Against all odds: Learner with muscular dystrophy, Takunda Muchuweni, among SA’s top matric achievers

A differently abled learner from the class of 2025, Takunda Muchuweni, has defied the odds to be named among the country’s top 40 matric achievers, earning a place on the national stage despite living with muscular dystrophy.

Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube addressed a ministerial breakfast with the country’s top matric achievers ahead of the official release of the results later that evening.

Speaking to IOL News, Muchuweni, who attends Jan Kriel School in the Western Cape being named a top achiever felt unreal.

“It feels very surreal. I really wasn’t expecting to get a call to be here today,” she said.

Reflecting on her matric year, she described it as one of the toughest periods of her life.

“I’ll say it was definitely a tough year. There is a lot of pressure because all of a sudden you’re in matric and everyone is expecting you to do well and to study, study, study,” she said.

She added that ongoing health challenges made the year even more difficult.

“Sometimes I experience a lot of health problems. I was in pain, and that really influenced my studying and my mood. Oftentimes, it demotivates me because it’s not nice to write a two- to three-hour paper in pain.”

Despite the challenges, Muchuweni said her preparation began years earlier.

“All the preparation from Grade 10 and 11, all the way leading up to this moment, really means a lot,” she said. 

“I just told myself, ‘I have to get through it. I have to believe where I started.’”

“Even if the outcome isn’t what I wanted, at least I’ve made it.”

Although learners have been informed that they are top achievers, their final marks have not yet been released. 

Muchuweni said she hopes to achieve four distinctions.

“Being here is already an achievement in itself,” she said, adding that she plans to study psychology.

Her subjects included Business Studies, Life Sciences and Tourism, along with compulsory subjects English Home Language, Life Orientation, Occupational Studies and Mathematical Literacy.

Speaking to IOL News, her mother, Tamari Muchuweni, said doctors only became concerned about her daughter’s condition when she began missing developmental milestones.

“We went to doctors and eventually to Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town, where they did extensive tests,” she said. 

“That’s when we were told she had congenital myopathy, which causes muscle weakness.”

Asked how the diagnosis affected her outlook on her child’s life, Muchuweni said it was an emotional process, but one she accepted early.

“There is a bag of emotions. You don’t know how to react,” she said. 

“But she is my child. It doesn’t really change much.”

She said the journey included years of physiotherapy and specialised schooling.

“She started school when she was about three and a half. She was in one school for nine years, which gave her a firm academic foundation,” she said.

Muchuweni later moved to another school, where she continued to receive strong support from teachers and staff.

“It has been a difficult journey because of her health. She had major surgery and stayed in the hospital for a month,” her mother said.

Despite this, Takunda went on to become a junior counsellor in Cape Town and launched a successful community project focused on plastic recycling. 

The project earned her an award for best leadership initiative and is set to continue.

Meanwhile, the Independent Examinations Board announced an overall pass rate of 98.31% for the 2025 National Senior Certificate examinations.

Gwarube is expected to formally announce the national results on Monday evening.

simon.majadibodu@iol.co.za

IOL News