She lives a life of opulence, dining at posh restaurants and hotels, frequenting high-end fashion shops and recently flying to Portugal just to watch a music concert.
She is also fond of hanging out with popular maskandi artists to legitimise her business.
This is how Durban social media influencer-cum-entrepreneur Nombuso Mtshali, 30, has moved in the last few years while marketing her school, Matric Scholars Academy, which is not registered with the education department as required by law.
More than 200 people who had each paid R2,500 to register and R8,000 to upgrade their grade 12 results last year were not able to sit for their matric rewrite exams because the school was not registered and are now in limbo as the department has distanced itself from the issue.
The school operated from the premises of the Durban University of Technology (DUT) at the ML Sultan campus. However, the university has claimed no knowledge of Mtshali’s school despite her openly marketing it on social media as being affiliated with DUT.
Mtshali, a former DUT student and part-time admin assistant there, as claimed on her LinkedIn profile, was once employed as a sportshop salesperson in 2017 before she graduated in 2022 and advertised her school two years later.
She used her social media influence and KZN celebrities to market her academy with a claim that her “experienced” tutors could change the fortunes of those with unsatisfactory matric results.
Despite being caught out last year, Mtshali has advertised applications for the new student intake for 2026 through her social media. Her TikTok account has more than 143,000 followers and her Instagram has 8,400 fans. The academy’s social media accounts alone command 13,500 followers.
Mtshali admitted that she was not registered and was engaging with the relevant authorities to fix the matter. She said the school was not taking any new students for 2026.
Some pupils who were left in the lurch told Sowetan that their dreams of a better life with improved grades have been shattered.
“It’s a painful situation because she [Mtshali] accepted our money knowing very well that her school wasn’t registered with the department. We were paying R8,000 each for tuition and exams. Clearly they were taking us for a ride,” said Smilo Mlangeni.
He had decided to repeat matric at Mtshali’s academy last year after achieving poor results in 2024.
“I wanted to improve my maths and physics marks because I wanted to study civil engineering. My mother had to borrow money from a bank for me to enrol at Mtshali’s school. My mom is now repaying an R8,000 loan which did not achieve its purpose,” Mlangeni lamented.
The DA in KZN has challenged the department to provide remedial action to refund the pupils.
Nkumbulo Magagula, another affected student, said cases opened with the police were moving slowly.
“All we want is for our money to be paid back. The sad part is that they exploited our trust and desperation,” Magagula said.
Provincial police spokesperson Col Robert Netshiunda confirmed a case of fraud and corruption was opened by one victim.
“Berea police are investigating a case of fraud after a victim was allegedly defrauded by a suspect known to her. The docket was taken to the public prosecutor for a decision,” said Netshiunda.
KZN education spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi confirmed that Mtshali’s academy “was never registered and was not authorised to offer matric classes or conduct matric exams”. He said he knew nothing about Mtshali’s fresh bid to register her academy since the matter came to light three months ago.
The DUT said it did not have any ties with Mtshali and her bogus matric school and that its investigation into the matter is ongoing.
“DUT has no affiliation or relationship with Matric Scholars. The university did not approve, authorise or grant permission for this entity to utilise any of its facilities. The institution became aware that Matric Scholars was operating on its premises without authorisation,” it said.
A DUT security guard said Mtshali’s students were issued with access cards by DUT.
“All I know now is that the school has since closed after experiencing problems,” he said.
Sowetan has also seen a video of angry students who confronted Mtshali at the premises.
Sowetan
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