Despite working a 12-hour shift a day for four days a week, a determined Siphenkosi Nqoro (29), who works as a petrol attendant at a filling station in Mdantsane, has overcome the odds and obtained an LLB degree from the University of Fort Hare’s (UFH) East London Campus.
Nqoro, who hails from Qonce (formerly King William’s Town) got his law degree from UFH on November 12.
He credits determination, discipline, a passion for law, family support, the support of his supervisor and that of his colleagues for having achieved his dream of being a qualified lawyer.
“I started my full-time job as a petrol attendant in 2015 and the following year, I decided to enrol with UFH for an LLB to pursue the dream I always had of being a lawyer one day. Studying full-time and working full-time has not been easy because sometimes I would work a night shift and immediately after knocking off from work, I had to rush to an 8am class at university,” Nqoro said.
“To accommodate both my studies and my work I would sometimes ask my supervisor at work to put me on weekend shifts for my work hours not to clash with my studies,” he said.
He said both his parents were unemployed, which meant that quitting his job to focus on his studies was not an option.
“I did not have the privilege of getting money from my parents every month. Instead, I would use the monthly meal allowance stipend from NSFAS to buy groceries for my parents and siblings back home,” said Nqoro.
Although he still works as a petrol attendant, Nqoro said his dream was to be an admitted lawyer and open his law firm one day, with civil and criminal law being his areas of interests in the legal fraternity.
Nqoro matriculated from Toise Senior Secondary School in Nonkcampa village, outside Qonce, in 2010, but a lack of funds meant he could not immediately enrol at a tertiary institution to pursue his dream of studying law, until 2016.
