Unisa alumnus shaping futures in the service of humanity

Kgaugelo Baloyi is spearheading an initiative to curb unemployment by providing graduates with work opportunities through his innovative law firm. His experience as a struggling student gave Baloyi a passion for improving the lives of graduates from disadvantaged backgrounds. 

His journey to becoming an attorney was fraught with hardship. He studied and completed his LLB degree using a candle. His commute to the Unisa Sunnyside campus included a long walk to catch a train at the Kopanong Station. While his passion for academic success remained resolute even in adversity, a lack of food and funds for learning essentials, among other needs, led Baloyi to get a job at a construction company as a general worker. He says: “My suffering only fueled my determination to achieve my dreams at all costs.”

Kgaugelo Baloyi

Though the opportunity to work while he studied meant he would need to find ways to strike a healthy balance between work and his studies, for Baloyi, this was yet another challenge to defeat, and he did so with diligence and excellence. In his final year of study, he got an opportunity to serve articles of clerkship; he later graduated with 26 distinctions at 22. At 23, he was admitted as an attorney by the High Court and served as a junior attorney at the firm he co-founded.

With his newly found success at the time, Baloyi felt a deep passion for giving back to students at his alma mater; he served as a tutor for first-year law students. During this time, he aspired to open a law firm. Subsequently, he opened Kgaugelo Baloyi Inc Attorneys situated in Pretoria East.

Unisa has consistently encouraged innovation and created a climate for innovative thinking to resolve scholarly and developmental problems within the nation. Unisa students are also trained to develop solid relationships and societal solutions. Like a faithful steward of Unisa values, today, through his law firm, Baloyi is intentional and passionate about creating opportunities for Unisa graduates.

Unisa’s graduates are positioned to adapt to work environments and are ready to create and respond to professional demands. These are qualities Baloyi attests to. Asked why he has a specific interest in employing Unisa graduates, he says: “Unisa has shaped me to be self-disciplined, hardworking, independent and to persevere in all difficult circumstances. I know and have experienced these qualities from Unisa students and graduates. They have a determination to succeed.” The university prides itself on creating self-motivated, disciplined, consistent and responsible students.

Unisa has continually set itself as an African university, shaping futures in the service of humanity, and the proof is in its many illustrious alumni like Baloyi, whose success and commitment to humanity is to contribute to the sustained progress of society. 

*By Rememberance Manganyi, Intern Journalist, Department of Institutional Advancement