Matric high achiever Lethabo Maleka aspires to soar to legal skies

One of the country’s top 20 matric high achievers, Lethabo Maleka, says enrolling in the Bachelor of Laws (LLB) programme at the University of Limpopo (UL) is a dream come true for him, to maintain equal access to legal services for the innocent and deprived members of the community.

A timeline of time and chance and, perhaps, mercy – a tragedy befell Maleka 11 years ago in 2011 when his eyes were exposed to the venom of a spitting cobra after opening the door of a pit toilet at his home in Mamaolo village at Ga-Mphahlele, some 50 kilometres south of Polokwane.

“The venom deteriorated my sight until I could not see anymore and I thought my life was over,” the aspirant Setotolwane Lsen Secondary School alumnus says.

The 19-year-old asserts that at the time, schoolmates at his former primary school mocked him because his vision had blurred and ultimately gone completely blind.

“After I became blind, my parents could not find any schools in our area that could accommodate blind learners,” he recalls with anguish.

“I dropped out of school for nearly two years and spent my days at home, listening to the radio,” he recounts the rowdy period in his expectant years.

Perhaps the little box (radio) was what he needed for a rethink, as hearing how people like the late Steve Kekana and Advocate Michael Masutha (both UL alumni) were making it big as a renowned musician and legal practitioner, and former Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, respectively, despite being blind – it instilled in Maleka a resilient life force to forge ahead.

In 2014, he enrolled at the Siloe School for the Blind in Polokwane, where he says he finally saw hope.

“I was also a member of a study group at Setotolwane, where I matriculated,” he says, adding that “if the late Steve Kekana and Adv Michael Masutha and others could do it, who am I not to do it?” He vows to make his mark in the legal profession in the coming years.

The legal field enthusiast says he chose to study law at UL because of the university’s continued reputation for producing competitive law alumni as well as the calibre of producing a diverse range of leaders in the country and beyond.

Maleka asserts that he is pleased that the Reakgona Disability Centre at UL is one of the country’s leading disabled units, the challenges he previously faced regarding lack of resources, such as books and braille writing equipment, now that he has joined UL will be a thing of the past.

When asked about his outstanding matric performance, he says it was the result of sheer hard work and dedication. Maleka stated that his principal, Maggie Molepo, spread the word about his outstanding results and called him to congratulate him. He was then invited to a breakfast hosted by the Minister of Basic Education, Hon Angie Motshekga, and her deputy, Dr. Makgabo Reginah Mhaule, to celebrate the top 20 performing matriculants, where he received a certificate, a laptop, and a tablet.

By Malatji Monyelegwete