A seventeen-year-old self-professed “village boy” from Nonceba Senior Secondary School in King William's Town, has won first prize in the South African component of the annual Southern African Development Community (SADC) Essay Competition for Secondary Schools.
A seventeen-year-old self-professed “village boy” from Nonceba Senior Secondary School in King William's Town, has won first prize in the South African component of the annual Southern African Development Community (SADC) Essay Competition for Secondary Schools.
Mbatsha Viwe beat thousands of other South African entries and was also placed fourth in the regional competition. He had not entered such a competition before and encouraged others to do so in future.
“If a village boy like me can do this [win the competition], so can my fellow students,” said Viwe. “I have learned that there are no limits in life. You can do whatever you want; you just have to believe in yourself.”
Viwe was awarded $500 and was flown to Pretoria, where Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, presented the three South African winners with their prizes.
“I will spoil myself a bit with the winnings and use the rest for my studies next year,” said Viwe, who will study civil engineering at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Second prize went to Nicola Cilliers from Rustenburg Girls High School in Cape Town and Mpule Matlhola of Pro Arte Alphen Park High School in Pretoria came third.
Viwe's winning essay can be viewed at
http://www.education.gov.za /LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=yYUw50SJpVc%3d&tab…
