Nothing is impossible
For Thabiso Ramosolo, life is as much about as giving back as getting on. Whether that is mentoring graduates in his job as Head of Murex at Elenjical Solutions, or running a school for disadvantaged children from his home, Thabiso believes education is the key to the possible.
Growing up in rural South Africa with no access to running water or electricity taught Thabiso Romosolo from an early age to make best use of the cards he’s dealt. Thabiso recalls the early peaceful mornings in the Bush on his way to get water from a well, and how he vowed then to be counted in everything he does.
This understanding – and all the knowledge he has subsequently gained in a remarkable career – has been the bedrock of his life – taking him from modest beginnings in a one-bedroom house in Glen Cowie in remote Limpopo to a life with so many possibilities to do well and help others. While you can take the boy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the boy, Thabiso has done more than most to give back to the community, and foster success to those less fortunate. Parental influence The second of four children, Thabiso was born in 1983 and grew up in the dying days of Apartheid. His mother was a nurse, while his father was both a teacher and a pastor. Although simple people, they so believed in education that they spent an incredible 75% of their wages on sending their children to boarding school. |
“When I went to St. Mark’s College at 11, I couldn’t speak a word of English,” says Thabiso. “It was really hard, but I was never going to be a dropout – I was there to be counted. And it was there I discovered my passion for learning and the opportunities it could open up.”
From school, Thabiso’s education became supercharged, with him winning a scholarship to study Information Systems at the University of KwaZulu Natal. “It was funny – I’d never even used a computer before – now I was learning how to program them!” After this Thabiso did a second degree in Economics, followed by another scholarship that got him a master’s in Economics. Amazingly, of 20,000 applicants to an Accenture IT management trainee scheme, Thabiso won one of the only 20 places offered.