Young Hlulani wins coveted Spelling Bee competition

Magangeni Primary School at Malamulele is a school that does not even have a library. The school has, however, produced an achiever.

Hlulani Baloyi excelled in the Mzansi Spelling Bee competition. Her achievements have made her the toast of her school and her community.

For her efforts, the 13-year-old girl won herself an all-expenses paid trip to Mombasa in Kenya where she will represent her country. She also won herself a certificate and R10 000 in prize money.

The competition was held in November 2017 and the final will take place on 20 November in Kenya.

To win the competition, Baloyi spelt the word "Pharaoh".

It all started in July 2017 when the school entered the competition. Hlulani emerged victorious at Louis Trichardt in November 2017.

Many accolades and good wishes were showered on her during her farewell party held at her school on Friday. Principal Lucky Mashaba could not hide his excitement. "We are very excited. We are happy for her that she has put our school and her country on the international map. This will go down in the history books of our school, and this is a milestone for our school," he said.

The bright girl said she was humbled to represent her country in an international competition. "I owe it all to my school. I would not have gone this far had it not been for my educators who were patient with me throughout. The support from my family was also overwhelming and I give special credit to my father, Mr Lazarus Baloyi ,who instilled the spirit of reading in me.”

A local businessman, Mr Tinyiko Shivuri of Tinyiko Shivuri Foundation, gave her R4 000 as pocket money.

Date:11 November 2018

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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