Triumph for township kids

TWO Gauteng bright sparks beat the odds to scoop the province's top prizes for mathematics and physical science.

Zanele Mahlangu, left, from Tembisa Secondary School, scored full marks for maths, and Lehlogondo Mogau Dilebo, from Thuto Pele Secondary School in Kagiso, scored 100% for physical science.

Even though Mahlangu, 18, achieved seven other distinctions, she admitted that her maths mark caught her by surprise.

''I was not expecting it at all, but when I saw it I was so thrilled."

She said she owed much of her success to her unemployed mother and three siblings, who have always been supportive of her.

Mahlangu is also a keen netball and chess player. She has been accepted by the University of Pretoria, where she will study chemical engineering this year.

On the other side of the province, in a two-bedroom shack in Kagiso, Dilebo said not even a freezing cold winter had deterred him.

The 19-year-old said: ''I was expecting a distinction in physical science, but I didn't expect 100%. I've always been a hard worker since Grade1 ... It was a challenge to study in winter because it was freezing in our shack."

Dilebo, who obtained a total of six distinctions, has been accepted to study medicine at the University of the Witwatersrand and is hoping to secure a bursary.

''I only wanted to celebrate with my family because I appreciate everything they have done for me," he said.