Gauteng’s top-performing matriculant, Musawenkosi Buthelezi, says he hopes his life story and achievement will serve as reminder to young people that their background does not define their future.
Buthelezi, who has endured many hardships in his journey, says his circumstances pushed him to succeed.
The 18-year-old grew up in an RDP house in KwaThema township, Ekurhuleni.
While his family got by through his older sister’s butchery income, Buthelezi says he always dreamed of more for his family.
He battled health conditions, including unexplained migraines, to achieve his impressive results, including scoring 299/300 for his final math paper.
Gauteng, here’s our overall best student in our province. His marks are on the screen. His name is Mswawenkosi Buthelezi, Zimisele Secondary School, Kwa Thema! O bosso wena! #GrowingGautengTogether pic.twitter.com/hDhtD5d1s5
— Panyaza Lesufi (@Lesufi) January 14, 2025
He hopes to become a neurosurgeon, assisting others suffering from mysterious ailments.
YNews caught up with him at the announcement of the provincial announcement of the 2024 matric results at the Vodacom headquarters in Midrand.
Also speaking at the event was Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane, who hailed the provincial class of 2024 for achieving a pass rate of 88.4%.
He further applauded the young people for their efforts, after a notable 50.3% of the group achieved bachelor passes.
The 2024 academic year saw public schools face numerous challenges, including a R4.5 billion budget cut.
The provincial Education Department had to cut into school transportation and nutrition programmes to save money and teacher jobs.
Despite these challenges, Chiloane says what the learners of Gauteng want are not private schools, but rather well-resourced public schools.
[WATCH]: During his keynote address at the Gauteng #MatricResults2024 Announcement, MEC @matomekopano advocated for one single exam to be written by all learners in the country and that there shouldn’t be a comparison between public & private education.#ClassOf2024GP… pic.twitter.com/XedTSW4tJt
— Gauteng Department of Education (@EducationGP1) January 14, 2025
Chiloane commended the over 130 000 learners who sat for the matric exams for conducting themselves ethically.
The top achievers were showered with high-tech gifts, including laptops, while a select batch of pupils from no-fee schools received bursaries.
[WATCH]: The one and only @ZeeNxumaloZA rocked with our top performing matriculants today at the Gauteng #MatricResults2024 Announcement! 💃🕺
Congratulations to our top performers from the #ClassOf2024GP! 🏆#GrowingGautengTogether pic.twitter.com/GzzgWtHZFG
— Gauteng Department of Education (@EducationGP1) January 14, 2025
The class of 2024 made history with an impressive 87.3% pass rate, nationwide.
Gauteng secured the third spot among the top-performing provinces, closely following the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal, which took the top two spots, respectively.
With a historic number of bachelor passes, organisations like the nurses’ union, Denosa, have warned matriculants to be cautious of bogus colleges and institutions of higher learning that may take advantage of them.
The union is concerned that students will be forced to seek higher learning opportunities at private institutions, some of which may not be accredited.
Denosa’s Sibongiseni Delihlazo urged students to double-check that their chosen institutions are accredited with the relevant bodies.
“With many passing in large numbers this year, this means more learners will be forced to look for study opportunities throughout cities and towns. Learners must be extra-vigilant and ensure the institutions they apply to are accredited,” he said.
The National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa urged learners who might not have passed their matric to not give up, while veteran education expert, Professor Mary Metcalfe, called for the unpacking the thorny issue of many learners who didn’t write their exams or failed to reach Grade 12.
Metcalfe says more attention needs to be focused on the factors that contribute to learner school dropout.
Written by: Naomi Kobbie
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