Despite being introduced to English in Grade 10, Thembeka Thabede’s determination to learn the language meticulously and achieve top results has earned her the 2014 top English student award.
“I did not expect to be the top Communication/English student, when I was told that I am, I was so surprised especially since most of my education has been taught to me in my home language. I was only introduced to English when I was in grade 10,” said Thabede.
Thabede was handed the award during a luncheon on Wednesday, 16 September at the Rendezvous Restaurant, Steve Biko Campus, Durban University of Technology. Each year the University awards the top English student with an award sponsored by Mr Clive Wilson, who is the husband of the late Sharon Wilson, a former English and Communication Lecturer at DUT.
Addressing the audience, Mr Wilson, said when his wife died in 1988, he had asked himself what he could do to keep his wife’s memory alive. “When my wife died I thought how can I do something in memory of her? And that is how this prize got set up. In 1989 I took R2000 and gave it to the then Technikon Natal and I said invest this in the Old Mutual ‘Investors Fund’ which is a unit trust and leave it there, let it just grow. For the first 20 years of this prize, I paid this prize out of my own pocket, when it first started it was only R500. In the last five years the prize has been paid out of the trust fund only, today the trust fund is worth R118 000 and this prize could go on right till after I have gone,” he said.
There are over 5000 students who study English/Communication as a compulsory subject at DUT. A student is selected using the ITS to sift the best student per subject (English and Communication), the highest out of all the annual programmes becomes the winner of the cheque. Every year the cheque increases by R100, and this year the amount is R2500.
Thabede extended her gratitude not only to her parents but her lecturers whom she says were the motivation behind her achievements. “There are so many people who have been instrumental to my achievement, my parents have always been the pillar of my strength and God’s will has been the wind beneath my wings. I must also extend my appreciation to my lecturers and the Writing Centre who assisted with my vocabulary and my writing skills,” added Thabede.
Communication Skills is not the only subject in which Thabede has performed well reading out her results, Mr Wilson said this was the first time he has ever seen such high marks in the entire 25 years of the award. “In Business Administration she received 94%, Communication 98%, Information Administration 88%, Legal Practice 98% and for Prestige Personal Management she has 89%. This is the first I have heard of especially for someone for whome English is not their first language,” said Mr Wilson.
Further adding to his daughter’s gratitude, Vusi Thabede, said they were not surprised with the results from their daughter’s progress report. “My daughter has always been a hardworker, giving most of her time to her schoolwork and making sure she gets guidance from us and those teaching her, she continues doing us proud,” concluded Mr Thabede.
Pictured: Thembeka Thabede with Mr Clive Wilson
