He was born in 1968 in Umlazi, a township on the east coast of KwaZulu-Natal. He is 50 years old.
Dr Ntuli was admitted to study medicine at the University of Cape Town in 1986 and unfortunately that is where his drinking problem began. His drinking got so out of hand that led him to be expelled from attending the university.
In 1991, Professor Patricia Berjak (who has since died) encouraged him to enroll at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
In 1992, Dr Ntuli began a BSc (Physics) and soon after completing his BSc (Hons), he enrolled for MSc (Cell Biology) which he passed with flying colors. In 2004, he graduated with his PhD in Cell Biology from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Professor Norman Pammenter and his late wife, Professor Patricia Berjak, co-supervised Ntuli’s doctoral thesis.
Dr Ntuli worked as a lecturer at the Mangosuthu University of Technology and as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at other institutions. Former colleagues described him as a humble person despite his qualifications and experience. Dr. Ntuli was also very enthusiastic about his research and he took it very seriously.
However, by December 2011 he was living on the streets of Sunnyside in Pretoria because of his alcohol addiction.
Dr. Ntuli last worked in May 2011 as a Doctoral Fellow at the University of South Africa, before he lost his job. Dr Ntuli was forced to resign or had his contract not renewed from five positions due to alcohol addiction.
Dr Ntuli painfully conceded that he had been to rehab twice but had not been able to kick the habit. He agreed that Rehab empowers you with the knowledge, but the action of stopping is yours. It is up to you.
On 15 October 2015, Dr Ntuli agreed to be admitted to a rehab facility in Johannesburg so that he could conquer his addiction to alcohol and get his life back in order.
Dr. Ntuli was released after three months in January 2016 and upon his release, he stated that now he has a better chance of handling his addiction and finding employment. Soon after his release, he had been to about 15 interviews then, but conceded that he was not able to communicate well.
Despite Dr. Ntuli’s homeless circumstances, Dr Ntuli wrote three research papers in 2014 while living on the streets of Pretoria and one article in 2015. He said he enjoys this thing and Dr. Ntuli does. Let me also qualify his efforts by stating that writing a research paper is not a pap and vleis, but Dr Ntuli managed to do it while living on the streets. He also edited two books and wrote one chapter of a Book.
Dr Ntuli has postdoctoral research experience in the fields of Cell Biology - Biochemistry and Cytology, Epidemiology, Molecular Biology, Pharmacology and Structural Biology in the areas of Cancer/Oncology, Immunology, Malaria, Cardiology/Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricle Cardiomyopathy/Dysplasia, Tuberculosis and Acquired Immunity Deficiency.
Dr Tobias Ntuli acquired this research experience while working at the following institutions:
(a) Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of Cape Town,
(b) School of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of the Witwatersrand,
(c) Yunnan in the People's Republic of China,
(d) Indigenous Knowledge Systems Lead Program of the Medical Research Council of South Africa,
(e) Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in Pretoria.
N.B. May you please share this INSPIRATIONAL THREAD, maybe one of the Vice-Chancellors or Dean of Health Sciences on your Facebook accounts will help Dr Tobias Ntuli with other rehab sessions and employment.
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