Limpopo's top matric achiever Maduvha Munyai is flanked by Zion Christian Church Bishop Barnabas Lekganyane, right, and premier Dr Phophi Ramathuba and an official from the Limpopo Department of Education during a ceremony to honour the province's top achievers in Polokwane on Tuesday. Munyai plans to study for a degree in actuarial sciences. (Photo. Office of the Premier) 
Matric learner Mutshidzi Ramovha thought she was being scammed when she received a call from the Department of Basic Education inviting her to the official results announcement ceremony.
Although she had worked hard during the year, Ramovha didn’t think she would be among Limpopo province’s top performers, let alone get an invite to such a prestigious occasion.
Ramovha is the third-best performing matriculant in the province, who scored an improved total average matric pass rate of 86.15% in the 2025 matric results. She is the province’s top accounting student. The province ranked 8th nationally with an improved pass rate of 1% from 2023.
/file/attachments/orphans/10009645372_523673.jpg "Mutshidzi Audrey Ramovha from Khweha Commercial School in Limpopo being congratulated by Departm of Education officials was named the Top Achiever in Accounting among Quintile 1, 2 & 3 schools. The teenager from Shayandima near Thohoyandou is set to pursue a BCom Accounting degree. (Photo: Supplied / Premier's Office)")
Limpopo, a province characterised by a lack of resources, underdevelopment and high levels of poverty due to its predominantly rural nature, achieved a 69.4% matric pass rate in 2018, which then improved to 73.2% in 2019, but regressed to 68.2% in 2020. The decline worsened when the province scored 66.7% in 2021.
But in 2023, it achieved an improved 79.5% pass rate, earning the province the title of best improved province with a 7.4% improvement from 2022.
‘Consistent progress’
Provincial education MEC Mavhungu Lerule-Ramakhanya said at an event to announce the results in Polokwane on Tuesday that the 86.15% pass rate was “a powerful symbol of our consistent progress. It represents thousands of personal victories and a bright future full of possibilities.”
Ramovha, who studied commercial subjects at the Khwevha Commercial School in Shayandima near Thohoyandou, said it took a punishing schedule of extra classes, studying through the night to achieve a pass that has made her the third-best matric pupil in Limpopo.
“I would do extra classes after school, get home and sleep and then get up around midnight to study until early morning, then prepare for school,” she said.
Her family, mom and aunt organised an e-hailing taxi to transport her back home from school after attending extra classes daily as part of the preparations for her matric exams.
The learner from the Quintile 3 school plans to study towards a degree in chartered accounting.
“I have never met a CA in my life,” she said, explaining that a seven-day camp organised by the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants last year inspired her to follow this career path.
Top achiever
Across town in Thohoyandou, Maduvha Munyai is basking in the glory of being the province’s top achiever.
Munyai, who lives with his taxi driver dad and cashier mom in Muledane, said he started preparing for the matric end-of-year exams right at the beginning of the academic year.
/file/attachments/orphans/LimpopoTopMatricAchiever_933733.jpg "Limpopo's top matric achiever Maduvha Munyai is flanked by Zion Christian Church Bishop Barnabas Lekganyane, right, and premier Dr Phophi Ramathuba and an official from the Limpopo Department of Education during a ceremony to honour the province's top achievers in Polokwane on Tuesday. Munyai plans to study for a degree in actuarial sciences. (Photo. Office of the Premier)")
He went through past matric exam question papers, was part of a study group and even quit his favourite sport and pastime, football, to ensure he had enough time to rest and focus on his studies.
The 17-year-old from the Quintile 4 Thohoyandou Secondary School said he also took lessons from YouTube as his school didn’t have a fully functional laboratory. He now plans to study actuarial science at either Wits or the University of Pretoria.
Having been a top performer throughout high school, Munyai said he battled with the stress of high expectations from both his family and his peers.
He relied on mobile data supplied by his parents to access YouTube where he picked up some valuable lessons.
“I just prayed,” he explained about how he dealt with high expectations. “I prepared for my exams right from the start of the year, so I never doubted I would pass.”
Seven distinctions
Mpho Phasha, whose daughter Blessing Phasha scored seven distinctions in the IEB matric exams, said she prepared her for matric the moment she started high school.
As part of preparing her daughter, who was in the science stream, Phasha hired a private tutor who guided her in mathematics and physics from Grade 10.
In matric, she exempted her daughter, Blessing, from household chores so she could fully focus on her studies.
Blessing, from PEPPS High School in Polokwane, scored an average of 88.4% and wants to study towards a degree in computer engineering.
“She was always studying,” said Phasha, adding that Blessing also attended weekend classes.
Mogalakwena, the province’s most remote area, topped the charts with a 90.9% pass rate, followed in second by Capricorn North at 87.9% and Mopani West at 87.8%.
Lerule-Ramakhanya said that “the most notable issue is that all districts are performing above 80%, which has been maintained for two years in a row in the province”. DM