workload, take on extra subjects and sacrifice most of her leisure time to make it to the top as a young black woman in a male-dominated field. She noted that during this time, it was important for her to be surrounded by people who believed in her dreams, including her parents, who instilled in her the values of hard work from a very early age. “My upbringing played a crucial role in my success because I looked up to my parents who are both hard workers,” she said. “They motivated me to study hard, as my degree would be the key to unlocking my future.”
Accordingly, in 2009, Jilata graduated with Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees (MBChB) from the Walter Sisulu University in Mthatha. Over the next eight years, she completed her fellowship with the Council of Neurosurgeons of South Africa, and earned the title of the youngest neurosurgeon in the African continent in 2017.
Applauding her achievement at the Presidency Budget Vote in Parliament’s National Assembly, then-Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa described her as…
