Close friends Tando Fojisa, Busang Mofokeng and Lebohang Lepoi are the latest matric learners from Katlehong Technical High to hoist the school’s name high with their remarkable pass rate in their 2016 finals.
Topping the list with four distinctions and a 76 per cent pass rate, 19-year-old Fojisa, who lives in Thokoza, said he received his highest marks in physical Science, maths and what he describes as his favourite subject, mining engineering.
Like his two schoolmates, Fojisa, attributed his success to hard work and long hours of burning the midnight oil with his face buried in his books.
“Above all, I want to thank God for doing well with my schoolwork, my family for their support and patience as well as my classmates with whom I shared many of our exciting youthful weekends and forsook our favourite pastimes for us to achieve what we have today,” said the soft-spoken Fojisa, pointing towards Busang and Lebohang next to him.
Seventeen-year-old Busang, of Tsolo Section in Katlehong, received three distinctions with a 78 per cent pass rate. He jokingly walked up to school principal Jaco Opperman and said, “I’m the boss. Even at home I tell them what to cook, when and how to cook it because I’m the only man around the house.”
He added, “I also give praise to my Creator and my family, especially my 76-year-old grandmother who would routinely wake me up every morning before school and urge me to study. I also wish to credit the Kutlwanong Centre for Maths, Science and Technology, which played an important role in helping us shape and mould our approach and work ethic towards our schoolwork.” The proud teenager sees himself studying at Wits to become an expert dental technician.
Soft-spoken Lebohang, of Palm Ridge, believes his teachers, friends and mother are responsible for his three distinctions and 77 per cent pass rate. “I’m now looking forward to studying electrical engineering at Wits and hope to be an asset to my country and my people in the future by bringing innovative ideas to this field,” Lepoi, explained.
A proud Principal Opperman told Kathorus MAIL that the three learners have made the school “extremely” proud with their high marks and distinctions. “Our aim as a school is to provide our learners with the same quality of education given at the former Model C schools,” he said as he gathered his three top learners around him for a photograph.
The trio also took a moment to remember their close friend and classmate, Juda Mlongo, who died of a brain tumour in October, just two months before the matric exams.
