'Double matric' made him a schoolboy star

10 January 2016 - 02:02 By Farren Collins

Less than an hour before Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga announced last year's matric results on Tuesday, Temba Bavuma registered his maiden test century for the Proteas. Bavuma was a star pupil - he got three distinctions - but the main reason he remembers his matric year with fondness is because he did it twice.He decided to repeat his final year at St David's Marist in Inanda, Johannesburg, to be eligible for selection for representative teams."I finished school in 2007, a year earlier than most of my classmates, so I had only turned 17," said Bavuma, who moved to Johannesburg with his parents from Langa, Cape Town, when he was 13."The cricketing master, Shane Gaffney, asked me to do another year of Grade 12. There was nothing wrong with my marks, it was from a cricket point of view. Once you're out of school it's hard to be selected for South African under-19s and South African Schools."story_article_right1Bavuma had been selected only for the Gauteng under-19 and South African Colts teams at that point, but qualified for the more prestigious South African representative teams the following year. The plan paid off when he made his first-team debut for the Highveld Lions in January 2009.Staying in school wasn't easy; he had to contend with rumour and innuendo. "It was tough hearing guys laughing and talking about me in the corridors," Bavuma said."Many of them said I had failed and made up other stuff, but in the end it made me mentally even stronger."A year after his first-class debut, he suffered a huge blow when his maternal grandmother, who had raised him in Langa until he was 13, died of diabetes-related complications."My grandmother played a significant role in my life. I had a deep love and sense of affection for her," Bavuma said. She would throw balls in the yard so he could practise batting, and he still stays at her home when in Cape Town."She raised me and I could never forget what she did for me. Her death hit me hard, but I had to be strong for my family, and my mother was looking to me to be there for my siblings and younger cousins."full_story_image_hleft1Bavuma completed the first year of a BCom degree at the University of Johannesburg but dropped out halfway through his second year because cricket was keeping him away from class. Instead he enrolled with Unisa and graduated last year.The diminutive man affectionately known as Sachin, after Indian cricketing great Sachin Tendulkar, wants to build on his performance this week to cement his Proteas test place, and use it as a springboard to compete for a place in the Twenty20 and one-day international squads.When he isn't playing cricket he enjoys mixing house beats. His favourite DJ is Black Coffee, and friends have given him the moniker DJ Espresso because of his small frame.Bavuma has become a giant in his community in Langa. There is a mural of nearly 3m of his face, and adoring children follow him through the streets...

There’s never been a more important time to support independent media.

From World War 1 to present-day cosmopolitan South Africa and beyond, the Sunday Times has been a pillar in covering the stories that matter to you.

For just R80 you can become a premium member (digital access) and support a publication that has played an important political and social role in South Africa for over a century of Sundays. You can cancel anytime.

Already subscribed? Sign in below.



Questions or problems? Email helpdesk@timeslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00.