The prisoner who achieved the highest marks after writing his 2019 final matric exams obtained four distinctions, the department of justice and correctional services said on Thursday.

His name is Sandile Stangoni and is serving time at a prison in Durban. He studied and wrote his exams through the Usethubeni Youth Centre.

His average was 76.5%, with distinctions in English, maths literacy, life orientation and tourism,” said minister of justice and corrections Ronald Lamola on Thursday.

Lamola was announcing how the prisoners who had written their exams fared, at an event held at the Tswelopele Correctional Centre in Kimberley.

“The second-best offender learner is Mandla Malwande from Cradock Prison School in the Eastern Cape region, with an average of 76.4%. He registered three distinctions, in isiXhosa, life orientation and business studies,” Lamola said.

Third was Thamie Ganto, also from Cradock, with distinctions in isiXhosa and history.

The department had announced that 82.6% of inmates who wrote the 2019 matric exams passed. This was an improvement on the 77.3% pass rate prisoners achieved the year before.

While the department had expected 212 inmates to write the exams, the DCS said that in the end 161 full-time candidates sat. One hundred and thirty-three offender learners had passed, while 65 had achieved bachelor passes, 39 had achieved diploma passes and 28 higher certificate passes.

Convicted racist Vicki Momberg is suing the police and justice ministers, the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) and provincial and national top cops, for R8.5m for unlawful arrest and detention.

Momberg’s lawyer Anesh Sukdeo told TimesLIVE on Thursday that Momberg intended to sue the departments after her “unlawful” arrest on November 6 2019.

“The police lied and said they had a warrant of arrest against Miss Momberg. What they had instead was an order of apprehension, which is different from a warrant of arrest. When she appeared in court, the magistrate said she did not have jurisdiction over the matter,” said Sukdeo.

He said Momberg was suing the departments and the NDPP for R8.5m; R2.5m of which was for unlawful arrest and detention; R1m for defamation, pain and suffering and anguish; R2.5m for malicious legal proceedings and another R2.5m for wrongful and malicious legal proceedings.

Sukdeo said his team had sent a notice to sue to the ministers of justice, the police, and provincial and national police commissioners by e-mail and registered post. The e-mails were sent in December and the post on January 7. The NDPP only received the notice via registered post, he said.

Sukdeo said Momberg was in Durban. He would not say where she lived exactly and whether she was working or not.

“She’s dealing with her life. She’s picking up the pieces she left behind.”

Lirandzu Themba, spokesperson for the police department, said they had not yet received correspondence from Momberg’s legal team.

“I’ve just been in touch with our legal team and they said they did not receive anything from Vicki Momberg, let alone her legal team,” said.

Momberg became infamous after a viral video in 2016 showed her using the k-word more than 40 times against police officers and 10111 operators trying to assist her after a smash-and-grab incident.

She became the first South African to receive a jail sentence — an effective two years — for the crime.

She was also ordered to pay a R100,000 fine, make a public apology and commit to sensitivity training and community service, in a parallel Equality Court process lodged by the SA Human Rights Commission and one of the police officers she verbally assaulted.

In December, Momberg was released from prison after the special remission of sentence announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on December 16 2019.

When he was diagnosed with HIV at 21, Durban-based Simiso Msomi thought that was the end of his life and he would not live to see his 30th birthday.

Now Msomi is celebrating his 30th birthday; he is engaged and is a father to two daughters.

“At 21, I decided to go for a HIV test for the first time. My partner was frequently testing and she was negative, so I was not worried about my status,” Msomi said.

Msomi said he got the shock of his life when the results were positive.

“I was in shock. I thought this [HIV] was for old people. I was young and because my partner was negative, I thought my results would be the same.”

Msomi did not want to accept the results, so he took three HIV tests on the same day – and they all came out positive.

“The nurse who was taking the test tried to counsel me, but I would not hear any of it. I left and went to see my girlfriend. I told her what had happened.”

The same nurse drew Msomi’s blood, and told him to come back after two weeks to check his results and to see how far his CD4 count was.

“I never went back. My then girlfriend and I went to a doctor. I took the test and it was positive. My girlfriend took the same test and hers came out negative. The doctor could not explain how I was positive and she was negative.

“This created a big rift between my girlfriend and I. It destroyed me. After two years, we broke up.”

Msomi said he needed someone to talk to and so he broke the news to his best friend over drinks.

“She [friend] introduced me to a health care worker at college, who was also an HIV activist. When I saw the guy, he looked healthy; he was driving a Mercedes-Benz, was married and had children.

“He told me he had been living with the virus for 17 years. This changed my perception about the virus. He changed how I saw myself at the time. He made the journey easier for me,” said Msomi.

The activist introduced Msomi to other HIV-positive students, with whom he interacted and shared experiences.

Accepting his status was not the only challenge Msomi faced; he also struggled in the dating scene.

“Dating was horrendous. I did not know when the best time to disclose was. I was young and sex was exciting for young people like me. I had situations where I would date a person, have protected sex and then disclose. They would run away. It did not help to disclose before sex either. Girls would freak out when I disclosed my status.

“This was emotionally draining. I then decided to come out, so that when a person meets me, they already know my status.”

Msomi then got an opportunity to do a campaign with Brothers for Life to create HIV awareness.

“I was 25 when I came out and I have never looked back. I always inspire and motivate people. I get inboxes from people wanting advice on how medication works; how to disclose and live a positive life.

“I am now a father to two daughters. I am engaged.

“I did not see myself making it this far. I feel blessed and grateful. I love the fact that people draw strength from my story,” Msomi said.

Msomi started a thread on Twitter this week, sharing his journey of living with HIV. A lot of users responded, with some sharing similar stories and how they were living “positive” lives after disclosing their statuses.

Bakang Garebatho wrote: “I am celebrating 26 today but I had life and death situations a couple of times without my ARVs. But ever since I opened my arms to them, it has always been life after life and more life … then came happiness.”