​Last Week, the class of 2021 received their long-anticipated matric results, and Ntokozo Ntombela was one of the ones who was quite pleased to get his results. He is an 18-year-old SASSA Child Support Grant recipient from Lethulwazi Secondary School in Vosloorus who earned an admission to bachelor's degree, and a distinction in Life Sciences.
Growing up with an absent father and a jobless mother, Ntokozo has been a social security grant recipient since he was a baby. With his mother facing unemployment and economic difficulties, he moved from one home to the next as a child.

“Despite all the struggles we had as a family, the Child Support Grant my mother received was able to clothe me and my brother. Through this grant, she also ensured that there was food.

Likewise, the pandemic had a huge influence during his senior year of high school as learners were not exposed to the normal school routines.

As a result, he faced difficulties such as not having access to the school library and not being able to form study groups. “I would often find myself feeling unmotivated and overwhelmed by learning alone because forming study groups was difficult while observing the social distance restrictions," he added.

Although he applied for teaching at Wits, his ultimate goals for 2022 are to study clinical medicine at the University of Johannesburg; supporting his mother who is working towards opening an ECD center in her
community and being a role model to his younger brother.

In his advice for the current and prospective matric learners, Ntokozo said, “I believe if they want to get good results, the trick is to start studying early, manage your time wisely and put more effort on challenging subjects and power through”.