According to Zizzilee van Niekerk, her son Markus van Niekerk is the first South African to graduate with a medical degree from Riga Stradins University. She said Markus was home-schooled and occasionally a student at the Hoedspruit Christian School where he participated in social events and sports. He was known among residents and still has family members living in Hoedspruit. He was an exceptional horse rider and pianist.

He started formal music lessons at age five with Martie Oberholzer in Hoedspruit. At seven, he achieved a Unisa honorary roll award for his musical achievements. He attended Maragon High in Pretoria East in 2013 and matriculated in 2016. He was offered fields of study in South Africa at Tuks and Stellenbosch, but not in medicine, she said. He applied at Riga Stradins University in Latvia and on January 21, 2017, he got the email that he was accepted.

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“On February 4, 2017, we were already in Riga for registration and student initiation procedures. It was a huge challenge, but we took it head-on!” said Zizzilee. “Arriving in a previous communist country, part of the previous Soviet Union, the picture looked grim. As a mother, I had thoughts of how is he going to survive or even excel in this country, what did we think?” But Markus embraced his new life and excelled in many social, sports, cultural, and academic activities and associations on campus.

He became friends with two dentistry students from the Netherlands, Floris Kant and Anne Van Doren, who he thinks of as his brother and sister away from home, Zizzilee said. She said Markus passed his final state exam cum laude on January 19 this year. He has also been invited to present his thesis at a Rotterdam Medical Congress in the Netherlands on February 16. Markus has been offered positions in Germany where he will further his medical studies, Zizzilee said.