Praise for Gauteng’s top matric Musawenkosi Buthelezi

Education MEC Matome Chiloane made the announcement at an awards ceremony for best-performing schools, districts, and pupils in Midrand on Tuesday.

Gauteng achieved its best pass rate since 1995, recording an 88.4% pass from the more than 130,000 pupils who sat to write the National Senior Certificate last year.

Township schools attained a pass rate of 85.3%, compared to 83.3% the previous year.

Buthelezi is the first pupil from a township school to scoop the coveted award. He also received a score of  299/300 on his math exam.

But he said living in an RDP home that he shares with 10 others wasn't without its challenges.

“I would say it wasn’t easy at all facing financial difficulties and not having emotional stability—a family of 11 living in an RDP. I had to wait for everyone to go to sleep so that I could study. Sometimes even that was not possible.”

The teenager said he was determined to overcome all adversity to get closer to breaking the cycle of poverty in his family.

“I realise that my background was pushing me hard, that I wanted to create a future for myself and my family and financial comfort. My family is very underprivileged; we get social grants, and my sister was supporting us with the salary that she was getting from the butchery.”

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi, who delivered the keynote address at the event, lauded Buthelezi’s achievement as a demonstration that the Gauteng government’s investment in education is paying off.

“We were tired of seeing learners leaving townships to go to school in urban areas. When they have to play sports, they go on taxis to come home. For the first time, the top learner comes from the township without using anything, just pure marks. This, to me, is a return on investment.”

In a statement, the Department of Social Development said of the country’s 882,336 pupils who wrote the NSC exams, 697,502 (79%) were social grant beneficiaries.

Meanwhile, at the Soshanguve school that the basic education minister visited at the start of exams, Hlaisane Khoza said she is proud of her marks.

Khoza, who wants to study medicine, scored level 7 for four subjects and level 6 for the remaining three subjects.

“It was very hard and there were a lot of sleepless nights, and there were times I felt it wouldn’t work out because it was too much. Sometimes I felt I would crash out because of how hard I was working, but the results show that I was really working hard, and I am proud of how far I have come and what I have been able to achieve,” she said.

Gauteng has marked an increase in the number of Bachelor passes for the Class of 2024.

Johannesburg West is the top-performing district with a 97% pass rate. The lowest performer of the 15 districts managed an 88% pass rate. 

Luferheng Secondary School, south of Johannesburg, achieved a 100% pass rate, with 97% for Bachelor passes.

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