Her father is often lauded for his achievements‚ but now it is the turn of Durban matriculant Maseeha Bhorat who secured eight distinctions in the Independent Examination Board (IEB) exams.

The daughter of foetal specialist Dr Ismail Bhorat‚ acclaimed for his groundbreaking research and breakthrough surgeries to save unborn babies‚ still "can't believe" her results.

"I was hoping for the best. It's surreal. I still can't believe it‚" the excited Crawford La Lucia matriculant said. With medicine running in the family‚ Maseeha plans to follow in her parents' and siblings' footsteps.

Her two sisters are already doctors‚ while her other two siblings are studying medicine and her mother Nazreen is a pharmacist.

"I had grown up with all of these stories about saving lives and helping people and I just fell in love with it. It was not as much of a decision as it was a calling‚" said Maseeha.

Bhorat said his daughter told him she wanted to be a doctor when she was in Grade 8.

"I really am proud. All five of my kids are doing medicine. It's the kind of the environment they grew up in. I speak medicine and now the other two that are qualified do so too. That kind of environment in which we are always talking about helping people has obviously infiltrated into her psyche.

"On her own she told me she wanted to be a doctor. I said that’s fine‚ but you have to work very hard‚ and she said she's going to do it. And she did‚" he said.

Other matriculants who excelled at the school include Agnes Gosnell who achieved 11 distinctions‚ and Stuart Davis who was rewarded with nine distinctions..