Twin doctors beat odds to graduate

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Cape Town - Twin brothers from Khayelitsha, who refused to let their circumstances stand in their way, will be celebrating their success on Tuesday when they both graduate as medical doctors from Stellenbosch University. Wandile and Wanele Ganya, 23, grew up in Khayelitsha’s J-Section, and the family relied on the wages of their mother, Sylvia, a domestic worker. During their matric year at the Centre of Science and Technology in Khayelitsha, Wanele contracted tuberculosis and Wandile helped to take care of him and ensured that he didn’t miss out on any school work. “I think that is part of the reason why we became doctors, but we also saw so many people from our community and our school doing extraordinary things and that inspired us,” said Wanele. Wandile was one of the Western Cape’s top matriculants in 2009.

He said financial and other support the pair had received from Stellenbosch University had helped “immensely”.

Both have been recipients of the Rector’s Award for Succeeding Against the Odds.

Wandile said his message to teenagers growing up in similar circumstances was to believe in themselves.

“Just know that you can achieve whatever you want. There is something worth displaying to the world that is inside you.”

Wanele said their proud parents, Sylvia and Michael, would be present on Tuesday when they receive their Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees.

“They are feeling so overwhelmed. They are really over the moon for us.”

The brothers, who have been staying in residence at the university, will continue working together next year.

They have been placed at the Ngwelezana Hospital in Empangeni, KwaZulu-Natal.

“We look forward to this new chapter in our lives, but we will be missing home. We will be calling home every day.”

The brothers are one of three sets of twins graduating with degrees in medicine from the university on Tuesday. The other two sets of twins are Manja and Gys Neethling, and Annika and Jannika Kemp.

The Neethling family has close ties with Tygerberg and Stellenbosch University. Their parents and older brother and sister, also twins, studied at Tygerberg.

The Kemps are first generation Maties.

More than 5 000 Maties will be receiving diplomas or degrees at the university this week. A total of 127 doctoral degrees will be awarded.

Six honorary degrees will also be awarded – to the academic, poet and playwright, Adam Small; the space scientist, Japie van Zyl, who played a leadership role in the successful Curiosity mission to Mars in 2012; the award-winning psychologist and Nobel prize recipient Daniel Kahneman; the statistician-general Pali Lehohla; the veteran political economist and academic Sampie Terreblanche; the academic, jurist, campaigner for human rights and judge of the Constitutional Court Edwin Cameron; and the internationally renowned jurist, campaigner for women’s rights and gender equality and also judge of theConstitutional Court, Kate O’Regan.

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Cape Argus

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