Phinda has been deployed into the office by the South African Students Congress (SASCO) after incumbent president Skhulule Mpetsheni could not complete his term.
She says the fact that she is the first female President at CPUT has not yet sunk in to her as she was not even aware of this feat until she saw her picture posted on social media with the caption, "First female President".
“I want to thank the organisation SASCO for the deployment, the movement has shown that indeed there is no social revolution without the liberation of women as alluded to by Thomas Sankara,” she says. “The struggle for women in leadership and the fight against the patriarchal system must continue and advance.”
Phinda adds that her source of inspiration is God and the support from her family.
She commenced her studies at CPUT in 2016 when she enrolled for a Diploma in Landscape Technology, but later changed courses when she realised that her core passion was assisting people and advocating for human rights. That was how she developed passion for her current course, Nursing Science, for which she is in her third year of study.
The 27-year-old is a staunch SASCO member who previously served as Political Commissar with a mandate to organise students to work towards transformation and advocate for a single co-ordinated system in institutions of higher learning that is non-racial and non-sexist. She assures the CPUT community that the role of the CSRC is to serve and represent the interests of students with integrity, accountability, transparency and accessibility to their fellow students.
- For the duration of Women’s Month, we will be profiling several high profile CPUT women whose achievements and activities help us to become One SMART CPUT.