Petrol attendant qualifies as nurse

FOR three years Thulani Dlamini lived on a staple diet of bread and polony as he saved his penny’s to register for university.

This was during his time as a petrol attendant in Ixopo.

But that is all in the past for the former Zululander who graduated from the University of Zululand last week with a degree in Nursing Science.

After finishing matric in 1998, Thulani was unemployed for eight years, only surviving on doing small jobs.

Although he had passed his matric with exemption, his mother, who was a farm worker at the time, could not afford to send him to university.

It was only in 2006 that he found formal employment as a petrol attendant in Ixopo.

‘I got the job through my brother who drives petrol tankers, and moved to Ixopo,’ said Thulani.

‘In the beginning I was earning up to R500 a fortnight. I had to pay rent, give money to my mother and save some for university.’

Three years later, in January 2010, he resigned from his job believing he had saved enough.

‘I had saved R10 000 in those three years and I knew I wanted to go to the university to study. Being a petrol attendant was never going to be my destiny.’

University life

In 2010 he enrolled for a BSc foundation course at the University of Zululand.

‘It was difficult because I had never done physics before.’

Adding to the stress was his financial constraints.

Thulani could not find residence on campus and was left with no choice but to rent a room off-campus.

With the help of his pensioner mother he pulled through and the following year he registered for the four-year degree in Nursing Science, which he completed last year.

Thulani is now doing his community service at Estcourt Hospital. Although his journey to success did not come easily, he hopes it will inspire many other who are faced with a similar situation.