Strong representation of UJ academics in the 2019 Mail & Guardian 200 YOUNG South Africans

June 28, 2019

News

On a yearly basis, the Mail & Guardian publishes a list of 200 exceptional and notable young people under the age of 35 in its “200 Young South Africans” list. This year, the University of Johannesburg (UJ) is proud to have 17 of our graduates featured on this list. The names were announced at a gala event on Thursday, 27 May 2019 in Sandton.

To be featured on the list is a great feat, as many of the people who have appeared previously have gone on to achieve great things and become influencers in various fields, on the national and global stage. UJ Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Tshilidzi Marwala is one of those, having featured in the 2005 inaugural awards. There is also his former doctoral student, Msizi Khoza, chief of staff at ABSA and Fulufhelo Nelwamondo, executive director of modeling and digital scat the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, as well as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town, Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng. The list of movers and shakers goes on… This year, the list was published in partnership with Nedbank and eNCA.

The following UJ graduates featured in the Top 200 list:

	Sizwe Mkhwanazi (PhD candidate in Education, University of Oxford)Sizwe Mkhwanazi, 26 is studying PhD at Oxford University where his research topic examines ecosystems and collaboration in the field of entrepreneurship education.
	Moletsi Mirage Taiwe (Farmer) Moletsi Mirage Taiwe, 23, persuaded a technical course in crop production at Buhle Farmers Academy, where she learned practicalities of becoming a farmer.
	Dr Melissa Card, makes the 2019 Mail & Gaurdian’s top 200 young South Africans list. This past June, our very own Dr Melissa Card (Senior Lecturer and Clinical Psychologist) made the 2019 Mail and Gaurdian’s top 200 young South Africans list!! Dr Card got featured for her work around teaching and learning in higher education. She is otherwise known (AKA) as the teaching and learning policy “chief whip” in the department. Dr Card is serious goals! (as the young millennial’s say). See link for details. #UJPsychology #Ourlecturersarecoolerthanyours
	Bhaso Ndzendze (Research Director, Centre for Africa-China Studies)Bhaso Ndzendze, 23, wears two professional hats. He is both research director and junior lecturer in the department of politics and International Relations. His greatest contribution to Africa-China studies was cited in a book published by Oxford University press. He also published a book “Africa: The Continent we construct, was published in 2015 by Pretoria based Verity Publishers, when he was only 19.
	Dr Mpho Raborife (Senior Lecturer, Computational Linguistics)Dr Mpho Raborife, 30, is a computer science academic whose achievements include winning the L’Oreal Women in Science Scholarship in 2013. In this role, her focus using both computer science and linguistics phonology, is on limitations of human languagetechnologies and how they can be improved using phonology.
	Prof Kapil Moothi (Head of Department of Chemical Engineering)Prof Kapil Moothi, 33, enjoys academia as it allows him to conduct further research in the role of nanotechnology in environmental engineering for the treatment of water and waste water.
	Dr Tebogo Mashifana (Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Engineering)Dr Tebogo Mashifana, 32, is passionate about providing solutions to challenges related to environmental pollution. Her research is on the beneficiation of solid wastes and the development of technologies to render the wastes useful for other applications such as in building and construction.
	Dr Mpho Tshivase (UJ Alumni & Senior Lecturer at UP)Dr Mpho Tshivase, 33, obtained her PhD in Philosophy at UJ and is the first black woman to achieve this significant accolade in South Africa.
	Angel Nefuri (Advanced life support paramedic, HALO Aviation)Angel Nefuri, 32, enrolled for a health sciences emergency medical care qualification at UJ. Today he is an advanced life support emergency care practitioner – a flight paramedic with a helicopter emergency medical service company.
	Dr Phumulani Msomi (Chemistry Lecturer)Dr Phumulani Msomi, 30, is a young, vibrant chemistry lecturer and his research focus is on the development of membrane fuel cells that can produce energy with alcohol. Energy is an important issue in SA as we look for solutions to stabalise our energy sources and move towards cleaner forms of energy generation and storage.
	Prof Philiswa Nomngongo (Associate Professor)Dr Philiswa Nomngongo, 34, is one of the young Black female leading researcher in the field of Science Technology, Engineering and Math’s (STEM) field with a specialization in the fields of analytical and environmental chemistry.
	Humna Malik (Engineer, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research- CSIR)Humna Malik, 26, during her honours year at UJ, she completed a project in renewable energy and converted her department’s boardroom and admin block to run a solar power and the system is still up and running today.
	Palesa Dee Jay Manaleng (Journalist & Athlete)Palesa Dee Jay Manaleng (32), Studies Public Relations and Communications at UJ, after a cycling accident that left her paralyzed and a complete paraplegic, she didn’t stop to pursue her dreams. She resumed her sporting career. She represented SA in two para-cycling worldcups in 2016 and 2019 and has won numerous awards.
	Maanda Tshifularo (Head of Dialdirect Insurance at Telesure Group Services and Founder of SuperLead) Maanda started his career as a chemical engineer at Mintek, then transitioned to be a Management Consultant at McKinsey & Deloitte Consulting. He has held management and executive roles at MTN SA, Discovery Health and 1Life Insurance where he currently heads up operations.
	Sibusiso Reuben Bakana (Magister Technologiae of Electrical Engineering graduate) Mr Sibusiso Reuben Bakana, is a Magister Technologiae of Electrical Engineering graduate at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and has acquired a presidential scholarship in China, after he excelled academically.
	Rendani Mbhuvha (Actuary & Machine Learning Researcher) Rendani Mbuvha is a South African Machine Learning Masters Student and Swedish Institute Scholar at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. He has previously served as Product Development Actuary at Barclays Africa and Actuarial Analyst at Discovery Health. He is a Fellow of the Actuarial Society of South Africa (FASSA) and Chartered Enterprise Risk Actuary (CERA). He is currently studying Doctor of Philosophy- PhD, Artificial Intelligence.
	Linford Moloadi (UJ Master of Education (MEd) in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) student) Mr Linford Molaodi, a University of Johannesburg (UJ) Master of Education (MEd) in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) student has walked away with the best teacher award in the category of “Excellence in technology enhanced education” hosted by the Department of Basic Education (DBE) during the 19th National Teaching Awards (NTAs).