Full steam ahead: Former train driver, stroke survivor graduates with social science degree

Former train driver Simbongile Qabaka refused to allow a debilitating stroke he suffered in 2018 to derail his plans of completing his first university degree.

Barely two months after enrolling for a Bachelor of Social Science degree in human settlement at the University of Fort Hare in the Eastern Cape in January 2018, the father of three was left completely paralysed following the stroke.

Apart from being unable to move, he could not speak and had to spend a further four months at a rehabilitation centre where he had to learn how to speak and walk again.