Cape Town - An Eastern Cape taxi boss has graduated with a PhD degree from Fort Hare University (UFH).
Dr Sakhumzi Stamper, 32, graduated with the Doctoral Degree in Business Management, forming part of the first cohort that graduated from UFH’s new qualification.
Dr Stamper, who holds an undergrad, Honours in Human Resources and a Masters degree in Business Management, all obtained at Walter Sisuslu University, said that he wanted to dispel the misconception that people in the taxi industry were uneducated.
“I have never read so much in my life, and Prof Willie Chinyamurindi (his supervisor), made me do it, simply because he wanted me to produce research that is impactful.
“He wants the best even if it means submitting a thousand times and he is very strict with deadlines.
“Above all, in our journey as candidate and supervisor, he showed me ubuntu.
“I hope my story sends a message that taxi owners are also ambitious people with quests for educational advancement.
“In this industry, we have people with degrees and I am proud to say, I am a Taxi Boss who is an Academic Doctor,” he said.
Dr Stamper who grew up in Mount Coke near Qonce in the Eastern Cape, is the youngest of seven children raised by two grandmothers, one who was a cleaner and the other was a social grant recipient.
To alleviate the financial burden he started his own informal money-lending business in primary school and by the time he got to high school, he had raised enough capital to stock up on sweets to sell.
Cape Times