News24 | Meet SA’s best performing inmate matrics who passed with distinctions

Nkosinathi Jabulani Gumede was the top inmate matriculant in the country, scoring six distinctions.

• The top two inmate matriculants who wrote the 2025 NSC examinations both attained six distinctions and aggregates above 80%.
• Nkosinathi Jabulani Gumede, who is at the Durban Westville Correctional Centre in KwaZulu-Natal, studied through Usethubeni Youth School and came out top of the pops.
• Jooste Tyrique, who is currently on parole in Gauteng, studied through Baviaanspoort Youth School and placed second.
  

It was a red-letter day for two prisoners who decided to write their matric exams as they celebrated scoring 85% and 84% respectively, making them the top two inmate matrics in the country.

Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald revealed this week that the 2025 inmate cohort achieved a historic overall pass rate of 94.4%, with 15 schools recording a 100% pass rate.

Of those, Nkosinathi Jabulani Gumede at the Durban Westville Correctional Centre in KwaZulu-Natal, and Jooste Tyrique, who is on parole in Gauteng, were smiling from ear to ear as the top two inmate matrics in the country.

“We are here to celebrate resilience, discipline and educational excellence. These results affirm that rehabilitation through education is yielding positive outcomes and giving offenders a meaningful opportunity to rebuild their lives,” said Groenewald in Cape Town on Monday.

Gumede scored an incredible six distinctions, including 95% for business studies. Other impressive marks include 91% for isiZulu and 93% for history.

READ | Raising the bar: SA prisons record 96.15% matric pass rate

Tyrique also attained six distinctions; his highest mark was 93% in business studies, 90% in Afrikaans as an additional first language, and 81% in economics.

They were among 180 inmates across 18 Department of Correctional Services schools in the country who joined thousands of matriculants in writing the 2025 National Senior Certificate examinations.

Groenewald said he was proud of the historic achievement, as rehabilitation remained a core mandate of the department.

He added that education yielded positive outcomes and gave offenders a meaningful opportunity to rebuild their lives.

One such example is Lubabalo Fongoqa, who served 18 years in prison.

With only a Grade 9 qualification when he started serving his sentence, he now holds an LLB from Unisa and is the director of the legal consultancy firm Songo Legal Consultants.

Fongoqa told inmates: “Prison walls do not define or limit dreams and ambitions.”

While acknowledging the challenges and fears he faced, Fongoqa credited perseverance and the opportunity to study in turning his life around.

Groenewald said: “Do not allow incarceration to limit you or let these opportunities slip through your fingers. One day, we hope you will go out into society and make us proud.”

Read more matric results stories here.

- Compiled by Paul Herman