One of five siblings hailing from Kentani Village in the Eastern Cape, Majavu’s interest in science started in her primary school days. The village school did not have any laboratories or proper equipment, but the love of science was instilled in her by her late teacher.
Dr Majavu holds an MTech (Chemistry) '10 from Nelson Mandela University.
At university, Majavu finally had access to all these facilities and contributed in her developing an interest in chemistry which she pursued all the way to PhD level.
“During my PhD research I was given the great opportunity to go abroad and be an exchange student at the University of Florence in Italy, and also to do a poster presentation at the 41st International Conference on Coordination Chemistry in Singapore. Under Prof Tshentu’s supervision I now have four publications, one local and three international,” she added.
Dr Majavu is a member of Women in Mining South Africa and Black Women in Science and have featured in True Love magazine, August 2020 in an article titled “Class of 2020 Women are coming for everything”. She judged Nka’Thuto EduPropeller on their final innovation Expo under STEM and business categories 2019. Her first working experience was at Aspen Pharmacare as a senior analytical chemist.
In her spare time, she tutors undergraduates and teach high school students through a number of community projects.
“As a scientist, I believe it is my responsibility to support science students and cultivate in them an interest in science and understanding of how we do science,” she said.
Dr Majavu’s advice to young students who would like to study in the science field is as follows, “Do not let your upbringing or family background determine your future. Do not allow any negative circumstances of life to overpower you. Remember, there’s nothing you can do about your upbringing, whether you had privilege or not, but once you have achieved your position as a woman in science, everyone speaks the same science language. Stay humble and learn from your mistakes.”