From RDP and poverty to becoming Gauteng’s top achiever, matriculant shares how struggles motivated excellence

by Sergio Miller

As thousands of matriculants all celebrated the beginning of a new chapter after receiving the outcome of their National Senior Certificate results, the moment felt extra special for Gauteng’s top student Musawenkosi Buthelezi.

Despite facing one of the most crucial years in his schooling journey, the 17-year-old from Zimisele Secondary School in Kwa-Themba has used adversity he faced at home to become the first-ever learner from a township school to be named Gauteng’s top-performing pupil.

In his reflection of what got him to this point, he placed a key emphasis on his ability to persevere.

Musawenkosi comes from an RDP home where he faced extreme poverty. In a home where he has had to share his space with 10 other people, there was not always enough privacy for him to get out his books and study.

“I had to wait for everyone to go to sleep so that I could study. Sometimes even that was not possible.”

This along with the lack of emotional stability and financial constraints his family faced has been the biggest motivation for him to excel.

“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,” he told the radio station Jacaranda FM.

Meanwhile, the ecstatic pupil has also been named alongside the top ten best-performing learners nationally.

Reflecting on his journey, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi, honoured the learner for his efforts highlighting that many pupils often find themselves having to travel several kilometres from a township to urban areas just to attend school. Panyaza added that for Musawenkosi to achieve this was a sign that Gauteng’s investment in producing quality education was paying off.

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