Odumeleng Ramatlo was introduced early on to the idea that circumstances don’t define destiny. Born in Kwa-Thema, Springs, where he and his twin brother, Odireleng, were raised mainly by a single mother who worked tirelessly to provide for them, he always had his eyes fixed firmly on the next horizon.
‘I knew I was special. I had every indication that I had much to live and fight for,’ he says. ‘One of my lecturers at Henley Business School, Melani Prinsloo, said that one of the biggest causes of poverty is where you are born, and you can’t choose that. But even in these conditions of what I call “unfreedoms”, people don’t stop dreaming. And I am proud to be among those who are overcoming continuously.’
His hardworking parents and “twice as hardworking mother” made it all possible. She may not have had much, but his mother had a commitment to expand her children’s minds, and Odumeleng ran with it.
While other kids played outside, he was often curled up with books that his mother would frequently buy for him, dreaming of faraway lands and possibilities. He found refuge in stories, and later, in libraries or “temples of imagination,” as he calls them. At school he endured bullying for being different, but instead of retreating, he developed grit, empathy, and an introspective spirit that would later shape his voice.
By the time he reached high school, he excelled academically and earned respect as a student leader. He knew education was his passport to a different life, and he intended to use it.
Odumeleng bootstrapped his way through his undergraduate degree at the University of Johannesburg, working as a student assistant and, thanks to his academic record, had his fees cleared by the university.
When Odumeleng arrived at Henley to pursue his Postgraduate Diploma in Management Practice, the next step on his academic journey, he expected to gain tools for his professional life. What he didn’t expect was how much it would reshape his thinking.
‘Henley does more than teach; it transforms. It doesn’t just fill your head; it stirs your soul,’ he says. He was invited to think critically, reflect honestly, and grow intentionally.
That process of reflection was confronting. It forced him to look at the intersections of his identity: black, young, gay and the institutional spaces he occupied. For the first time, he saw clearly the perceptual and systemic barriers that many people like him face daily.
And so, he wrote about it.
Odumeleng ‘s newly published book, The Gardener in a Suit was born from his reflections at Henley and his work in senior academic administrative roles in a number of prestigious institutions, including the University of Johannesburg, The University of the Witwatersrand, the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and Henley Business School, where he was the Senior Admissions Manager. It explores his double minority status and the unique struggles that come with it including sitting in boardrooms and faculty committees as the only black man, the youngest voice, and often the only openly gay one.
He had never spoken publicly about his sexuality before. But part of actualisation is visibility. Not performative visibility, but authentic, unfiltered, and courageous presence.
‘I wrote it because institutions of higher learning are respectable structures, where power swings in the direction of academics, while administrators have to communicate silently about their pain and disappointment,’ he explained.
He’s spent years proving he belongs, not just through competence but through character. That’s the essence of leadership that Henley taught him: to lead with character, even when the world questions your place.
‘Minorities are often overlooked until they’re needed for optics. But our excellence exists whether or not anyone is watching. We don’t need to be cultivated; we need to be given room. That’s what Henley gave me: room to explore, grow, write, and take myself seriously,’ he says.
Odumeleng says that some of his best moments to date have been working at Henley because the business school ‘intentionally cares for its staff and students. His time at Henley, both as a student and a staff member also inspired his Master’s dissertation on student experience and engagement which he completed at Wits Business School.
Recently a Faculty Manager at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, he wants people to know that if they, like him, are navigating spaces that weren’t designed with them in mind, know that their story matters.
‘As a minorityrity – any minority – it is difficult to find yourselves anchored wherever you may be situated. You may often exist between realities, feeling in limbo or on the defensive. But know that your voice, even when quiet, can move mountains,’ he says.
His book is a testament to that. If you’d like a copy, you can find The Gardener in a Suit on Amazon.com, iBooks, or reach him directly at odumeleng.ramatlo@gmail.com. It’s R250, but more importantly, it’s a piece of a much larger conversation.