Owing to pressure from peers, teachers and some family members, however, all his first-year applications were for engineering. “On the day of registrations, I ended up registering for geology. I had three engineering bursary offers and lost them after that, forcing me to rely solely on NSFAS for my first-year studies. But I’ve never looked back.” As a student, his first major win came early. “Getting a distinction in chemistry during semester one of first year, while commuting from Soweto on Metrorail, felt like a miracle,” he says. “Some mornings, I left home at 4.30am for a 7am class.” He also served on the UJ Senate as a postgraduate representative and became academic staff during his PhD. Today, Dr Makhubela wears several influential hats. In addition to his UJ position, he is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Centre for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey at Wits University and serves as the Geology Section Editor for the Southern African Field Archaeology Journal. He also leads geological research at five iconic Cradle of Humankind sites: Rising Star Cave, UW105, Gladysvale, Malapa, and Lefika la Noka. His work goes beyond excavation. “I design, coordinate and execute field and analytical projects at these sites,” he explains, “towards an understanding of the sites’ stratigraphy, petrography, geochemistry, and – most importantly – geochronology.” This foundational work helps paleoanthropologists contextualise fossils and archaeological finds. Currently, he supervises two PhD, and three MSc students embedded in this work. He has also gained prominence for his role in research on Homo naledi fossil finds, including a groundbreaking study: corresponding co-authorship of a manuscript that suggests evidence of Homo naledi’s deliberate burial of their species over 200 thousand years before Homo sapiens started the practice. “That paper was a bold one. It raised a lot of questions but also showed the kind of science South Africa is capable of leading.” His personal ethos is succinct but powerful: “Always bootstrap yourself and strive for perfection.” This self-driven approach has helped him survive and thrive, even without external structures of support. “I’m not a religious person. But I truly believe there is always a solution, even when we can’t yet conceive it.” Still, his pursuit of perfection comes at a cost. “It slows me down. My research output is lower than most of my peers, but I am at peace with the quality of my work,” he says. Dr Makhubela’s long-term goal is to become a full professor. He envisions leading a research group focused on Quaternary processes – environmental and climatic shifts of the last 2.5 million years. “We need to understand past climate to better mitigate current changes and prepare for future ones.” Science, in Dr Makhubela’s view, must be accessible. He has conducted extensive public science outreach, including media interviews across nearly all major radio and TV channels. “At one point, I was a regular on Phalaphala FM’s Tuesday science show,” he says. “Whether it’s a big platform or a small one, I show up. The public deserves to understand this work.” He also reaches young audiences through the SuperScientists project, where he features as the animated character ‘Geotime’.
Pictures from top to bottom: Outside the Rising Star cave system, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa. 2020. Tebogo Makhubela conducts field work in the Rising Star cave system. In the Noble Gas Lab_2014: Tebogo Makhubela working in the Noble Gas lab at UJ in 2014. Dinaledi Chamber, Rising Star cave system, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa. 2019. Tebogo Makhubela conducts field work in the Rising Star cave system. Photo by Mathabela Tsikoane.
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