Economic Freedom Fighters national spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi on Tuesday swapped his red overalls for a red gown as he graduated at Wits University.
It sure was a big occasion for the young politician who was surrounded by his family, friends and colleagues.
The EFF leadership including commander-in-chief Julius Malema were present and draped in graduation gowns, sticking to the theme of the day.
A beaming Ndlozi known as "comrade bae" explained to HuffPost that he decided to focus his PHd thesis on black youth politics because he believed it played a huge role in the political sphere.
"I thought the youth was an important category for social change in South Africa and I thought there was very little political sociological attention to politicised youth. Most of the attention that was given to youth, was youth being HIV positive, youth as criminals".
Ndlozi said juggling his political obligations and his studies "meant very little sleep" but he was able to achieve his goal because of the EFF's staunch belief in education.
"If I was not part of people who believed in education, in advancing education I do not think I would have arrived at the finality of this work."
A video of Ndlozi speaking as a teenager on Morning Live has gone viral. Ndlozi said he wanted to help people by studying psychology. However, he soon realised politics was more in line with his aspirations of bringing about change in society.
"Psychology at Wits and I think from many parts of the world is very individual. I did it in first year and realised it places so much emphasis on the individual. What I really meant was to understand society and social change, I think that is what I meant. At the time, I was worried about poverty obviously because of the conditions which I grew up in."
When asked how his family has reacted to his graduation, he smiled and said "absolutely marvelous, they were been looking forward to the moment for a very long time".