After an unsuccessful attempt and a dream derailed by the Covid-19 lockdown, Ntando Dube, 23, has finally secured a scholarship to study at the prestigious Oxford University in England from October 2026. Dube first set her sights on Oxford Summer School for high school leaners back in grade 11, aspiring to study law with focus in human rights or international development when she applied. She got into a Cambridge Summer School programme, but the Covid-19 global shutdowns forced her to abandon the opportunity as movement was minimised.
While I ended up pursuing actuarial sciences at the University of Pretoria which is the field I am working in currently, I am hoping to pursue an MSC in African study which is an interdisciplinary programme focusing on exploring African history, politics, society, development issues contemporary and modern-day Africa. She later revisited her goal with encouragement of her then manager as an intern. Years later, her persistence has paid off with a KwaZulu-Natal Rhodes Scholarship for 2026 which she hopes to use to bring an African lens to global questions of equity and economics.
“I have always dreamt of going to Oxford but financially it was not possible. “As a young girl from eMbali township in Pietermaritzburg, my family could not afford sending me there. In grade 11 I had applied but didn’t get in but got into another, the Cambridge Summer School, but was not able to attend because of Covid,” Dube told Sowetan.
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She said now seeing that dream coming to reality is exciting and humbling for her. “That really speaks to my humanity interest and lifelong interest in development studies and international relation. It’s really an opportunity to go there and learn from other people and presenting the South African lens and come back having something to offer to my country beyond just my current capability.” When asked on what she hoped to take to Oxford about SA, Dube said the country has gems and she will be reframing the narrative as well as framing Africa and SA in a very positive light. “I think one thing I’ve come to realise is that as South Africans, we’ve got to get it done mentality and so I hope to embody that.
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