Eersterust high school teacher and trainee to SU teacher Jonathan Jansen, Sinoxolo Gcilitshana, died on Monday.
Facebook/ Sino Gcilitshana
- Stellenbosch University professor Jonathan Jansen mourns the death of his apprentice, Sinoxolo Gcilitshana.
- Gcilitshana was a teacher at Eersterust High School in Pretoria.
- Jansen tracked him down after seeing his notes on his matrix history paper. Gcilitshana would have become a bus driver, but Jansen offered to pay for his studies at UFS where he obtained his teaching degree.
Stellenbosch University professor Jonathan Jansen mourns the death of his apprentice, a teacher at Eersterust Secondary School, Pretoria, Sinoxolo Gcilitshana.
The circumstances surrounding Gcilitshana’s murder remain unclear, but News24 understands that he died early Monday morning in a violent crime.
When Jansen was vice-chancellor of the University of the Free State, he was told by a matriculation exam marker that Gcilitshana had scored “almost 100%” on his history exam.
Impressed, Jansen tracked him down on social media.
Gcilitshana from Nyanga in Cape Town told Jansen that he wanted to become a bus driver because his mother could not afford college fees, but Jansen offered him a life-changing opportunity.
Jansen said:
I told him there was nothing wrong with becoming a bus driver, but I’m sure you have more ambition. I told him, ‘Pack your bags. Tell your mother you’re coming to the Free State.’ I will pay for your ticket and all your studies, regardless of the career you decide to follow. I told him that I couldn’t stop studying with his talent.
Gcilitshana earned his master’s degree, but this was only the beginning of his academic career. He soon received a Mandela Rhodes Scholarship and studied history at the University of Cape Town.
Jansen said Gcilitshana’s journey through college was not easy. She had contemplated quitting due to concerns for the safety of her mother and her sister, who lived alone in their shack in Nyanga.
He described Gcilitshana as his apprentice who had become his mentor.
“He taught me to live every minute of my life to the fullest because you don’t know when it will end. He also taught me to live for other people so they can benefit too. He taught me to remember the people who built my life. I had a lot of gratitude. There is So many things get you down in South Africa, but he was so full of life, so positive,” Jansen said.
UCT Vice Chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng was also close to Gcilitshana. She was too excited to speak to News24.
Feedback from Gauteng Police and Department of Basic Education will be added upon receipt.
