Nelspruit - Seventeen-year-old Vutomi Khoza from Tekataku outside Nelspruit in Mpumalanga achieved seven distinctions in the 2018 matric exams despite poverty and has made his parents proud.
According to his father Dennis Khoza, 57, Vutomi is a disciplined and respectful child and a hard worker.
“His respect for us as his parents has surely paid off because he is such a young humble guy. He sure took me by surprise with such great results that he pulled off; although I knew that he would make it, but this is huge and it rewrites his whole future and our family's,” Dennis said.
He recalled that Vutomi would sometimes go to school without food, but never complained. “My son accepted our situation at home and he never questioned why today he has no food or money for school,” he said.
Vutomi’s mother, 48-year-old community works programme (CWP) worker Gladness Nyalungu, said her son did not have many friends, as he was always reading when not studying.
Proud parents Dennis Khoza and Gladness Nyalungu. Picture: ANA
“I love the man my son is because he loves knowledge, and you will see it in the way he loves reading. He was always glued to his books and was never a child who hangs in the street,” she said.
Vutomi intends to study chemical engineering this year and encourages children from poor backgrounds to learn mathematics and physical science as a clear way out of poverty. “My wish is to come back home and endorse programs that have to teach children in primary schools more about the science subjects,” he said.