Ntombizodwa Merriam Mahlangu beat the odds to turn her life around. Now holding a degree in communications and public administration, the South African graduate encourages people not to give up.
Her daughter was born shortly after she graduated from high school. Her family was struggling financially—her father was a construction worker, and her mother was a domestic worker—and the educational system in her community was lacking.
To support her daughter, Angel, she decided to take a job as a domestic servant, delaying her goal of becoming an electrical engineer.
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She told News24, “I left my daughter with my parents and relocated to Pretoria East where I got a part-time job as a domestic worker. I struggled to get a permanent position because I was young and people wanted an older cleaner. That was until the Cornelius family gave me an opportunity to work for them full-time.”
Relentlessly determined to learn, Mahlangu set aside a portion of her pay and purchased an extremely old computer, which she then taught herself to operate. Computer skills were needed at the different companies she applied for jobs.
When her employers saw how enthusiastic she was, they offered to upgrade her computer, which enabled her to pick up Microsoft Office.
She recounted, “I wanted to improve my self-taught skills so I enrolled at a college to do a series of short courses but it turned out not be registered and I was left with no money because I couldn’t get my registration fees back.”
The passion to make a better life for herself and her daughter motivated her to save every cent she earned toward education till she had enough to enroll with Unisa. After a year of taking office management classes, she gained employment as an administration receptionist at a physiotherapist’s office.
She took another opportunity to enroll for a degree in public administration and communication facilitation with Unisa when she found that her company offered study bursaries for staff who wanted to further their education.
Unfortunately, just as she began her learning journey, her parents passed away so her daughter came to live with her.
She shared, “I was now a full-time employee, a student, and a full-time mom.”
Despite all of the difficulties, she completed her degree in 2018 and started doing an honours degree in communication at Unisa, she said in May 2023. She was of the view that completing this course will help her gain confidence and improve her command of the English language.
She credits all of her accomplishments to her motivation—her daughter.
The 38-year-old used her hardships as a driving force to start her non-profit company, “Help One Helper,” in 2022 to provide domestic help with skill development.
She explained, “We don’t offer qualifications but we help domestic workers with skills development. We currently have 48 helpers, ranging from cleaners to gardeners and nannies, who have come to us for admin help like getting their driver’s licenses and even starting their own businesses.”
“I pay it forward because I got help from my employer to further my studies. I want to show others that we can all contribute to helping each other,” she added.
She also wrote a book titled “Brightness of Diamonds Through Soil” to shed light on overcoming the challenges of growing up in a challenging environment.
Meanwhile, Mahlangu isn’t done raising the bar to make her daughter proud; she’s set her sights on earning a PhD, she said last year.
“She’s been my biggest motivation and support system,” Mahlangu said of her daughter. “I wouldn’t do anything differently because I’ve achieved things I never dreamt of.”
