Thembi.

[Tyla @Tyllaaaaaaa]

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[Thembi. @thembae_]

@Tshego_M12 Na I’m sorry this sent me but spot on 😂🤧

[University of KwaZulu-Natal @UKZN]

For years, Onazo Daniso balanced life as a medical student by day and a part-time nurse by night. While physically and emotionally taxing, she kept going fueled by the strong conviction that her true calling lay in being a doctor.

On Wednesday, that belief was vindicated as she crossed the graduation stage at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), earning her Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree,
cum laude.

The 29-year-old, now an intern at Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital in Durban, achieved what once seemed impossible. Her cum laude pass reflects an academic average of at least 75% across all her modules which is a remarkable feat for anyone, but even more so for someone who spent years juggling work, study, student leadership, financial hardship, and the emotional weight of front-line pandemic duty.

“I have always wanted to be a doctor. I can’t imagine doing anything else. I love my job I think I would have been miserable doing something else,” she said shortly after her graduation.

Daniso’s love for medicine began in the Eastern Cape town of Lusikisiki, where she grew up witnessing the healthcare struggles of rural communities. The idea of becoming a doctor was further planted in her mind while in Grade 11 and living with her uncle in King Williams Town.

“I was attending extra classes that were funded by Cell C to help pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. One of the teachers pulled me aside and suggested I consider medicine. At first, I
doubted myself,” she said.

In 2013 while in Matric she applied to study medicine at the University of the Free State but was only accepted to study nursing—her second choice.
She began her Nursing degree in 2014, but financial struggles threatened to derail her success.

Her determination didn’t waver. She wrote directly to the university’s Vice-Chancellor. The gamble paid off: her first year fees were cleared, and a door opened for a private bursar to fund her studies from second year.
NSFAS later funded her final two years. By 2018, she had completed her nursing degree and had to undertake one year of paid community service.

Earning money felt good but she still couldn’t shake the feeling that she wasn’t where she was meant to be.

“I always told my colleagues I was going back to study medicine. I needed to understand more and to be part of the decision-making,” she explained.
But another hurdle remained. Her bursary conditions required her to work for the sponsoring company for three years after her community service.
Rather than give up, Daniso started saving aggressively – setting aside more than two thirds of her salary each month.

“I continued living like a student just to save money,” she said. By year-end, she had scraped together the R116,000 needed to repay the bursar and some money needed to register at UKZN.

She began her medical degree at UKZN in 2019. In the first month of study (February) she commuted between Bloemfontein and Durban, attending classes on her off days. This was because she still had to fulfill her contractual obligations for community service until the end of that month.

In March, she relocated fully to Durban. Funding remained uncertain and she later launched a BackaBuddy campaign, raising R11,000, and later returned to part-time nursing to stay afloat.
Then came COVID-19 in 2020. “We were sent home and only returned to campus around June,” she said. As lockdowns deepened and hospitals filled, Daniso took shifts in high-risk wards, the so-called “red zones”.

“In December, I worked at a private hospital. I was the nursing sister, working six night shifts a week with just one day off. So many patients died. I still remember some of their faces. I hated the system and how powerless it made us feel.”

The trauma caught up with her. She took a break from nursing to protect her mental health and regroup. Even so, the chaos of the pandemic only sharpened her determination to pursue medicine.

“It made me more certain that I needed to become a doctor.” She returned to her studies and, in
the years that followed, continued to work and study under intense pressure.

She made the best of her years as a student even holding key student leadership positions.
“I felt the need to serve my community and so I served as a student leader. I think I was motivated by all the hardships I had faced as a student. I kept on seeing these gaps that needed
to be plugged”.

She was voted into the SRC in 2021/2022 and in 2023/2024 was voted as the finance officer for medical school.

She had to relinquish that position a month later after she received a scholarship to study at the University of Graz in Austria. In her final year of study, she was the final year Class Representatives and Final Year Committee chairperson.
Now working as an intern doctor at Prince Mshiyeni Hospital, Daniso has no regrets. She is looking forward to the road ahead.

#UKZNGrad2025 #UKZN #InspiringGreatness #AfricanExcellence #Inspired2032

[Thembi. @thembae_]

This current version of myself is the best version to have ever existed

I’m in the best space

[Thembi. @thembae_]

I don’t think I’ll ever get over Pose. Ever.

[Thembi. @thembae_]

@Tshego_M12 I thought everyone is pro Arsenal?