Economic Freedom Fighters’ Dr. Mbuyiseni Ndlozi might have upgraded South Africa’s former president, Dr. Jacob Zuma, to a University dropout!
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“People become emotional when you say Bill Gates is a university drop out. These are the same people who would celebrate when (the) same is said about Zuma! Stop being emotional for nothing! POINT is: Gates loves money so much he left school to go become rich. That’s what drives him!” wrote Mbuyiseni Ndlozi.
Now let’s put “same is said about Zuma” into context.
People become emotional when you say Bill Gates is a university drop out.
People become emotional when you say Jacob Zuma is a university drop out.
See? “Same is said about Zuma!”
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If we look at it at a different angle, Dr. Mbuyiseni Ndlozi might have been referring to the term “drop-out” when it comes to former president Jacob Zuma. The fact is, they are both drop-outs and it should not matter the level of education they were at.
According to SAHistory.org.za his father, a policeman, died when Zuma was a young boy. Following his father’s death, he and his mother left for his mother’s parental home in kwaMaphumulo, Natal. At the age of seven or eight, Zuma began herding his grandfather’s cattle while his contemporaries went to school.
Zuma and his fellow herders would engage in traditional stick fighting, at which he allegedly excelled. His mother had wished to take him back to Nkandla but there was no school there so he was left tending the cattle and goats in kwaMaphumulo. When Jacob was still a youth, his mother for the port city of Durban where she found employment as a domestic worker, leaving her son behind.
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“I never went to school, but I educated myself. I’m proud of that,” he told pupils at Marhulana Primary School, one of the oldest schools in the country.
“I took a decision to educate myself when I realised I didn’t have a choice because my father had just died.” Jacob Zuma
Education!
According to PoliticsWeb Jacob Zuma also used the visit to boost education, one of the five priorities of the government. He was humbled by the awarding of an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters to him by Texas Southern University (TSU) in Houston.
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Zuma was awarded the degree for his leadership as well as his passion for education in government and community through the Jacob Zuma RDP Education Trust. The President was also lauded for the new partnership he has facilitated between South Africa, CAMAC International, University of Houston, Texas Southern University and the Jacob G Zuma RDP Education Trust to promote education. The partnership will see some South African students studying at Texas Southern University and the University of Houston.
The TSU honor adds to the following honorary degrees received by the President;
- Honorary Doctorate in Law by the University of Zambia, 2009
- Honorary Doctorate of Literature from the University of Fort Hare, 2001
- Honorary Doctorate of Administration from the University of Zululand, 2001
- Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy from Medical University of Southern Africa, 2001.
President Zuma was also given honorary citizenship of the City of Houston and Texas, a move seen as a sign of confidence in South Africa and the progress it is making in the country and world affairs.
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An honorary doctoral degree is often awarded in recognition of one’s life experiences. It is denoted by the letters “h.c.”, which is an abbreviation for “honoris causa” (Latin for “for the sake of honor”). This means that the degree is bestowed as an honor rather than through the completion of certain academic requirements. Those who are honored with this title often do not have any prior connection to the award-giving institution. – LADC.
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