A Bethelsdorp resident had already come to terms with never getting her matric after quitting school to support her sister’s studies – but the mother of two will be taking a second crack at it at the age of 33.
Fifteen years ago, financial circumstances snatched Letitia Redlinghuis’s opportunity of completing her senior certificate, as she was forced to leave Bertram High School at the end of grade 11 to work to pay the school fees of sister Chantelle Erasmus, now 30.
While her academic sacrifice led to her sister fulfilling her dream of becoming a teacher, it left Redlinghuis working in a butchery as a casual for three years to support her.
She worked odd jobs in the years that followed to support her two children, now 12 and five.
However, the unemployed Redlinghuis then received a call on her 33rd birthday informing her she had won an opportunity to reinvent her life by attaining an Amended Senior Certificate (ASC) – free.
“An overwhelming feeling of happiness overcomes me every time I think about getting my matric.
“At the time, my parents were both unemployed and had to work odd jobs.
“So all the money I made at the butchery went straight to pay for my sister’s studies.
“I don’t hold it against her. I knew the situation and the sacrifices that needed to be made, so before I even got to sit in a matric class, I left.
“And when she matriculated I was very proud of her.”
Redlinghuis, the only Eastern Cape winner in the national Matric4Madiba competition, entered via Facebook, explaining why she could not finish school.
Her heart-warming story of love and sacrifice saw her picked as one of 15 winners of the competition, run by Media Works.
The competition seeks to assist adults whose finances or circumstances prevented them from completing school by funding the winner’s studies towards the nationally recognised ASC, equivalent to a matric.
Media Works CEO and cofounder Jackie Carroll said she was excited about the opportunity to change lives through the competition.
While Redlinghuis is looking forward to starting school next year and furthering herself by attaining a welding certification, her son, Chadlyn, 12, said on Sunday it did not compare with his excitement.
“I am very happy for my mother to get her matric.
“I can’t wait for us to sit around the table doing our homework together,” he said.
Redlinghuis’s news comes as 105,189 matric pupils from 870 public schools, 47 independent schools and 122 part-time centres in the province write their national senior certificate.