Dr Mawila-a family man and a businessman
He dropped out in his first year, not because of financial constraints, but because he realised it was not his path.
Born and bred in Rotterdam village in Limpopo, and one of five siblings, Patrick Mawila is a family man with five children of his own. He schooled in Limpopo and had a lively childhood growing up with both his parents.
In 1996 he enrolled at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg to study for a degree in Aeronautical Engineering. He dropped out in his first year, not because of financial constraints, but because he realised it was not his path. “Engineers work under strenuous conditions and I knew that would frustrate me,” he said. His parents were not aware of him dropping out as they didn’t have much knowledge about universities and how they operated as they were both uneducated and elderly. “I don’t recall explaining to them my reasons for dropping out as university was very foreign to them.” In 1998 Patrick enrolled at the University of the North (which is now known as the University of Limpopo) for a Bachelor of Optometry. He completed his degree in 2001 and his reasons for choosing such a different path than engineering was that “I didn’t want to be a doctor as they work all the time, I chose optometry because I could work flexibly,” he explained, “I was wiser and understood what was acquired of me in this field as I had mentors who were already in this industry, so I was lucky enough to experience firsthand as to how they worked.” Financially Patrick was well taken care of in university as he had two sponsors who funded his studies.
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His decision to be self-employed and opened his first private practice in 2002 in Newcastle in August. He bought a practice in Ladysmith from his former boss that same year. In 2003 Patrick came to Dundee and has been operating here ever since. Patrick worked his way up the optometry ladder which led him to be selected as President of the South African Optometric Association; he served this position from 2014 to 2016. To his greatest surprise in 2017 he was selected as the President of the African Optometric Association. “I felt honoured and think there is still quite a lot to be done. It was an overwhelming experience overall,” he commented proudly, “How we see optometry here is not the same as in the rest of Africa. Nigeria and South Africa are well developed and well resourced.” Patrick also a Masters in Business Administration and has also worked with Endumeni Municipality as an auditor and as a chairperson of the Alfred Duma Municipality.
Patrick loves politics and he also enjoys watching soccer and cherishes rugby. “I am a believer and I am very involved in my church. I love African dishes especially chicken feet and chicken heads.”
One thing that most people don’t know about Patrick is that when he is irate he takes time out and chooses to deal with such issues later. “I try and get into other peoples shoes when trying to resolve conflict,” he said.
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“My message to anyone who wants to join the optometry field is that they should do well at school, inquire about optometry before they study it as it needs someone who is people orientated and you can’t be an introvert. Sometimes life gives us challenges for us to discover our true selves. Sometimes you fall down, but you have no excuses for not getting back up,” he concluded.
Patrick is a humble man who disclosed that he will always see himself as a village boy – no matter where life takes him.
