A humble man, whose parents had never seen the inside of a classroom, never allowed his background determine his future. He worked hard to change his situation and has become the toast of his community today. His efforts were recently rewarded when he received his doctorate at the University of Venda.

John Mudau was born and raised at Miluwani Village on February 2, 1976. He is the second son in a family of four children. His parents had never been to school, but were very supportive of any efforts of their children to progress in whatever area they were interested in. He started school at Makwarela Primary School in 1975, and then moved to Mmbara Higher Primary School (then known as Phaswana High School) and finished his matric at Raluswielo Secondary School in 1987.

He started working as a social worker in 1993 and worked for the welfare offices at the Dzanani magistrate, Siloam Hospital and Donald Frazer Hospital.

It was during this time that he developed a keen interest in community work and poverty alleviation projects. During his career as a social worker, John established and facilitated several community projects which were aimed at community empowerment and poverty alleviation.

He started his life as an academic by working as a lecturer at the University of Fort Hare in the Eastern Cape and then moved to the University of Venda in the Department of Social work, which is where he still is today

His doctoral thesis examined the effectiveness of the Limpopo provincial government’s strategy on poverty alleviation. The study recommends a poverty-alleviation strategy model that will improve the poverty-alleviation initiatives of government and those of the private sector. The model spells out the role of national, provincial and local governments, including that of civic organizations, towards poverty alleviation.

As part of his doctoral study, he visited Oxford University in the UK, where he spent time reviewing literature focusing on poverty alleviation models. He also had presented several articles on matters of poverty and poverty alleviation at both national and international conferences.

He is currently involved in research projects commissioned by the Limpopo Department of Health and Social Development. As a result of his determination to alleviate poverty, he sits on several boards, including the Limpopo Provincial Liquor Board and the Black Management Forum Board. He is currently registered with the South African Council of Social Professions as a social worker.

He has not forgotten where he comes from. Through his John Mudau Family Foundation, he is helping 18 learners at Raluswielo Secondary School whose parents could not afford to send them to school. He bought them uniforms and also pledged to pay for all their school trips and also to help them with vacation classes without having to pay anything. From next week, all the learners will be attending camps where experts in different fields will share knowledge with them.

Mudau said only hard work, perseverance, focus and determination make him succeed in whatever he does.

Mudau is married to Mashudu and they have two children, Ndivhuho (12) and Livhuwani (7)