Renewed hope for Thuthuka Grant Award recipient

Department of Chemical Engineering Lecturer, Dr Buntu Godongwana, who was recently awarded the Thuthuka Grant Award for 2021, says the financial support will assist in the procurement of equipment and materials required for his team’s research.

“It will also assist us in participating in various forums, local and abroad, in order to share ideas and engage fellow researchers in our chosen field,” Godongwana remarks.

The recipients were recently announced by the National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Department of Science and Innovation. The new Thuthuka awards are for applicants who responded to the 2021 call for applications and have been made according to the strategic objectives of the Thuthuka Funding Instrument and the available budget.

Godongwana says his team’s NRF grant application was made to support fundamental and applied research about the Photocatalytic Oxidation (PCO) of Hydrocarbons. “Catalysts are broadly defined as substances that enable a chemical reaction to proceed at a faster rate, without them undergoing any permanent chemical change. They occur all around nature, such as enzymes in the human body facilitate all the biochemical reactions that sustain life.

“The specific catalysts of interest for our research are heterogeneous catalysts applied in Agri-food preservation.”

The Gugulethu born academic continues: “We are very excited with our successful application. The NRF Thuthuka award is aimed at supporting emerging researchers to develop into more established researchers, thereby increasing the pool of knowledge generation and innovation in South Africa.

“We are more excited by the prospect of supporting prospective Master’s and Doctoral students as this fund allows us.”   

During his studies, Godongwana was selected as one of a group of eight students to receive the inaugural Mandela-Rhodes Foundation (MRF) scholarship, and he was also named the Learning Cape Festival Icon by the Western Cape Government. During his doctorate studies, he was awarded a Fulbright scholarship as a visiting researcher for 12 months at Montana State University.

Reverting back to the NRF Thuthuka award, Godongwana says more than the monetary value, the award serves as an affirmation and recognition of their hard work in contributing to the advancement of ‘our chosen area of research’.  “It means others recognise our work and desire to see more from us in the future. The award will assist in capacity building in the University, but it is also a recognition that the research undertaken at CPUT is of an appreciable level of competence.”   

Godongwana continues: “The future belongs to those who prepared for it and there is no greater preparation for the future than empowering yourself with knowledge”. This is the mantra that inspires us… It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that the child of a farm worker can become the president of a great nation”. Our progression from the humble beginnings in the township of Gugulethu to sharing our ideas in international platforms with world leaders in our discipline is living testimony of Madiba’s words.”

Godongwana and his team have started a youth organisation in Gugulethu to educate young people about the dangers of alcohol abuse, teenage pregnancies, and HIV awareness.

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
Email: boyceap@cput.ac.za