While SA was in lockdown, Tshivase couple studied on

When Covid-19 hit the world, this created many setbacks for the majority of South Africans. For Chief Steven Tshimedzambeu Tshivhase and his wife, Tintswalo Mathebula-Tshivhase, however, the opposite was true as the hard lockdown with all its restrictions provided them both with the opportunity to register for their post-graduate diplomas in business management. 

Even though this meant many late nights studying, the couple, who hail from Vhufuli outside Thohoyandou, deemed this effort worth it when they finally graduated from the Management College of Southern Africa (MANCOSA) in Cape Town on 13 May 2022.

Steven is an area coverage manager at Absa who manages business banking, private wealth banking and public sector business in the province. Tintswalo is an executive financial planner at Standard Bank who looks after clients within the Makhado and Musina municipalities.

For Steven, sharing the same stage and receiving the same qualifications as his wife was the most fulfilling moment of his life. “The feeling was out of this world. It was our proudest moment as a family. We have a lot of other banking, financial and business qualifications, but this one was special because we were competing with each other, and we both made it to the end goal. This should be a lesson to other couples that, with the support from one another, families can set goals and jointly achieve them. We encourage couples to equip themselves educationally for this ever-changing world. Young couples, especially, must make time to study while their brains are still fresh, because it might become very difficult to concentrate on their books when they get older.”

He explains how the hard lockdown positively contributed to their success: “It was not easy, but our eagerness and hunger to improve our business and financial knowledge drove us. Our family and work life has always been our main priorities, and we made sure it was not affected by our studies. We had to study until late at night, and we took advantage of the social restrictions during the hard lockdown. We felt that sitting at home and doing nothing would not benefit our lives. The lockdown allowed us more time to attend virtual classes, work on our assignments timeously, and to consult with lecturers. We took advantage of the extra time we had on our hands and used it to study.”

Obviously over the moon, Tintswalo said: “My husband and I already have our dream jobs, but we are still studying to set a good example to our children and people around us. Both of us are currently doing our Master of Business Administration (MBA) to empower ourselves educationally. Young couples must keep on improving their qualifications to be able to compete at the highest level of the labour market while creating a healthy competition with each other, like my husband and me. They must also do it for their children and future generations.”

Date:12 June 2022

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