Sowatan|A top achiever in the 2019 National Senior Certificate examinations in the North West may not get to university for lack of funds.

Triphin Mudzvengi, 18, obtained distinctions in seven subjects but her parents are battling to raise her tuition fees to study at Wits University.

Mudzvengi is Zimbabwean and does not qualify for National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) funding. She came to South Africa with her parents in 2010.

Mudzvengi cannot approach the Zimbabwean embassy for any assistance either, because the Refugees Amendment Act forbids refugees and asylum seekers to visit, seek aid or communicate with their governments.

Mudzvengi has been a top achiever at Golf View Park secondary school in Mahikeng since grade 8. In matric she got 85% in English Home Language, 80% in Afrikaans First Additional Language, 86% in Mathematics, 89% in Life Orientation, 86% in Computer Application Technique, 94% in Life Sciences and 88% in Physical Sciences.

She hoped to study civil engineering at Wits, where the annual tuition fee is R149,370. Though she qualifies for a R15,000 bursary as a top performer, the university demands 75% of the fee upfront before she registers.

One social media commentator called on businessman Strive Masiyiwa who has helped several under privileged Zimbabweans to come to the student’s help and take her through university.