SA's Top Achievers in Mathematics for 2021

On Saturday, 16 October 2021, the South African Mathematics Foundation (SAMF) announced the Top Achievers in its flagship learner development programmes which are sponsored by Old Mutual, NESTLÉ NESPRAY South Africa, and the South African Institute for Chartered Accountants (SAICA). Emmanuel Rassou, a Grade 11 learner from the South African College High School in Cape Town, received a gold medal and was declared the Overall Winner of the Senior Division of the Old Mutual South African Mathematics Olympiad (SAMO). Noah Greenblatt, a Grade 7 learner from King David Primary School in Linksfield, Johannesburg, was declared the Overall Winner of the Senior Division of the NESTLÉ NESPRAY South African Mathematics Challenge (SAMC).

"We're exceptionally proud of all the scholars who have made it to the final round, performing exceptionally well during what has been another challenging year. Well done, you have made us all proud, and we can't wait to see you make your mark in the future!" says Celiwe Ross, Human Capital Director at Old Mutual.

The overall top performing schools for the SAMO and SAMC respectively are Bischops Diocesan College and Sweet Valley Primary School, both from Cape Town.

"We send out our congratulations to all the 2021 NESTLÉ NESPRAY South African Mathematics Challenge winners. We are so proud of all the learners and schools that took part in the Challenge and managed to perform well despite all the setbacks.  We also recognise those that did not make it to the final round, we see your hard work and we appreciate your efforts. Our role as the NESTLÉ NESPRAY brand is to emphasise the importance of nutrition for the cognitive and physical growth development of school-going children," (sic) says Pumla Mkhize, Category Marketing Manager, Dairy at Nestlé South Africa.

Other awards handed out during the virtual ceremony were:

SAMO Long-service Awards

Ten years service – Dr Dirk Basson, University of Stellenbosch lecturer

20 years service – Dr Annelize van Biljon, University of the Free State, retired lecturer

SAMC Top performing schools Quintile 1-5

Quintile 1 – Potokela Primary School, Polokwane (Limpopo)

Quintile 2 – Nyanda Primary School, Pietermaritzburg (KZN)

Quintile 3 – Imaliyethu Primary School, Chatsworth (KZN)

Quintile 4 – Dannhauser Primary School, Dannhauser (KZN)

Quintile 5 – Sweet Valley Primary School, Cape Town (WC)

SAMO Top performing schools Quintile 1 to 5

Quintile 1 – Sunward Park High School, Boksburg (Gauteng)

Quintile 2 – Phaphamani Secondary School, Kwaggafontein (Mpumalanga)

Quintile 3 – Dabulamazi Junior Secondary School, Butterworth (EC)

Quintile 4 – Potchefstroom Gimnasium, Potchefstroom (NW)

Quintile 5 – Rustenburg Girls High School, Cape Town (WC)

SAMO Best learner per quintile

Junior Quintile 1-5

Quintile 1 – Siphesihle Malaza, Highveld Secondary School, Elukwatini (Mpumalanga)

Quintile 2 – Buhle Mdala, Sterkspruit Junior Secondary School, Sterkspruit (EC)

Quintile 3 – Sihle Nakani, Holy Cross Secondary School, Mthatha (EC)

Quintile 4 – Rohan Foster, Hoërskool Wesvalia, Klerksdorp (NW)

Quintile 5 – Simon Oosthuizen, Westerford High School, Cape Town (WC)

Best performing SA Black learner - Neo Leseilane, Roedean South Africa, Johannesburg (Gauteng)

Senior Quintile 1-5

Quintile 1 – Bekisezwe Thomo, Highveld Secondary School, Elukwatini (Mpumalanga)

Quintile 2 – Mogau Maila, Moreko Secondary School, Nebo (Limpopo)

Quintile 3 – Tsebo Molatoli, Winburg Combined School, Winburg (FS)

Quintile 4 – Dian Raubenheimer, Hoërskool Wesvalia, Klerksdorp (NW)

Quintile 5 – Emmanuel Rassou, South African College High School, Cape Town (WC)

Best performing SA Black learner - Ntsika Majozi, Courtney College International, Pretoria (Gauteng)

SAMC Junior Top 10 Winners

Silver Medalists

Thomas Brown, Redhill Preparatory School, Sandton (Gauteng)

Tommo Kruger, Deutsche International Schule Kapstadt, Cape Town (WC)

Joel Lee, Sweet Valley Primary School, Cape Town (WC)

Daniel Nejthardt, South African College Junior School, Cape Town (WC)

