew that he owed whatever he had become and would become to his mother. Around November 2004, a week before his final undergraduate exams, his mother’s and sister’s illness worsened and they both died within a day of each other. After hearing this shocking news, Musa’s dreams were shuttered and he felt like there was nothing left for him to live for. In 2005, Musa brought his sister’s two young daughters back to Johannesburg to live with him. He had no plan and resources. The three of them lived on and off in University libraries and classrooms for years. One day, a fellow student, Celeste Johnson, took him home for a meal with her family. Her parents, Ed and Rose Thomas, invited him and his nieces to stay with them full time, and they became his parents. Despite the pain of his mother’s and sister’s death and the responsibility of raising her sister’s daughters, he also experienced great love and blessing through people that surrounded him. Despite all the trauma and hardships that Musa went through in his childhood and at University level, he continued to excel in his studies achieving high grades. In 2007 and 2008 Musa graduated with BSc degree (majoring in maths, physics and computer science) and BSc honours degree in Geophysics, becoming the first one in his family to do.

The first black South African Geoscience professor:

In 2019, Musa was promoted to Reader or associate professor owing to his academic excellence mainly research and postgraduate students supervision, becoming, once again, the first black South African professor in Geosciences. Musa is also a director of the Wits Seismic Research Centre which he established himself in 2015. The Centre specializes in providing world-class geophysical training to undergraduate and postgraduate students from across Africa (and beyond) who plan to pursue careers in oil and gas exploration, mineral industry, and academia. He is currently based at the University of the Witwatersrand where he teaches undergraduate students and supervises postgraduate students. During his spare time, Musa teaches maths and physical science in township schools and also works through various organisations to help young people enhance their understanding of science.

Motivation behind the Dr Musa Manzi Foundation:

Musa wanted to establish a foundation as one of the vehicles he would use to demonstrate why education is so terribly important to invest in, both financially and by simply taking an interest in a young person’s future. Musa believes that South Africa is blessed with a great wealth of human young talent, however sometimes their difficult past childhood events, as demonstrated by his difficult life-journey, may hinder their ability to discover their own talent and achieve great goals. His life’s story demonstrates that we all need to draw positivity in any difficult situation: there are many hidden gems like Musa in this country with the potential to rise to greatness if given a little help and compassion. There has never been a better time to be more open to helping young people reach their dreams, whether it’s financially or through mentoring a learner or university student. And Dr Musa Manzi Foundation provides such a platform to change and transform South Africa. For in the words of the American philosopher John Dewey: “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.”