She nearly missed the event when her flight from Johannesburg was cancelled on Wednesday morning.
THE PRIDE of the Northern Cape, Tlotolo Lekgoba, received a standing ovation when she walked into the 2019 Senior Certificate Results Awards Ceremony after nearly missing the event when her flight from Johannesburg was cancelled yesterday morning.
The slight pupil, dressed in her bright red school uniform, arrived well after the ceremony, hosted by Northern Cape Premier Zamani Saul and the MEC for Education, Mac Jack, had started.
She had attended the national awards ceremony hosted by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga in Johannesburg on Tuesday and was due to arrive back in the city on the early morning flight.
The SA Express flight, on which Jack also had a seat, was cancelled.
Jack managed to catch another flight to Bloemfontein and was driven to Kimberley in time for the ceremony, although he missed the earlier press conference.
Lekgoba, however, was, according to Jack, unable to get a seat on the flight to Bloemfontein and had to get a later flight to Kimberley.
Speaking at the later press conference, Lekgoba had some wise words of wisdom for the MEC, pointing out that she had experienced vandalism at her school and had seen pupils taking time off.
“Most of the efforts (of the department) are at a higher level and are not helpful. There needs to be a focus to try and motivate pupils who do not do their work, who just go there to have fun.”
She added that the department’s programmes needed to start with the pupils themselves. “Don’t develop strategies at the higher levels but try to deal with the lower levels.”
Lekgoba, who achieved nine distinctions, was only able to do seven subjects at her school in Mothibistad as the other two, Physical Science and Natural Science, were not offered and she had to do these on her own.
Attributing her success to lots of hard work and sacrifices, Lekgoba said she studied all the time and put all her energy into her school work, giving up her television and even a cellphone.
She will be studying Actuarial Science at Wits this year and hopes, one day, to open her own financial consultancy so that she can provide financial services, particularly to people in poor communities.
