SPOTLIGHT ON OUR LETSEMA KHANYISA STARS

Letsema Khanyisa was established in 2006 to support the dependants of qualifying employees to access quality secondary and tertiary education.

The scheme not only pays for tuition fees, but also covers the cost of textbooks, provides a student and transport allowance and, in some cases, accommodation on campus.

Murray & Roberts partners with an external bursary management company that provides a full administrative service, as well as providing the learners with support where required. We engage with the students on a one-to-one basis and monitor their progress throughout the academic year.

In 2019, we introduced comprehensive career counselling provided by a psychologist. Each learner is assessed and, together with their parents, given feedback on possible career choices and what subjects they should be pursuing.

Tshiamo Marumule is in grade 12 and Nkanyiso Malukotsa is in grade 1 and both learners are excited about their future studies.

NKANYISO MALUKOTSA

What do you like best about your new big school?
I like that we play and my classroom is so big and colourful and I have new friends.

What is your favourite subject and why?
Mathematics, I love to count and break down numbers.

What do you want to be when you are big and why?
A doctor, I would like to take care of sick people and make them feel better.

What do you like to do for fun when you are not at school?
Playing with my toys outside and also watching cartoons.

What is your favourite movie or story and why?
Fast and Furious. I love all the different cars in the movie because they are very fast.

Who is your favourite soccer player and why?
Ronaldo, because he is a good player and scores so many goals every time he plays.

TSHIAMO MARUMULE

Tell us about what studies you would like to pursue in the future and how these studies will impact your life?
I would like to study my first six years of medicine at one of the top universities in South Africa. I then plan to finish the rest of my studies at the University of Cambridge in England where I will obtain my degree in OB-GYN. I believe that medicine is a step in the right direction for my passion of dedicating my life for the greater good of others.

What are your career goals?
I have had a passion for medicine for as long as I can remember. Children normally swap around careers, one year they want to be doctors and the next they want to be lawyers. I have always stayed on the medicine career path. It was either a general practitioner, a surgeon or gynaecology. Right now, I plan to specialise in OB-GYN. I have also developed a passion for entrepreneurship and plan to become a professional investor in real estate. Ultimately, I plan to combine these two career paths and establish a non-profit company that has to do with medicine, but I am still figuring that part out. I believe that medicine will grow my passion for philanthropy and I will volunteer my life for the greater good of others. This non-profit company I want to establish should be as well established as the well-known organisation, Doctors without Borders.

Who has been a role model for you?
My mother, after Jesus Christ. The only way to God is through the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank God for blessing me with the mother that I have. She has been my biggest motivator and critic in everything I do. Countless times, she has reminded me that my current circumstances do not matter and that I should look up into the horizon and realise what is really meant for me. The way she lives her life inspires me the most.

What personal achievement makes you proud?
Leadership. I never thought it was meant for me, until the people around me pushed me to apply for prefectship at my high school. I do not regret sending in that motivation application video of the events that occurred thereafter, laughter, tears and all…. the experiences were pure blessings.

What words of advice would you give your younger self?
• Take reading your bible more seriously.
• Take time to learn about the power of fasting. It is not just something that adults do.
• Start preaching, it does not matter what you think you lack, just begin and God will do the rest.
• Stay humble, appreciate the little you have.