How Ngidi, pacy from the start, was fast-tracked
kid. He knew only Zulu, no English. But he picked up English in 2-3 weeks at the school and was speaking fluently. I was very surprised.” Wilks offered him full scholarship. Children pay 20,000 rand (approx Rs 1.07 lakh) a year here. It helped his parents worked in the school. Soon Wilks pushed him into the Kloof Senior Primary School with another bursary.
Education at Kloof Senior Primary, run by the government like the Junior Primary, was beyond the reach of Ngidi’s parents. However, nothing was as expensive as Highbury Preparatory School, where he went next.
Taryn Essery, who used to teach at Kloof Senior Primary, and later shifted to the Highbury Preparatory School, played a key role in getting Lungi a scholarship at Highbury, a boys’ school that charges 1,00,000 rand (approx Rs 5.39 lakh) a year.
BORN TO BOWL FAST
Knowledge Villakazi, a teacher at Highbury who also looks after football, recalls, “He was 10 or 11 and was playing cricket in his age group. The wicketkeeper had to stand further back as he failed to collect edges and balls. He was too fast for his age. Even the slip fielders struggled. Lungi and the team were worried. But I told them ‘he plays the senior team next year and they’ll be able to catch it’.”
Soon he got a scholarship to the most expensive school in South Africa, the Hilton College in Durban. His parents are relieved. One son works with the trucks, another at a restaurant. However, Ngidi has also landed a lucrative IPL contract with Chennai Super Kings, makes his parent’s toil worthwhile.