The story of a Talented, Tenacious, Thrifty man: Thulani Khoza This young man might have had one of the most heartbreaking life stories of growing up, but today he stands resolute, buoyant and ready to take on the world! Thulani Excellent Khoza (28), is a businessman, motivational speaker and a mentor to many, and has dedicated his life to studying and excelling in the enthralling field of Computer Science and Software Engineering to name a few. His admirable thirst for education has seen him graduating at prestigious universities around the world, such as Nottingham University UK and Baker University USA, California. Khoza was born on the 10th of August at Natal Spruit hospital, east of Johannesburg. A cruel twist of fate, led to Khoza with no choice but to move to Limpopo, in a village in Guyani to live with his grandmother, when he as abandoned by his parents. Rejection for many is devastating, and according to psychologist Marie Hartell-Walker, ED.D., rejection by parents can manifest as low self-esteem, chronic self-doubt, and depression, and often this carries right through to adulthood, but the odds continued to turn against him. When he was under the care of relatives, he was sexually abused by one of his cousins, here he incurred serious physical and emotional injuries and later that same year he was involved in two accidents of which one resulted to him to being hospitalized for half a year. Through the trials and tribulations life threw at him he had no support system, no mother, no father and no one to visit him to tell him everything is going to be okay. He was alone in the cold world of suffering, often going to bed without a meal and treated like an outsider for most of his life, but Khoza’s life story is not one that ends in defeat… but ends in a victory of rising above his circumstance. Through it all Thulani was a brilliant learner at school, he was eager to learn, and acknowledged that education was the key to a better life, this when he began to dream and conceptualized his hopes and aspirations of becoming a doctor one day. Through school not only did he gain wisdom but he learned to be resourceful and resilient, and today his life is completely turned around. Khoza’s life story is an epitome of how determination, hard work and perseverance is the ultimate recipe for success and it solidifies the concept that one’s background or circumstance does not define ones destiny. Growing up with no parents, being sexually harassed and sleeping with an empty stomach on numerous occasions, with no one to support his dreams, Khoza’s tenacious spirit led him to now being Chairman of Mihloti Holdings Management which specializes in project management, telecommunications infrastructure, and transport and property investment. He possess a number of qualifications, including a BSc Computer Science, (BHons) Wits University, Software Engineering (Honors) Nottingham university UK), Graphic Design (Damelin) and MBA (Baker University USA, California.
His accomplishments include, working for big and publicly acclaimed companies in South Africa. Landing his first job in 2009 at MTN as a programmer, and then proceeded to SABC as system analyst. In 2010 he became an entrepreneur, and he secured his first contract at Neotel as a technical advisor installing base stations. He has offered information technology (engineering) services to all sectors especially in the mining sector. Today he is motivating young South Africans in high schools encouraging them achieve their dreams, as well as inspiring many in the information technology sector who sought to be successful entrepreneurs, and speaking at events where he joins the lineup that has prominent people like the Former United States Secretary of State, General Colin Powell. He has truly made a name for himself. His list of achievements continues to headway, and quoted saying “To Be One of My Greatest What I Thought Was a Curse Turned Out Blessings�, this proves that despite the lemons life threw at him, he was able to make lemonade and he now is a proficient businessman and a happy family man, who is an esteemed Information technology specialist. There is no stopping Khoza, his self-esteem has proved to be of a Lion, resilience and survival of a Camel and his heart as big as one of the blue whale. This young man is a true inspiration and role model to many young South Africans.