Languages: 
The winners of the prestigious Archbishop Thabo Makgoba Development Trust Essay Competition have gotten an opportunity to sharpen their skills in academic writing through a three-day training workshop, courtesy of the Research unit for Emerging Researchers.
In March, Lindokuhle Tonono, Siphosethu Mase, Philasande Nkathana, and Khaya Xamlashe’s submissions made the cut as the top four most groundbreaking essays in the ATMDT essay writing competition.
The four wrote essays under the theme: “Examining the significance of entrepreneurship in fostering the establishment of new enterprises, enhancing, economic stability, and driving economic expansion among women in South Africa”.
Following their victory in the competition, the research unit sought to nurture their academic writing skills through intensive training, with the objective of seeing them follow their predecessors’ footsteps, who are now writing for accredited journals.
“Fellow students have applauded the winners and have seen that it is possible to enter the competition and win. In their academic journey, the winners have gained a myriad of critical writing skills. They have been taught different research approaches, sampling methods, data collection and data analysis methods, and various aspects of a journal article,” said training facilitator Dr Anthony Masha.
WSU, in its efforts to help curb unemployment, has always emphasised the need for entrepreneurship and women empowerment. Through this competition, the institution unearthed views from its students in support of these notions.
First place winner, Lindokuhle Tonono said: “We wrote about topics that really speak to me, which are women and entrepreneurship. I feel like in our day we are supposed to empower women and give them all the support they need in order to flourish as entrepreneurs.”
Echoing her counterpart’s sentiments, second place winner, Siphosethu Mase said: “One of the things that we tend to overlook is that there are many societal ills that affect women and their ability to pursue entrepreneurship.”
Following her win the ATMDT competition, Mase was confident enough to enter a South African Bureau of Standards writing competition and made it to the top five, proving that she and her counterparts are on a promising path toward making significant contributions to academic literature and beyond.
By Yanga Ziwele
