South Africa has got good news: Here’s what you missed

We have not even been inside the first 30 days of the new year and the country is already divided. Incidents like that of Clifton Beach and Laerskool Schweizer-Reneke are extremely important to tackle but they also negate the fact that South Africa still has got good news.

It is a fine line we, content writers, walk on. We are tasked with the responsibility to bring forth accurate and relevant news to our readers. At the same time, our words hold power and what we report, in a way, shapes social discourse.

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At the moment, nothing good is being discussed on mainstream platforms and that is largely our responsibility. This is why segments such as this one are of extreme importance — to shed light on the other side of the South African story.

The forgotten heroes whose work ought to be praised remain unknown because the lens is focused on everything that is wrong with South Africa.

Well, we champion the work that these unsung heroes do on a daily basis, and we will take this opportunity to shine some light on them.

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Impossible is nothing: Township school teen defeats odds to study at University of Cape Town

We have all done this. If something becomes too challenging we chalk it up to the fact that maybe it was never meant to be and quickly move on to the next thing.

Lwando Melamane from Masiphumelele High School could’ve done the same thing when he struggled to make it past Grade 10. According to a Good Things Guy report, it isn’t that Melamane did not have the capacity to do well, circumstances he had no control of contributed to his poor performance at school.

However, he did not give in. In his own words, he recalled how he had to face the hard decision to leave his mom in a two-room shack he grew up in to live with his uncle for the purpose of focusing on his studies.

“When I was in grade 10 I was not doing so well but there were three students in my class that were so clever. I told myself that is where I want to be. I did not like living far from my mom but I couldn’t study there because the house is small and it is next to a tavern so it was always noisy,” Melamane recalled.

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That move proved to be the catalyst that catapulted Melamane into one of the top matric students from Masiphumelele (translated to English, it means let us succeed), with six distinctions in Mathematics, Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, Geography, Life Orientation and IsiXhosa.

Melamane has been accepted into the University of Cape Town (UCT) to study Mechanical Engineering, something he has always wanted to do.

“Mechanical engineering is my first love. It is what I have always wanted and to be accepted at one of best universities in the country is a dream come true, ” he added.

We wanted to shed light on this story to show that nothing is impossible if the hunger and dedication is what drives you towards achieving your goals.

Randburg community helps pay for education student’s registration fees

When a community comes together to help improve the life of a fellow citizen, it proves that there is more to life than hatred and division.

As reported by Good Things Guy, Ajesta Khalanga is a second-year at the University of South Africa.

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Struggling to secure the registration fees he needed to enroll for the 2019 academic year, he took to Facebook to publish his CV and plead with the community of Randburg to refer him to any home that needs garden work.

The money earned from this, he stated in his post, would help secure him a place at UNISA so he can continue on his quest to complete his Bachelor of Education degree.

Resilience is truly a learned skill because it took three attempts from Khalanga to get the traction that he needed. After he had posted the same plea on his timeline the third time, the community of Randburg heard his calls and vowed to assist him with registration fees without the need to do any garden work.

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“I am writing this post to say thank you to this group and everybody who took their time and money to help me raise money for my varsity registration through sharing my post.

“Today I am happy to inform you that I have successfully registered for my second year ( bachelor of education). Guys, I can’t imagine where I would be now if it wasn’t your help. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!” he wrote passionately on his timeline.

More collaboration like this would go a long way in healing the ills that plague our society, 25 years later.