Mother’s death propels Lilitha to achieve more

Many young people tend to give up on life especially when they lose the sole breadwinner in the family but the death of Lilitha Ntame’s mother in 2020 inspired her to strive even harder to achieve success in whatever she does including her schoolwork.

It is no surprise that she was the top student of the Lukhanyo Wellness Programme that was run at KwaBhekilanga High School and designed to fire up the matric learners to excel. She achieved five distinctions and was a top three matric achiever at her school and a top five achiever out of the five high schools in the township.

Lilitha (18) was also a top five matric achiever in the category of the Vincent Tshabalala Awards and for that achievement earned herself a full bursary to study law at the University of the Free State.
Despite being admitted, Lilitha said she was struggling to raise the close to R10 000 registration fee which excludes a deposit for accommodation, and she keeps her fingers crossed that a Good Samaritan may come her way in good time before the close of registrations.

Lilitha said she had always been among the top achievers since Grade 10, where she was among the top 20, Grade 11 was the top 11 and in matric, she obtained a top five slot. “Once you achieve good marks in Grade 10, the cycle tends to repeat itself up until matric,” Lilitha said.

When her mom passed away, Lilitha and her sister, Asadumodwa, who have a two-year age difference, closed ranks and cared for each other. “We made sure there was life after the death of our mother and this inspired me to do even better in my educational studies.

“I decided to dedicate my matric achievement to my mom Lisa and my sister Asadumodwa,” Lilitha said. In her message to the current Matric Class of 2024, Lilitha gave them her blessings and urged them to avoid being their own worst enemies by not choosing and putting their education and future first.

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