Top Of The Class

He might not think of himself as an over­ achiever, but Lungelo Mandyoli has landed one of the most prestigious scholar­ ships in the world.

- Siyabonga Kamnqa

HIS phone hasn’t stopped ringing. And it’s not really surprising – it’s not every day someone is awarded one of the world’s most prestigious scholarships.

In fact, the phone is clamped to his ear when we arrive to see him at the University of Cape Town. Sorry, he mouths – he won’t be long but he needs to take it.

“It’s been hectic,” Lungelo Mandyoli says when the call is finally over. “That was an official from the Fulbright [Scholar Progam] updating me on accommodation arrangements and flight details. So I guess this is really happening!”

Soon the 25 ­year ­old whizz will be winging his way to the United States, where he will be studying towards his doctorate at Texas A&M University.

Lungelo is one of about 4 000 top students from 155 countries to be award­ed a coveted Fulbright scholarship and he’s still pinching himself to make sure he isn’t dreaming.

“I’m over the moon – I can’t wait to get on that plane,” he says. “I guess it will sink in when I’ve started studying there.”

Lungelo, a biochemistry graduate, will spend the next four years studying towards his PhD in biochemistry and biophysics and trying to understand how TB attacks the human body.

“In the long term this knowledge could be used to devise strategies to inhibit the infection by these pathogens,” he says.