Mpho Mokoena had no idea he would become a social media phenomenon when he got out of bed this morning, after a simple tweet claiming he had achieved 100% test scores across the board in seven matric subjects took the country by surprise.
Mokoena, who matriculated from Alafong High School in Katlehong in 2014, was alleged to have received these scores in a tweet sent out by DJ S’bu, which quickly trended on social media with most assuming he was from the class of 2015.
The media was quick to jump on the bandwagon but most got it wrong as their reporting was based on factually inaccurate information, which they had failed to verify.
According to Mokoena he did not score 100% in all of his subjects as initially claimed. His 2014 results, which are still nothing to scoff at, are as follows:
98% – Geography
96% – Physical Science
96% – Life Sciences
95% – Life Orientation
91% – Mathematics
89% – SeSotho
82% – English
Mokoena told the Mail & Guardian he was first alerted to his online trend-status via a Whatsapp message sent to him by a friend in the morning and, although he was initially surprised, he brushed it off assuming it would quickly fizzle out. He was mistaken.
“I didn’t think it would become the phenomenon that it has since become. At first I was intrigued but I’m generally a very private person so while it was fun for a while it’s now become scary for me because people have been messaging me accusing me of wanting attention, which is not the case,” he said.
Some messages have been so nasty that Mokena says he’s worried about leaving his house for fear of being attacked. “It’s very stressful,” he said. “I’m not trying to divert attention away from recent matric achievers. as some have been claiming.”
DJ S’bu could not be reached for comment.