Cape Town - Learners Onga Mabusela of Thembelihle Secondary School and Christoffel Petrus Lombard of Hoër Tegniese Skool Drostdy rose above their circumstances to achieve the “impossible” earning them a spot among the province’s top matriculants .
They received the Ministerial Award which is given to learners who have beat the odds against them, during the Certificate Awards 2024 held at Leeuwenhof on Thursday.
Mabusela, matriculated with a bachelors’ pass, and 7 distinctions – including for Mathematics and Physical Science despite having lost his home in a fire in 2023 and often experienced moments of hardship where he would go hungry, relying on the school’s feeding scheme.
Mabusela’s father, Siyabonga Plaatjie, said his son had shown resilience when the family’s home burnt down: “I am very proud of him despite everything he went through, he managed to achieve what he did. We had a fire at our home and we lost everything in 2023, he lost his books, his school clothes. The fire began next to our house and he was in Grade 11.”
Mabusela told the Cape Argus, his secret to his success was never giving up and fighting hard academically for what he wants to achieve.
“I am very happy since my hard work paid off. It is not about where you come from, it is where you want to see yourself and it takes hard work and determination.
“I was determined, life happens, we have to pull through, times will get tough but with determination, life will get better.”
Lombard, who is wheelchair bound, was diagnosed at birth with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and also broke his leg in his matric year but continued to rise above his circumstances.
Head of the Western Cape Education Department, Brent Walters, said the learners had succeeded despite the challenges they faced.
“He (Lombard) was the first learner in a wheelchair to attend his high school, where his fellow learners helped to move furniture out of the way and assisted in retrieving items from his school bag when needed. Because the illness is progressive, and with the support of his school, he skipped Grade 9, in the hopes that he would have the opportunity to write his matric exams himself.
“Despite skipping a grade, he remained in the top 10 academically.
“An additional challenge presented itself in his matric year, when he broke his leg. Despite needing to recover at home, he continued to keep up with the support of his teachers.”
A standing ovation was given to Rayyan Ebrahim, from Pinelands High School, who was top candidate for the Western Cape and top candidate in the province and in the country and top for Physics.
Education MEC, David Maynier said the Matric Class of 2024 had braced the COVID-19 pandemic to load shedding and yet they managed to make history with the highest matric pass rate of 86.6 % including for the Bachelors pass rate to Mathematics, Physical Science.
Recognition was given to the most improved public schools such as Beacon Hill and Hoerskool Tulbagh, to the most improved technical school, the greatest increase in percentage of bachelors pass, to schools who were excellent in subjects.
“This matric class has really done something special, setting new records for the National Senior Certificate exams in this province. The highest matric pass rate ever for the Western Cape, at 86.6%. The highest bachelors pass rate ever for the Western Cape, at 47.8%.”
Maynier also applauded the schools who had shown the most significant improvement in their matric pass rate which included Lotus High School, which had a pass rate of just 38.2% in 2022.
It was through the incredible efforts of their principal, Stephen Price, and teachers, as well as support from schools and communities around them, that in 2024, they achieved a pass rate of 83.3%,” Maynier said.
Speaking with the Cape Argus, Price said it was the hard work of teaching staff and their learners which had added to their success: “In 2022, the school had a pass rate of 38%, I joined the school in 2023, in the middle of the year and the matrics had a pass rate of 32%, they just finished their June examination .