Sinenjongo High achieves 88.2% pass rate with three learners invited to Provincial Awards.
Peter Luhanga
• Sange Dastile from Dunoon earned seven distinctions, including Physical Sciences
and Mathematics, with an 88.43% aggregate.
• Malawian learner Junior Nyirenda achieved seven distinctions and a near-perfect
score in Life Sciences, with a 91.4% aggregate.
• Vuyisa Ntshanyana, another top-performing learner, earned five distinctions,
despite limited resources and a difficult school commute.
• Community challenges, including violence and limited study resources, did not
deter students and staff from achieving impressive results.
In a one-room apartment that served as a kitchen, bedroom, and study, Sange Dastile carved a path to academic excellence.
Sharing the rented RDP apartment with his mother and younger brother, Dastile’s determination was forged in the quiet hours of the night, when the hum of daily life had receded.
Despite the odds, the 19-year-old from Zwezwe informal settlement in Dunoon emerged among the top five achievers at Sinenjongo High School in Joe Slovo Park, Milnerton, securing seven distinctions and a coveted spot to study medicine at Stellenbosch University.
He says the cramped space presented its own set of challenges. Privacy was scarce; bathing required his mother to step outside. Evenings often demanded patience as he waited for his mother to finish watching her favourite TV programs before beginning his studies.
He says he adapted and started to study when his mother was sleeping, waiting for her to finish watching her favourite TV programs before beginning his own work at 10pm and working until 3am.
“There was a TV in the room. I could not tell my mother to switch off the TV… it’s kind of disrespectful, so I studied during the night. It was hard. It was three of us in one room, my mother, my brother, and myself,” says Dastile.
“Whenever I wanted to bath they had to sit outside for the duration of my bathing.”
But his unwavering dedication propelled him to achieve distinctions in all seven subjects, culminating in an aggregate score of 88.43% for his matric results.
His distinctions were in physical sciences, mathematics, English first additional language, computer applications technology, Xhosa home language, life sciences, and life orientation.
Dunoon’s New Rest Informal Settlement resident, Sange Dastile, excelled at Sinenjongo High School in Joe Slovo Park, Milnerton, achieving seven distinctions in the 2024 matric results, including Physical Sciences and Mathematics, with an 88.43% aggregate. Photo: Peter Luhanga.
He says he applied to Stellenbosch University, the University of Pretoria, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, and the University of the Free State. Each institution offered him a place to study medicine, but he chose Stellenbosch University.
Dunoon resident Vuyisa Ntshanyana, 18, is also a learner at Sinenjongo High School, and earned five distinctions.
Living in a backyard shack in Dunoon’s Section 31 near the bustling taxi rank, and not far from taverns, he faced the challenges of a crammed RDP yard filled with five shacks, leaving little room to move.
Ntshanyana, shares a one-room shack with his father and sister. It is within these tight confines, marked by the daily stresses of backyard shack living, that he found the determination to excel in his matric exams.
He earned distinctions in physical sciences, mathematics, English first additional language, life sciences, and life orientation, achieving an 87.71% aggregate for his matric results.
He says his mother died when he was 12, and his home situation drove him to work harder. With his father struggling to support the family, it was often difficult to afford the R40 daily taxi fare to school in Joe Slovo Park, Milnerton, eight kilometres from Dunoon.
He says he is awaiting feedback on his application to study chemical engineering at Stellenbosch University. If accepted, he plans to use this as a foundation before pursuing his ultimate goal of studying medicine.
His father, Phila Ntshanyana, 52, said he couldn’t contain his excitement when his son came home with his matric results, knowing he would be the first in their family to attend university. Overwhelmed with pride, he took his son’s results to work, sharing the news with his colleagues and even showing it to his supervisor.
“I kept telling him to focus on school so he can’t have problems in life. I made sure I provide transport for a minibus taxi. He studied when we all slept. I spent monthly close R500,” said Phila.
Junior Nyirenda, 19, from Malawi, was among the top five learners at Sinenjongo High. Nyirenda’s parents left dire poverty in Malawi in pursuit of better opportunities in Cape Town. Each morning, he began his day before dawn, braving the long commute from Gugulethu’s NY21 to Milnerton. By night, he poured his energy into his studies, a routine that paid off as he earned distinctions across all seven subjects. He achieved a near-perfect score in life sciences – just one percentage point shy of 100 – and an overall aggregate of 91.4%.
To achieve this feat, Nyirenda says was not easy.
“I remember going to school, especially from March … I’d get home at 7pm from school everyday. The journey was long. I didn’t have time. When I get home, I had to do homework for three hours I had to wake up at 4am to make it for school at 7am. On many occasions I was late.”
Nyirenda says his accomplishments reflect not only his hard work but also the unwavering encouragement of those around him. He credits the teachers who guided him, his parents who supported him through adversity, and friends among the top five learners whose determination inspired him to push harder.
He says he has been accepted to study electrical engineering at the University of Cape Town, but the study permit process was another hurdle. The application, which included obtaining all the required supporting documentation, cost R15,000.
His mother, Spellina Nyirenda, 47, who stays at home, says they had no choice but to borrow the money needed for the study permit and supporting documents from friends. She is a mother of four, including Junior.
Regarding her son’s achievement, she says seeing him working hard, waking up very early, traveling far to school, and sleeping late made her pity her son.
“I’d feel sorry for him but I was even fasting for him. It is God who helped him,” she says.
Faced with tuition fees of nearly R90,000 a year, they have no means to make payments.
Instead, Spellina says they will continue borrowing to keep their hopes alive.
School principal Khuselwa Nopote says the 2024 matric class achieved an 88.2% pass rate, demonstrating resilience in the face of challenging conditions with three learners invited to Provincial Awards – a recognition of their hard work and commitment.
“While we didn’t meet our 90% target, the quality of the results speaks for itself, particularly in difficult subjects,” she says.
Nopote says the year brought hurdles, including community violence that prevented late-night study sessions at school.
“This year, we couldn’t allow students to stay until 10pm due to safety concerns,” she says.
Nonetheless, she says two mathematics teachers volunteered extra time to help struggling students.
“Although the number of learners far exceeds our teaching capacity, their dedication made a difference,” she says.
She said for many learners, studying at home is a daily challenge as they contend with the pressures of underprivileged townships and domestic issues. The school entered 256 candidates for the November 2024 National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams, with 255 writing the exams. Of these, 225 students passed, resulting in a pass rate of 88.2%. While this represents strong overall performance, the figure marks a slight decline from the school’s high water mark of a 90.7% pass rate in 2021.