Nokubonga Zwane: She Danced on Stage and Every Step Was Earned
By Ntuthuko Mentorship Academy | Success Stories | June 2026
Reading time: 5 minutes
When Nokubonga Zwane walked across the graduation stage at the University of Zululand’s KwaDlangezwa Campus in May 2026, collected her degree and then danced – nobody in that hall was confused about why. Those who knew her story understood every single step.
This is that story.
Growing Up in Inanda: Ambition Before the Opportunity
Nokubonga was born and raised in Inanda, Durban, a township in KwaZulu-Natal with deep roots and a long history of producing people who refuse to be defined by their circumstances. She attended Khethokuhle Secondary School, where even as a teenager she showed the world something about who she was.
While her classmates were buying sweets, Nokubonga was selling them.
That entrepreneurial instinct: sharp, practical and self-driven was there long before any university degree. What she needed was a path to turn that instinct into something the world would formally recognise.
The Covid Matric: Writing Exams the World Had Never Seen
In 2020, Nokubonga sat her National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations — her matric — under conditions no generation before her had ever faced. The Covid-19 pandemic had turned South African schools upside down. Rotational timetables meant learners attended school on alternate days. Social distancing replaced the ordinary rhythms of classroom life. The national matric pass rate dropped to 76.2% that year, down from 81.3% the year before, a direct reflection of how much the Class of 2020 had been asked to carry.
Nokubonga carried it. She wrote her exams. She passed.
How being part of a community Opened the University Door
In 2021, she enrolled at the University of Zululand – one of KwaZulu-Natal’s most historically significant universities, situated at KwaDlangezwa, 142km north of Durban. She began studying towards the same qualification her sister would later pursue – a moment of family legacy that neither of them could have fully planned.
Research consistently shows that mentorship programmes are among the most effective tools for helping first-generation students not only enter university but persist through to graduation. For Nokubonga, NMA was that bridge, She spoke to grade 12’s who were doing matric in 2023.
The Setback That Became Part of the Story
Nokubonga’s university journey was not without its difficulties. One module required a second attempt — a moment that could have become the full stop on her story. Instead, it became a comma.
She kept going.
That decision – to continue, to return, to finish is arguably the most important thing Nokubonga Zwane has ever done. It is also what makes her 2026 graduation not just a certificate, but a statement.
The Voice Behind Her Perseverance: Mrs Yengwa
Behind every person who pushes through is usually someone who refused to let them give up. For Nokubonga, that person was Mrs Yengwa – currently Vice Principal at Khethokuhle Secondary School.
From emotional support on the hardest days to steady, consistent motivation when the journey felt impossible, Mrs Yengwa was a constant presence in Nokubonga’s corner. NMA provided the pathway. Mrs Yengwa provided the strength to walk it.
In 2023, Nokubonga stood up at an NMA annual camp at Khethokuhle and spoke to younger learners — passing forward exactly what had been given to her. A young woman who had survived a Covid matric, navigated university applications and kept going through setbacks, now standing in front of the next generation and telling them it was possible.
Two Sisters, One Stage
What the 2026 UNIZULU graduation ceremony at KwaDlangezwa gave the Zwane family was something the programme could never have planned. Nokubonga walked across the stage first. Then, shortly after, her sister followed.
Two sisters. Same stage. Same day. Same degree.
Read Siphesihle Zwane’s story – the sister who walked across that same stage moments later.
The family watching from the audience understood what that meant in a way words cannot fully reach.
And so when Nokubonga collected her award — she danced. Fully, freely, and without a single apology.
What Comes Next
Nokubonga Zwane graduates into a world that needs exactly what she has always had: the entrepreneurial instinct she showed selling sweets in high school, the grit she demonstrated when she refused to let one module write the end of her story, and the uncontainable joy she showed an entire graduation hall in May 2026.
Nokubonga Zwane is an NMA alumna from the Class of 2020. She graduated from the University of Zululand in 2026.
