For the three Mohwaduba sisters, choosing the University of Pretoria (UP) to pursue their tertiary studies was a no-brainer.

“UP has, as an institution, established itself as arguably one of the best universities in our respective faculties namely, the Faculty of Law, which has been named the best Law Faculty in Africa on numerous occasions, the Faculty of Economic Management Sciences, especially in the space of Accounting Sciences with respect to board exam first time passes, and the Faculty of Medicine,” says Mathabo Mohwaduba, who completed her  LLB degree in 2017 and an LLM degree in the “Extractive Industry in Africa” in 2018.

Her older sisters, Dr Mmatumelo Mohwaduba completed her MBChB degree in 2012 and Tebogo Mohwaduba CA(SA) who completed her BCom Accounting Sciences degree in 2012 and a BCom Accounting Sciences (Hons)/ CTA degree in 2013.

In addition to UP faculties dominating and ranking highly in the sisters’ chosen fields of study,  they decided to complete their qualifications at UP because Pretoria is not far from their hometown, Emalahleni, in Mpumalanga where their retired single mother is based.

Mmatumelo is a self-employed Medical Officer working at emergency units and local municipality clinics in Gauteng and Mpumalanga. She owns Mo-Health, a holding company for various subsidiaries including Mohwaduba Health Care Clinics, with the flagship location in Emalahleni, Mpumalanga, which specialises in women’s health and young male circumcisions.

Tebogo, a qualified Chartered Accountant, works in the corporate and investment banking division at Rand Merchant Bank, a division of FirstRand Bank Limited. Mathabo is currently a second-year candidate attorney in Finance, Projects and Restructuring at DLA Piper South Africa, an international law firm based in Johannesburg.

Mathabo believes a legal qualification allows graduates to work in a wide range of sectors.

“Both my qualifications in law have enabled me the awesome privilege to occupy amazing positions in various areas in and outside of the ordinary scope of practice, the highlights of which include clerking for Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng at the Constitutional Court of South Africa and working for the United Nations at its Head Quarters in New York, USA,” she said.

For Mmatumelo, the highlight of her career happened just a week into her community service.  

“All the senior doctors took leave. I was left alone in the hospital and conducted all the ward rounds, namely: medical, surgical (both male and female wards), obstetrics and paediatrics and thereafter the clinic.”

“I am proud and relieved to say that no fatalities occurred in those two weeks. I did not enjoy it, but it showed me my capabilities. We can do more than what we think, sometimes even with the limited resources we have.”

On what it takes to succeed professionally, Tebogo says people should not just rely on motivation to get them to the finish line.

“Discipline makes the biggest difference,” she says.

“Be prepared to sacrifice something for the career and life that you want. To achieve what others have not, you have to do that which others are not willing to do. We are often told about work-life balance but for me, life is about what needs to be prioritised in each season. Through it all, keep God at the centre and do not neglect your talents and passions.”

The sisters, particularly Mathabo, say having gone through the hands of brilliant lecturers at UP and being associated with the institution is a competitive advantage.

Tebogo believes that alumni can build a strong network of professionals from all types of backgrounds with different skills. Alumni can then bring their accumulated experience and knowledge in the working environment to the academic arena and contribute to the evolvement of education and innovation of their alma mater.

“Moreover, they are at the forefront of the evolution of industries and should feed that back to the training ground, with interactions with the alma mater’s leadership and especially the students, who are the future captains of all industries,” says Tebogo.

Mmatumelo advises budding UP students to do their research to see how universities are ranked in their chosen courses.

“Look up professionals in the office you aspire to hold locally, provincially, nationally and internationally. More often than not, you will find that UP is up there; the acronym says it all.”