We studied so hard people said we’d go crazy

Top achiever Refiloe Mmoledi, 17, is the toast of her village in Madidi, North West, after scoring six distinctions against all odds.

Refiloe, who is from a family in which nobody is employed, said she worked hard from the start of the year, studying and doing revision almost every day. Her school doesn’t have a laboratory, a library or even an administration block.

She said for most of the year she used previous matric question papers to assess her readiness for the exams.

“After I received my prelim exam results I knew that I would do well in the final exams – I had gotten five distinctions in the prelims,” said Refiloe.

She said she and her classmates studied so hard and prepared for matric exams so extensively that many of her peers in the village would often joke and say they would soon go crazy.

She has been admitted to Wits University where she plans to enrol for a BCom Accounting degree. She has applied for funding from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.

While being interviewed by Sowetan, she received the news via text message that she had scored a R15,000 bursary due to her good results.

Refiloe’s mother, Freda Mmoledi, 47, who struggled to contain her tears, said she is very proud of her daughter.

Mmoledi had been unemployed for the entire year and said her family survived on her mother’s pension grant and Refiloe’s monthly grant from the SA Social Security Agency.

Mmoledi’s luck has also changed. “I just got a job two weeks ago, I will now be based in Johannesburg where I will be a child minder,” she said.

She believes getting a job in Johannesburg is a blessing as she will be close to her daughter at Wits.

She’s confident her daughter will excel academically at Wits.

“If she could pass so well in matric, I don’t see her struggling at Wits. I don't expect her to get to Joburg and lose focus,” Mmoledi said.