More than most, Ntokozo Qwabe would have been justified in raising a glass to his good fortune as he dined at a fashionable Cape Town café in the shadow of Table Mountain last week.

One of 13 children born to the two wives of his polygamous Zulu father, Ntokozo grew up in an impoverished rural part of South Africa, where he played football barefoot in fields and herded cattle.

His father worked as a school caretaker, earning less than £4 a day.

Ntokozo Qwabe, pictured here during January's Oxford University debate about the future of the Cecil Rhodes statue, has been criticised by the ANC for being 'foolish' and 'racist'

From such unpromising beginnings, this young man rose to the rank of Oxford scholar, obtaining a law degree from the renowned university, and could well have expected to be revered as a role model.

Events, however, have unfolded somewhat differently. For, as we shall see, his visit to the café last week has ignited an international race row — centring, somewhat ludicrously, on his actions towards one unlucky white waitress, who was reduced to tears.

Undoubtedly, Qwabe’s early life was one of hardship. But, through a combination of talent and hard work (not to mention bursaries from the government), he won a place at the University of Cape Town.

Then, in 2014, he hit the jackpot with a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University, following in the footsteps of the likes of Bill Clinton, the former U.S. president.

Waitress Ashleigh Schultz (pictured) took umbrage when Qwabe and his pal left a sarcastic note saying they would leave a tip when 'you return the (white-owned) land'

As well as the opportunity to study at Oxford, Qwabe’s accommodation and other expenses — including return flights to South Africa — were all paid by the scholarship, including a staggering ‘stipend’ of some £13,000.

The scholarship — which was set up following the death in 1902 of Cecil Rhodes, the British-born mining magnate and African colonialist — requires that, as well as academic excellence, those accepted should exhibit ‘sympathy for and protection of the weak, kindliness, unselfishness and an interest in one’s fellow beings’.

The South African, now 24, graduated last year at a ceremony attended by his mother.

‘It was her (his mother’s) first time on an aeroplane,’ Qwabe told one interviewer, describing his joy that he could share the ‘precious moment’ with his mother.

On his return to South Africa last year, he was treated as a celebrity, a rags-to-riches hero who proved black skin is no impediment to advancement.

At a reception held for him by powerful South African dignitaries, he spoke of his desire to ‘give back’.

In 2014 Qwabe received the UKZN Distinguished Student Award and the Mandela Rhodes Scholarship (pictured). He was seen as the ultimate advert for the modern South Africa

Ashleigh Schultz does not share in this adulation, however.

She was the waitress who recently had the misfortune to serve Qwabe at Obz Cafe, the establishment on the slopes of Table Mountain.

A white woman forced to drop out of university due to costs, Schultz has worked there for the past four years while caring for her sick mother, a former nurse, who has cancer.

A friendly, outgoing person, Ashleigh served Qwabe and his friend all afternoon without incident. But she was shocked when Qwabe handed her back the bill.

Her customers had scrawled a crude note.

‘We will give tip when you return the land,’ they had written, in reference to calls by some black radicals for Zimbabwe-style seizures of white-owned land.

Upset, Ashleigh told a colleague.

He approached the sniggering pair and asked them what the problem was, whereupon Qwabe railed against whites in a lengthy diatribe.

The waiter then asked the pair to leave, saying the café did not need business like theirs.

Oxford University (pictured) have issued a statement saying: 'Our students may voice opinions which others believe to be misguided or which they find offensive. They have a right to do this, but in exercising it we expect them to respect other people and the law’

We know this not just from conversations with Ashleigh and her colleagues at Obz Cafe, which employs both black and white staff.

Qwabe posted a gloating report of his part in the incident on his Facebook page afterwards, and rejoiced in the ‘white tears’ of his victim.

‘LOL [laugh out loud] wow unable to stop smiling because something so black, wonderful LIT (literally) just happened!’ he wrote.

‘Anyways, so this white woman goes to her colleagues who are furious. She exits to cry at the back & a white male colleague of hers reluctantly comes out to address us & to annoy us more with his own white tears telling us that he finds our act “racist”.

‘Moral of the story: the time has come when no white person will be absolved . . .We are here, and we want the stolen land back. No white person will be out here living their best life while we are out here being a landless and dispossessed black mass. No white person shall rest. It is irrelevant whether you personally have land/wealth or you don’t.’

For a man whose ambition is to become a judge at the Constitutional Court in South Africa, this diatribe may not prove wise.

It was the friend who accompanied Qwabe — Wandile Dlamini, who describes himself as a ‘radical non-binary (meaning a person who does not identify as male or female) trans black activist’ — who actually scribbled the note.

But it was the higher-profile Qwabe who handed it to their waitress, and his comments online have sparked a major row. By last night, almost 50,000 people had signed a petition calling for him to be expelled from Oxford, where he is now studying for a masters degree in public policy.

Even South Africa’s ruling African National Congress, which was led by Nelson Mandela who became the country’s first black president in 1994, has condemned his ‘racist’ actions, which are illegal under the country’s constitution.

‘Ntokozo Qwabe’s behaviour is as much borderline criminal behaviour as it is helplessly foolish,’ says ANC spokesman Yonela Diko.

With his actions dominating debate in a country crackling with racial tensions, he faces being reported to the South African Human Rights Commission, which investigates cases of racism.

Ashleigh Schultz has said: ‘I’m glad that so many people have stood up against racism. Remember, an eye for an eye makes the world blind. You cannot show hatred for someone you are entirely clueless about because of something that happened in the past.’

Qwabe is unabashed. ‘White people have indicated their intention to lodge a hate speech campaign with the SA Human Rights Commission,’ he posted online, having refused to speak to ‘white media’. ‘I can’t wait for it to be honest!’

This is not the first time he has been caught in controversy. His name may already be familiar to those acquainted with the Rhodes Must Fall campaign, a movement imported from South African universities, calling for the removal of a small statue of the colonialist on the facade of Oriel College, which has been passed by millions without comment since it was put up in 1911.

Qwabe has not apologised for his actions. Far from it. He posted this message on Facebook but refused to be interviewed by the 'white media'

Qwabe and his followers, however, claim they ‘experience violence’ by simply walking past it. He has also attacked the institution for having a ‘Eurocentric’ curriculum — apparently disregarding the fact that Oxford is, of course, a European university.

At the same time, he has dismissed criticism that he is a hypocrite, having gained an Oxford degree funded by the Rhodes Scholarship, by arguing that he is benefiting from money stolen from Africa many years ago.

And yet he refuses to back Mandela’s ANC party because ‘as a black working-class child who has benefited extensively from NFSAS (student financial help), RDP housing (free state homes), child grant and other state-funded services, I unreservedly refuse to be blackmailed into joining a bunch of cronies because they did the bare minimum’.

In the wake of the newest upset, some have pointed out what an outcry there would be if a white student had treated a black person in such a way. But expulsion seems unlikely to happen.

Oxford University told me last night: ‘Oxford is a place where non-violent speech, however objectionable, can be expressed and challenged. Our students may voice opinions which others believe to be misguided or which they find offensive.

‘They have a right to do this, but in exercising it we expect them to respect other people and the law.’

Yet perhaps there may be natural justice after all. A black politician has launched a fundraising campaign for Ashleigh Schultz, who stands to receive almost £10,000 in donations — enough for her to return to her studies.

And, in a sarcastic call to arms on social media, waiters and waitresses have been asked to give Qwabe ‘special’ attention if they serve him.