For years, Dendron Secondary School, in the rural area of Bochum, Limpopo, has produced top matric pupils.

Basic education minister Angie Motshekga on Tuesday made special mention of the school, saying pupils there continued to defy the odds.

“I wanted to ask the driver, did you get the directions of where we are going, because it  seems we are going to the middle of nowhere. There is no way we can get a gem from this environment,” she added.

Motshekga said she was encouraged by how pupils and staff at the school were defying the odds.

“What encourages us is that they really hold their own under very difficult conditions.”

Dendron had, for years, also achieved a 100% pass rate,” the minister said.

Further, the school did not have special-admission requirements.

“Any child who presents themselves gets admitted,” said Motshekga.

She made special mention of the school’s principal, teachers, pupils and parents.

“Since I was a

“I wanted to ask the driver, did you get the directions of where we are going, because it  seems we are going to the middle of nowhere. There is no way we can get a gem from this environment,” she added.

Motshekga said she was encouraged by how pupils and staff at the school were defying the odds.

“What encourages us is that they really hold their own under very difficult conditions.”

Dendron had, for years, also achieved a 100% pass rate,” the minister said.

Further, the school did not have special-admission requirements.

“Any child who presents themselves gets admitted,” said Motshekga.

She made special mention of the school’s principal, teachers, pupils and parents.

minister, for the past 10 years, Dendron has never failed to send a learner to the top 30. The other year, the principal had his own child in the top 30,” said Motshekga.

She was speaking at a department of education event in Midrand, where 2019’s top matrics were honoured.

An unbearable stench, unflushable toilets, no running water and a lack of food are some of the conditions Shosholoza Meyl train passengers have had to endure since they got stuck on Sunday.

Zak Benjamin and his ailing mother took the train from Klerksdorp in North West to Cape Town on Sunday.

“First, the train was three hours late. We left on Sunday and we had a couple of stops,” Benjamin told TimesLIVE in a telephonic interview on Tuesday. He is still on the train.

He said they first stopped in Kimberley for three hours. Then the train stopped in Orania for 67 hours.

“There has been no communication from management. When they did communicate, they told us lies. Someone who wanted to remain anonymous said the locomotives were not made for pulling the number of carriages attached to the train,” said Benjamin.

The train is now stuck in Prince Albert in the Western Cape, Be

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has received a sharp rise in first- time applications, with eight out of every 10 would-be students wanting to study at a university.

Just under 50% of applications have been received from social-grant beneficiaries.

The high number of students being funded by government is also evident at school level. Of the more than 790,000 matriculants awaiting their results this week, 596,720  received social grants, according to the social development department statement issued this week.

In its statement, the NSFAS cited an extensive outreach campaign, which saw its officials reaching out to applicants in small towns and rural areas, as contributing to the increased number of applications it received for the 2020 academic year.

NSFAS said it had received a record number of 543,268 first-time applications (previous year 428,929) by the closing date.

“The personal details and social welfare status of all applications have been validated with the departments of home affairs and social development. This is a major improvement in NSFAS administration as communication of a funding decision prior to the commencement of the academic year will allow students to enrol at tertiary institutions without having to pay upfront registration fees,” the scheme said.

Hilton College and Michaelhouse, both considered among the most expensive schools in the country, have achieved 100% pass rates in the Independent Examination Board (IEB) exams.

Hilton College in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands, with fees of  R298,600 a year in 2019, once again achieved a 100% pass rate and an average of more than two distinctions per scholar.

A total of 107 of the 111 scholars met the requirements for a bachelor’s degree pass.

Hilton’s top achiever, Kutloano Modisaesi, received seven distinctions and will be studying mechanical engineering at the University of Pretoria.

Hilton taught me how to expand my boundaries to make the most of an incredible experience. It taught me to endure, to be culturally enriched and to take pride in everything I do in order to do it to the best of my ability,” said Modisaesi.

Michaelhouse, also in the midlands and with fees of R284,000 a year in 2019, also achieved a 100% pass rate.

Two of the school’s pupils made the IEB’s outstanding achievements list, which is for pupils who scored within the top 5% in six subjects and above 80% in life orientation.

The school’s dux award recipient, Luke van Rooyen, got an aggregate of 92.1% and eight distinctions.

Overall the school received a 94% bachelor’s degree pass.

Police have launched a manhunt for an armed gang which allegedly shot at and bombed a cash-in-transit vehicle outside Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, on Monday.

According to national police spokesperson Col Brenda Muridili “an unknown number of suspects shot the vehicle from behind.

“The driver and crew were held at gunpoint and forced out of the vehicle.

“It was allegedly bombed and the suspects fled the scene with an undisclosed amount of cash.

“No injuries were reported and no arrests have been made,” said Muridili.