My Fellow South Africans: Caroline Mthwalo

My Fellow South Africans aims to highlight the hopes and dreams of all our citizens in a bid to foster closer relationships with each other, where we focus on our similarities as residents of this wonderful country, instead of harping on the differences that could drive us further apart.

My Fellow South Africans: Caroline Mthwalo says it’s never too late to follow your dreams. Photographed by Armand Hough (African News Agency/ANA)

My Fellow South Africans aims to highlight the hopes and dreams of all our citizens in a bid to foster closer relationships with each other, where we focus on our similarities as residents of this wonderful country, instead of harping on the differences that could drive us further apart.

Caroline Mthwalo works as a security guard at a residential flat building in Sea Point.

Mthwalo grew up in the Eastern Cape and came to Cape Town in 2009.

When she was younger, she wanted to be a doctor, but couldn’t finish her studies due to difficult situations at home, which she didn’t feel comfortable elaborating on.

If Mthwalo could give a message to her 15-year-old self, she would say: “Stay in school and study hard, so that you can become something.”

The thing Mthwalo hates about South Africa, is the crime.

“People that kill others and steal things that aren’t theirs. That is why I decided to work in the security industry.”

What she likes most about South Africa is freedom. She knows there are many countries in the world where people do not have the luxury to do as they please.

Mthwalo knows that her career did not turn out as she thought it would when she was younger, because of circumstances that were out of her control, but she also knows that it’s never too late to follow her dreams and become a doctor.

* My Fellow South Africans is an editorial campaign powered by IOL which aims to build a more inclusive society by introducing South Africans to each other.