Mbali Ngcamu (62), who graduated from Stellenbosch University (SU) this week with an MSc in Food Nutrition and Security, has never considered giving up an option.
Despite a visual impairment that ended her career as a radiographer, illness and the loss of her home in the devastating floods in KwaZulu-Natal last year, Ngcamu has remained steadfast in her determination to make the world a better and more inclusive place.
Also read: Six Cape Town libraries now in service to visually impaired patrons with learning disabilities
Her thesis, titled ‘The effects of sauerkraut on human health, nutrition and food security: a review of the literature’, looks at ways in which cabbage can be processed locally to improve food security and nutrition.
Her studies have long been motivated by a desire to better understand issues affecting local communities. Ngcamu opened a bakery franchise to support her son and siblings after an eye condition prevented her from working as a radiographer. Unfortunately, she was forced to close it due to the ‘oppressive and discriminatory’ business treatment of African women.
‘I was not ready to give up,’ she says.
She completed a BA in Social Sciences and a BCom in Small Business Development in order to assist other female entrepreneurs. She then enrolled in a postgraduate diploma in disability studies at the University of Cape Town to investigate the challenges faced by disabled female entrepreneurs. She began an MPhil in Inclusive Innovation because she was interested in how businesses could accommodate more people with disabilities, but she didn’t complete the degree because of ill health.
When Ngcamu was diagnosed with a thyroid condition that nearly killed her, she decided to enrol in a nutrition diploma programme to learn more about the role of food in optimal health. Recognising that fermented foods play an important role in healing the body, she founded a company that advocated for the elimination of foods that harm the gut.
A desire to learn more led her down a new academic path. Ngcamu decided to study the effects of fermented food on the body after experimenting on herself with products brewed and fermented in her kitchen. She enrolled at SU and focused her research on how cabbage, which is widely grown in South Africa, can help eradicate malnutrition and food insecurity.
‘By taking our own health seriously and into our own hands by choosing what we eat, we can one day have a country free of malnourished children with stunted growth,’ she says.
Ngcamu’s impaired vision has been a constant challenge throughout her academic career; she says she never anticipated the amount of reading she would need to do.
While she found it difficult to explain to course instructors that she was unable to access information due to her vision, she received ‘amazing’ support from SU’s Disability Unit. She had access to the appropriate software to convert articles into an accessible format thanks to the unit’s support and funding.
Everything was on track for Ngcamu to finish her MSc until last year’s devastating floods in KwaZulu-Natal destroyed her home. Not only did it leave her family without a roof over their heads, but it also took her laptop with assistive technology with it.
‘Only a visually impaired person will understand what it means to try and get by without the software,’ she says.
Ngcamu decided to relocate to the Western Cape in order to obtain the assistance she required and complete her thesis. She attributes her success to her supervisor, Professor Gunnar Sigge, associate professor and head of the Department of Food Science, as well as the Faculty of AgriSciences staff, including Julia Harper and Anneke Muller.
This fearless entrepreneur and academic is far from finished with her quest for knowledge. She established a gut health practice and is collaborating with the Technology Innovation Agency on a food bank project.
Future plans include starting a PhD in 2024.
Also read:
DA wins language discrimination case at Stellenbosch University
Picture: Supplied