From church hall to animal health clinic

When Phumla Dube heard there was a selection process for a fully funded bursary in animal health, she did not wait for it to come to her. There was no recruitment point in Mpumalanga, so she and her family packed up and drove to Rustenburg. Long queues, stiff competition, one shot. Only seven candidates were selected that day.

Dube was one of them.

The Health and Welfare Sector Education and Training Authority bursary covered tuition, accommodation and meals for the full three-year programme at the Tsolo Agriculture and Rural Development Institute in the Eastern Cape, removing the financial barrier that keeps many young people out of agricultural studies.

It had not always looked this straightforward. Two years earlier, a veterinarian had walked into her church career day and spoken about opportunities in animal health and the public funding available to pursue them. Dube was still upgrading her mathematics and physical science results at the time and did not apply immediately. But the information stayed with her. 

When her results came through the following year, she tracked down the recruitment drive and made her move.

The transition was not easy. Moving to a different province meant new languages, unfamiliar surroundings and the pressure of a demanding curriculum. But Dube found her footing quickly.

She joined the netball team in her first year, travelled to tournaments in the Western Cape, and eventually took on leadership roles, serving as class representative and later as Student Representative Council president between 2024 and 2025.

Her six-month Work Integrated Learning placement at a state veterinary clinic in Queenstown brought the training to life. She worked alongside veterinarians and laboratory staff, building hands-on experience in diagnostics and treatment.

The work also put her face to face with entrenched perceptions. Some farmers expected male practitioners. “When you show up and provide solutions, perceptions begin to change,” she said.

Dube graduates as part of a cohort where women make up more than 60% of the class, a field where women have long been outnumbered.

South Africa continues to manage outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease, which have disrupted livestock trade and affected rural livelihoods. Animal health technicians are expected to play a frontline role in vaccination campaigns, surveillance and farmer education.

Dube knows that technical skill alone is not enough for that work. “You cannot just arrive and vaccinate. People need to understand what is happening and why.” Misinformation, she said, can undo even the best intervention.

For her family, her graduation carries a particular weight. She is the first to enter the animal health field and the first whose graduation her parents attended in person.

This information was supplied by the Health and Welfare Sector Education and Training Authority.

For more information about the Tsolo Agriculture and Rural Development Institute visit: www.tardi.ac.za 

The Health and Welfare Sector Education and Training Authority can be reached at www.hwseta.org.za