While many matric pupils across SA were focused on time management and favourite subjects in grade 12, Sesona Masingili, Sanele Vilakazi and Thabo Mathake were battling load reduction and a lack of water.
The three were part of the top-40 achievers who were invited to the Ministerial Breakfast with the minister of basic education, Siviwe Gwarube, on Monday.
Masingili, 17, from Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape said he had mixed emotions about the experience.
“Like, it’s an entire turmoil of emotions. I am very happy to be here because I have been aspiring to be here for a very long time,” he said.
Masingili said load reduction was the norm in his area, occurring constantly, if not every day.
“We had a problem with electricity and it interfered with my studying most of the time, in the sense that if I wanted to study late at night, I couldn’t. Unfortunately, I didn’t have battery lights or even paraffin lamps to study, so I would be forced to close my books and go to sleep,” he said.
Despite the challenges, Masingili pushed on as he watched the previous broadcast celebrating the class of 2024 when he was in grade 11 and wanted to experience it himself.
“I am very glad to be one of the top achievers, and it’s something I am very proud of. I saw the previous achievers on TV and told myself that I wanted that experience for myself, and today I have made it possible. It’s a very special moment that I will always remember in my life,” he said.
He wants to study BCom in Economics at the University of Pretoria.
“I fell in love with accounting in grade 10 because it was a very fascinating subject for me at the time. I chose University of Pretoria because in 2024 there was an empowerment week on campus, which I attended and really enjoyed,” he said.
Meanwhile, Vilakazi, 17, from Mpumalanga, who lives in an area that does not have piped water, said he had to draw water from a river.
“I am literally staying in a new settlement in Phola and there are no services like water or electricity. We fetch water from the river, so when I need to bathe in the morning, I have to wake up at least an hour earlier to heat water and bathe, and then do the same after school to cook or bathe again,” he said.
Vilakazi said when he received the invitation to join the minister for the breakfast with other top achievers, he thought it was a prank.
I am literally staying in a new settlement in Phola and there are no services like water or electricity. We fetch water from the river, so when I need to bathe in the morning, I have to wake up at least an hour earlier to heat water and bathe, and then do the same after school to cook or bathe again.
— Sanele Vilakazi
“This feels like the best moment of my life. I got the letter on Thursday and thought it was a scam or a prank. To imagine that the minister of basic education sent me an email inviting me to the national awards and to have breakfast with her has made me so happy. My parents also didn’t understand at first because when I showed them the email, they also froze,” he said.
For Mathake, an 18-year-old teenager from Burgersfort in Limpopo, his next phase of life will take him to the Tshwane University of Technology where he intends to study electrical engineering to help SA as it battles with electricity problems.
“There is a lot of load reduction in my area, and I want to help solve the problem of electricity in the country. That’s why I want to study electrical engineering at TUT. Everyone from my school goes to TUT, and I didn’t apply anywhere else because I am sure they will take me. I don’t doubt it,” he said.