Ruan Nieuwenhuys, Laerskool Lynwood, Pretoria (Gauteng)

Noreht Nieuwoudt, Lareskool Eikestad, Stellenbosch (WC)

Michael Tian, Redhill Preparatory School, Cape Town (WC)

Adam Rassou, The Grove Primary, Cape Town (WC)

Jan van den Berg, Laerskool De Hoop, Sandton (Gauteng)

Sarah van Gottberg-Cohen, Auckland Park Preparatory School, Johannesburg (Gauteng)

Gold Medalists

Olivia Castleden, Somerset House Preparatory School, Somerset West (WC)

Jonathan Coolen, Somerset House Preparatory School, Somerset West (WC)

SAMC Senior Top 10 Winners

Silver Medalists

Zac Botha, Sweet Valley Primary School, Cape Town (WC)

Luca Caronti, Sweet Valley Primary School, Cape Town (WC)

Minjing Chen, Redhill Preparatory School, Sandton (Gauteng)

Jean de Vries, Kenridge Primary School, Cape Town (WC)

Chris de Wit, Gene Louw Primary School, Cape Town (WC)

Jeremy Liddle, Western Cape Preparatory School, Cape Town (WC)

Ben Maree, Rondebosch Boys' Preparatory School, Cape Town (WC)

Megan Pitzer, Laerskool Die Poort, Pretoria (Gauteng)

Noah Rassou, The Grove Primary, Cape Town (WC)

Gold Medalist

Emmanuel Rassou, South African College High School, Cape Town (WC)

SAMO Junior Top 10 Winners

10th - Aqil Heeralall, Star College, Durban (KZN)

9th – Jana Rossouw, Hoërskool Jim Fouché, Bloemfontein (FS)

8th – Aaron Pearlman, Kind David High School, Linksfield (Gauteng)

7th – Simon Oosthuizen, Westerford High School, Cape Town (WC)

6th – Yian Xu, Redhill High School, Sandton (Gauteng)

5th – Jinwon Ha, Clifton College, Durban (KZN)

4th – Harrison He, Crawford College, Sandton (Gauteng)

3rd – Soyeon Lee, Reddam House, Durbanville (WC)

2nd – Tenjun Liu, American International School of Cape Town, Cape Town (WC)

1st – Youkyum Kim, Reddam House, Durbanville (WC)

SAMO Senior Top 10 Winners

10th - Kerry Porrill, Cannons Creek High School, Cape Town (WC)

9th - Andrew Williams, Crawford College, La Lucia, Durban (KZN)

8th – Minkyum Kim, Reddam House, Durbanville (WC)

7th - Benjamin Kleyn, Hoërskool Parel Vallei, Somerset West (WC)

6th – Tyrone Kasi, St Stithians Boys' College, Sandton (Gauteng)

5th – Alex Sinclair-Smith, Westerford High School, Cape Town (WC)

4th – Jaedon Naidu, Eden College, Durban (KZN)

3rd – Yi Lou, St Peter's College, Sandton (Gauteng)

2nd – Juliette Roux, Herschel Girls' High School, Cape Town (WC)

1st – Emmanuel Rassou, South African College High School, Cape Town (WC)

The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), co-sponsor of the SAMO, adds: "As a scarce-skills profession, the chartered accountancy profession is in dire need of talented learners who have expressed an aptitude and love for mathematics. SAICA is delighted to see how many young South Africans have excelled in this year's SAMO and worked so hard to develop the much-needed problem solving skills our country needs. We congratulate all the winners as well as all learners who took part this year," (sic) says Chantyl Mulder, Executive Director of Learning, Development and National Imperatives at SAICA.

Prof Kerstin Jordaan, the executive director of the SAMF, is delighted with this year's performance. "Despite the many challenges brought about by the COVID-19 restrictions and subsequent lockdowns throughout the year, the 2021 results show that there are still dedicated teachers in South Africa who have the skills and experience to teach mathematics. As an organisation, we aim to continue with our various teacher development programmes in 2022 and believe that the results will be visible at next year's Annual Awards Function. The major challenge, remuneration of teachers in scarce-skill disciplines, is one that needs urgent attention if we want to make a concrete difference in mathematics education. The time has come to address the loss of mathematics teachers to the corporate world. In order to do that, the salary gap between careers in mathematics in corporate South Africa, and that offered to mathematics teachers needs to be bridged."

The Old Mutual South African Mathematics Olympiad and the NESTLÉ NESPRAY South African Mathematics Challenge are SAMF's flagship learner development programmes. Entries for the 2022 programmes open in early January 2022. For more information, e-mail [email protected].