Two students of the Central University of Technology (CUT), Free State, will be ambassadors of South Africa at this year’s Fifa World Cup in Qatar, in the absence of the country’s football team, Bafana Bafana.
Tshegofatso Thole and Sanele Mangesi, CUT Hospitality students, are excited that they will be among the youth working as waiters in this peninsular Arab country in the Middle East.
They will be rendering service for the duration of the global football showpiece, taking place from 20 November to 18 December.
They became aware of this opportunity when one of the alumni brought under their attention that an advertisement inviting applications had been circulating.
Both received a positive response and are excited about this once-in-a-lifetime chance.
“We are ready to fly the flag of the CUT, the Free State province and South Africa high in Qatar. We are excited to go out there to showcase all the lessons learnt, skills acquired, and the passion we have developed during our studies here at the CUT,” said Thole.
“We were highly sceptical about it, but eventually applied,” said Mangesi.
“As we were crossing our fingers and praying about this breakthrough, we were called a few days later to be part of the team that is going to Qatar. We are thrilled to be among a select few out of thousand applicants who also wished to seize this moment.”
According to the students, this is a sterling example of what they wished to achieve while still studying.
Both Thole and Mangesi believe going to Qatar is a yardstick for their aspirations to venture into hospitality.
Thole aspires to own a wine brand and a seaview lodge while Mangesi wants to venture into the events and accommodation industry and own a culinary school in South Africa.
