News24 | From cleaner to cum laude: TUT worker bags master’s in engineering

• Mpho Makgotlho balanced full-time cleaning duties at TUT’s Pretoria campus with postgraduate research, graduating cum laude with a master’s in metallurgical engineering.
• After losing his job at a Mpumalanga gold mine, the father started making and selling cleaning products to earn an income and support his young son.
• Makgotlho hopes to register for a PhD in January 2027 and develop new ways to help the mining industry extract minerals more effectively.

A 40-year-old Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) cleaner who once struggled to provide for his young son after losing his job at a gold mine has graduated cum laude with a master’s degree in metallurgical engineering.

Mpho Makgotlho, originally from Mabopane, Pretoria, graduated last week after balancing his duties as a cleaner at TUT’s Pretoria campus with his postgraduate research.

His journey to the qualification included unemployment, starting a detergent business with money borrowed from his mother and finding a way to continue his education despite financial difficulties.

“When I completed my master’s degree cum laude, it was a mixed emotional feeling. I don’t even know how to explain it. I was so happy,” Makgotlho told News24.

He initially studied metallurgical engineering at TUT, completing his diploma in 2011 before obtaining a BTech qualification through part-time studies.

He subsequently found work at a gold mine in Mpumalanga, where he worked as a trainee supervisor, spending much of his time in the laboratory and refinery.

Makgotlho worked there for just under four years before the company encountered financial difficulties and the mine closed, leaving him unemployed before the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Life was so difficult because I had a baby, a son, whom I needed to provide for. I couldn’t provide because I was jobless,” he said.

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With job applications yielding few results, Makgotlho decided to use the skills he had acquired while helping develop cleaning products and training small businesses.

He approached his mother for a loan to buy the chemicals needed to manufacture pine gel and dishwashing liquid.

He then went door to door, demonstrating his products to potential customers, explaining how they worked and convincing people to buy them. He also sold the detergents to people collecting their social grants.

The business grew sufficiently for him to repay his mother and continue generating an income.

Makgotlho also explored recovering gold from discarded computer and cellphone circuit boards, drawing on his experience in gold refining. He and a friend secured the interest of a potential investor, but Covid-19 restrictions disrupted the project.

“I couldn’t just sit and do nothing. I needed to do something while I was waiting for the door for a job to open,” he said.

From cleaner to master’s graduate

In 2020, Makgotlho saw an advertisement for a permanent cleaning position at TUT and applied. Another company also interviewed him for a more senior position, but only the university offered him a job.

He started working as a cleaner at the Pretoria campus in January 2022.

Rather than viewing the position as the end of his professional ambitions, he saw an opportunity to continue his education.

With his BTech qualification already completed, he registered for his master’s degree while working full-time.

The arrangement required him to dedicate his afternoons to research after finishing his cleaning duties.

“I had to make sure that I balanced my work and my studies,” he said.

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Initially, he struggled with the idea of working as a cleaner while pursuing postgraduate studies.

“I was a cleaner, and at the same time, I was pursuing my postgraduate studies. I was not confident at all,” he said.

However, the experience changed his understanding of the importance of cleaning staff in the workplace.

“You can’t work in a dirty space. A cleaner has a huge impact on productivity. When the place is clean, you can produce good results,” he said.

“That’s when I realised the importance of cleaners. They are very important. Every company needs a cleaner.”

His master’s research focused on extracting platinum group metals from chrome tailings using flotation and leaching processes. TUT identified his dissertation as “Extraction of Platinum Group of Metals from Chrome Tailings Using Flotation and Different Lixiviants”.

Looking towards a PhD

Makgotlho’s academic ambitions extend beyond his master’s degree. He has submitted his doctoral abstract and hopes to register for a doctorate in January 2027, with plans to defend his research proposal in February.

He hopes to use his experience in refining to develop solutions that could help the mining industry extract minerals more effectively.

“I want to do something different for myself. Maybe I can invent something that will help the mining industry,” he said.

He also continues to pursue his detergent business and has partnered with a manufacturing company producing skincare products, according to TUT’s account of his journey.

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Makgotlho said having a clear goal, discipline, and an interest in one’s chosen path are essential to overcoming challenges.

“Whatever you do, put your mind to it. Put your whole soul into it, and you will do well,” he said.

He also encouraged people to turn to their faith during difficult times.

“Sometimes there are challenges, and you feel weak. You feel as if your strength is gone. That’s when you need to pray and ask God, ‘Please, I need your strength.’ Then you’ll find the strength to carry on.”

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