DURBAN – A South African teenager has been accepted to study at the prestigious Harvard University in the US.

Sasasa Dlamini, 17, from Durban will head to the Ivy League institution in August after achieving straight As in his matric exams.

The Zulu name Sasasa means excitement and that's just what this young man has brought to those who know him.

The Umlazi teenager, who's passionate about IT, is among just 5,79 percent of more than 35,000 applicants worldwide accepted to study at the Massachusetts campus.

He first considered applying to Harvard after meeting a university representative at the Westville Boys High School career day.

The procedure to apply was lengthy and required he cram for SATs, tests widely used for college admissions in the United States.

“I had to write two essays so most of [it] just focused on who I am as a holistic being. I had to motivate how much I love this country, which is pretty easy. I had to talk about what I'm interested in and what I see going forward.

"In terms of the studying, the SATs are quite strange because they reset the test every couple of cycles so I couldn't predict what was going to [be asked]. But I had to learn the techniques,” he says.

Dlamini kept his application to Harvard a secret because he didn’t want to disappoint his parents if he was rejected.

His father, Nicholas Dlamini, says he has always known his son was destined for greatness.

“He has been a reader, an avid reader. Reading on his own. He doesn't need somebody to push him to do this. He's just, we knew he would do well in matric but this achievement of being admitted to Harvard University, having done that on his own without us getting involved, that's what makes me even prouder of him.”