The Vosloorus based Thuto Lesedi Secondary school’s matric pupil beat thousands of his peers to become the country’s third best performer in maths and science, having achieved 100 per cent in both subjects.
He relied heavily on friends and classmates for textbooks as he lacked money to buy his own.
The excited Mpumelelo told the Advertiser that he was surprised and overwhelmed with emotion upon hearing the good news.
He also obtained five other distinctions in geography, life sciences, Isizulu home language, English additional language, life sciences and life orientation.
“I maintained balance in my studies by respecting and treating all the subjects equally and studying every day,” said Mpumelelo.
The young man described himself not as a hard worker, but a smart one.
“The only way to learn more is through teaching others and I taught other students in my spare time,” he said.
Mpumelelo set goals to achieve big very early in the year and aimed at fulfilling them.
This outstanding achiever is planning to study civil engineering either at the University of Cape Town or Wits University.
