NRF Youth Month 2025: Siyanda Mjoli

The NRF supports the growth of the next generation of researchers and scholars to sustain South Africa’s knowledge enterprise. June is Youth Month, and this year the NRF is celebrating the youth who are shaping tomorrow through research today. We thank all participants for sharing their stories with us.

Mr Siyanda Mjoli is a Master’s student in Information Systems at Rhodes University. He has received funding from the NRF for his Honours and Master’s studies.

How did your journey start?

Like many other South African children, I faced several challenges growing up. Despite these obstacles, I persevered and completed my matric at Motherwell High. With a dream of becoming a psychologist, I set my sights on Rhodes University (RU), a place known for its academic excellence and supportive community.

My determination and hard work paid off, and I was accepted into RU. Initially, I pursued my passion for Psychology, eager to understand the human mind and help others. However, as I navigated through my studies, I discovered a new interest in Information Systems. The dynamic and ever-evolving field intrigued me, offering a blend of technology and problem-solving that resonated with my analytical mind.

Embracing this new path, I transitioned to studying Information Systems. While it was different from my original dream, I found joy and fulfilment in this unexpected journey. My background and experiences gave me a unique perspective, allowing me to approach challenges with resilience and creativity.

Today, as an Information Systems student at RU, I continue to thrive, driven by the same determination that brought me here. My story is a testament to the power of adaptability and the importance of following one’s evolving passions.

How has your affiliation with the NRF impacted your studies/career?

In 2024, I was among the most fortunate people to receive the NRF General Postgraduate Scholarship to study for my Honours in Information Systems, allowing me to tap into the world of research and knowledge generation in this field at RU.

This year (2025), I was awarded the NRF Scarce Skills Master’s Scholarship to further my studies. The amazing support from NRF has not only allowed me to further my studies but also opened doors for more opportunities in the near future.

This support also allows me to continue making a positive impact in the Makana municipality through community engagement – something that has been very close to my heart since my second year of studies.

The support from the NRF continues to encourage me to venture into academia and research. It has allowed me to accumulate research skills, which I believe I can use to better the world around me in the near future.

What is your research focus/area of expertise?

The title of my thesis is A Conceptual Framework for Leveraging Big Data Analytics (BDA) for Detecting, Monitoring, and Managing Mental Illnesses in the South African Public Healthcare Context.

My research focus is Big Data Analytics (BDA) and Health Information Systems/Health Informatics

South Africa portrays an alarming prevalence of substance use disorders, mood disorders, probable depression, anxiety, and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) amid limited declining help-seeking behaviours. Barriers such as stigma and discrimination, geographical limitations, mental health illiteracy, economic disparities, cultural beliefs, and workplace limitations continue to prohibit the public from seeking and receiving the mental health services they need in the country.

The demographic effects and negative economic shock of the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with emerging ecological disasters, conflict and trauma, hunger and poverty, including social inequalities, further exacerbate the ongoing mental healthcare challenges in South Africa.

Whilst the treatment gap of mental illnesses in South Africa is exceptionally high, accessing timely and effective mental healthcare remains a significant cause for concern as well.

Considering the burden of mental illnesses in South Africa, their negative outcomes on people’s health, mortality, and morbidity, this study intends to explore the ways in which Big Data Analytics (BDA) can be exploited to help close the treatment gap of mental illnesses in the country.

How is your research helping to shape a better future?

In South Africa, mental health remains underprioritised as the country bears a substantial burden of mental illnesses. Despite this awareness, health systems still have to improve to meet the specific needs of the population with mental illnesses. Healthcare systems in low- and middle-income countries face a similar challenge, which is the significant gap between the need for and the provision of treatment for mental illnesses.

According to the WHO, surveillance systems for mental health worldwide are characterised by significant gaps and imbalances in research, governance, resources, and services. Considering the disparities in access to mental healthcare treatment and services in South Africa, coupled with the ongoing limited mental healthcare infrastructure, including the mechanisms to identify and respond appropriately to the prevalent mental illnesses, there is a need to find a viable solution to these challenges.

One way of salvaging the situation is the integration of BDA in the surveillance of mental illnesses. Currently, there seems to be little evidence of solutions involving BDA in dealing with the surveillance of mental illnesses in the South African public health. This study intends to develop and propose a conceptual framework for leveraging BDA for monitoring, detecting, and managing mental illnesses within South African public healthcare.

Being a young researcher often means juggling numerous responsibilities and expectations. How do you stay motivated and/or balanced?

I am taking it one sentence, one paragraph, and one chapter at a time! Community volunteering helps me unwind sometimes, and I treat my studies and my research as my “nine to five” job.

What has been your proudest achievement to date?

Making it into RU’s Master of Commerce in Information Systems programme. After this, I will be the first one in my family to hold a Master’s degree. Special thanks to NRF for making this a possibility by funding my postgraduate studies.

The rights to this article (content and images) are reserved by the National Research Foundation of South Africa. This work is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED) license: this implies that the article may be republished (shared) on other websites, but the article may not be altered or built upon in any way. Credit must be given to the National Research Foundation and a link provided back to the original article.