A HISTORY OF DUNDEE HIGH SCHOOL

by KEVIN BURGE

A HISTORY OF DUNDEEHIGH SCHOOL

Copyright © 2018 by Kevin Burge.

All reasonable efforts have been made by the author to trace the origins of the facts related in this history and the copyright owners of any images reproduced in this book. In the event that that the author or the publishers are notified of any mistakes or omissions by persons reported about or quoted or by copyright owners after publication of this work, the author and the publishers will endeavour to rectify the position accordingly for any subsequent printing.

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Contents

INTroducTIoN.................................................................................................................4

chApTer 1early educators In The Biggarsberg (1838 - 1890)................................................................8

chApTer 2dundee Government School (1890 - 1904)...........................................................................15

chApTer 3dundee Boys’government School (1904 - 1909)..................................................................30

chApTer 4dundee Senior Government School Becomes dundee Secondary School (1909-1928)......50

chApTer 5dundee Intermediate School (1929-1931)............................................................................91

chApTer 6dundee high School (1931-1945)........................................................................................95

chApTer 7The post-War Years..............................................................................................................133

chApTer 8The high School enters “The democratic Age”..................................................................217

SourceS...........................................................................................................................236

INTRODUCTION

I taught at the high School from 1984 through 1993 and, having fortuitously arrived on the scene in the centenary year, I helped write a short history of the school then, and, over the years I have held a keen interest in what has happened and in the lives of those whom I knew.

The title of this book is “STRENUIS ARDUA CEDUNT: a history of dundee high School”; yet there is so much that has been left out, the stories of so many people that could not be recounted. So, a better name for it might be “an Incomplete history of dundee high School” and, if there is a follow-up, I hope that more will be revealed. Because the high School has been the foremost school for so many years, the history is, in many ways, the story of the town – and how do you include all the noteworthy citizens through the years (and the tales of others whose names are not “writ so large”)?

A line had to be drawn arbitrarily somewhere and it will be up to another to spin the yarns of South Africa’s general in charge of armoured brigades; of the school pals who take part in aerobatic displays around the country – and who are now pilot and co-pilot of a “747” flying around the world; of the boy whose father had lions as pets and he became chief conservator for Namibia; and more...

There are many who should be thanked for their input, their memories, their correction of my memories and for sparking off ideas for following up on old scholars and teachers. The story of the Small family, for example, came from two fishermen that met by chance on the bank of the Nile river in uganda a few years ago and who became friends. They discovered that they had both grown up in dundee in KwaZulu-Natal. one was my son, Gareth, and the other was Bingo Small. That tied up also with reg pearse and his epic drive to uganda and it led to a personal friendship with reg pearse’s son, Malcolm, who in his eighties still organises mountaineering expeditions to the himalayas, the Andes, Kilimanjaro, etc. And they are related to the McKenzie clan still (mostly) in dundee...

Thank you to those that I have asked for their stories, and their family members, too. I have tried to be as accurate with this history as possible but where there are mistakes, please be forgiving and bring them to my attention so that I can apologise and correct the faults. Thank you also to erich Landsberg and pam McFadden who have perused the script.

And thank you (mostly) to my family for encouragement in this voyage of exploration, getting to know our town and its people that much better and especially to my wife, Marlene.

Kevin Burgedundee, 2018

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“And what of the human material, the boys and girls for whose benefit the machine was devised? Essentially like others of their race and country, yet they owed a certain character to the influence of environment. Bracing winters, summers made pleasant by cool night temperatures, a town of open spaces and shady gardens, accessibility of open country, and reasonably comfortable homes are in themselves an ideal setting for a healthy, happy, vigorous breed. Unspoiled by the dazzle, the restlessness and the endless artificial amusements of big towns, youth is not subject to the same psychological upsets, and so develops a very rational outlook upon life. The healthy and often cultured home life, the kind neighbourly feelings and the general fondness for outdoor sports that characterise the people are in themselves a fine moulding influence on young life. Thus growing up clean minded, courteous and mannerly, yet without trace of servility, full of health and high spirits yet with a high sense of duty and an eager earnestness, these youngsters are good material to work on and richly deserve to realise their potentialities for good and useful citizenship and for personal advancement. Those of us to whose happy lot it has fallen to work with and among them would be less than human if we did not treasure a glow of affection for them and a feeling of pride in their School’s achievements.”

(Inspector J McLeod writing in the 1934 Commemorative Brochure of Dundee Intermediate School)

How long must it takeTo “put down roots”?

These quiet, cool buildingsEchoing in the mind

Children now long old:Dundee’s children learned here,

living mirrors of its guiding(through army camp, Boer town,Coalopolis, farming centre too),

leading up, out, away,whilst the inaudible foundations remain.

We have the heart of the town.

KPB: April 1984

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The Schools that became “Dundee High”

YEARS PRINCIPAL SCHOOL’S NAME1884-1885 Mr Alex. Graham

dundee Government-Aided School1886-1887 Mr charles paglar1887-1890 Mr robert Agars Wood1890-1891 Mr r J White

dundee Government School(from 1890)1892-1892 Mr S harvard Baker

1892-1904 Mr richard Appelton Gowthorpe

1904-1909 Mr Frederick Mayfield Sivil dundee Boys’ Government School(from 1907)

1909-1923 Mr Archibald (“Archie”) Gray dundee Senior Government School (from 1920), which later became

known as dundee Secondary School1923-1928 Mr James (“Jimmy”) Black

1929-1931 Mr reginald Alfred Banks dundee Intermediate School

1931-1937 Mr John William (“John Willie”) hudson

dundee high School (from 1935)

1937-1945 Mr r B Niven1945-1956 Mr hubert dudley Jennings1957-1960 Mr F Burger1961-1971 Mr Frans J hugo1971-1984 Mr h T (“hermie”) Kriel1985-2002 Mr d r (“des”) Krantz

2002-2008 Mr Jacobus Abraham (“Kobus”) Bester

2008- present Mr rüdiger (“rudi”) haschke

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Chapter 1 - Early Educators In The Biggarsberg (1838 - 1890)

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CHAPTER 1 - EARLY EDUCATORS IN THE BIGGARSBERG (1838 - 1890)

As early as the late 1830s courageous meesters – school teachers – accompanied Voortrekker groups to this area, the Biggarsberg. It was named for a 57 year-old Irishman, Alexander Biggar, en route to fighting in the Battle of Blood river (Impi yase Ncome) in 1836. By 1853, english immigrants James edwin Twyman and richard G. Bodien were both established as teachers amongst the families of these hills. prideaux Selby, a local doctor, had trained them and given them a home base to which they could return. Twyman in time moved, married, had children and “betook himself to farming” elsewhere in Natal.[1] Bodien, a bricklayer, had quickly learned to speak fluent dutch and was employed by a Mr Vermaak. his loyalties were sorely tried when he was taken with Boer families to a British concentration camp when General Buller regained the Biggarsberg area in 1900 during the Anglo-Boer War.

By the early 1870s there were up to 22 such men who rode from farm to farm and settlement to settlement to meet with their pupils in homes and even under afdakke, “a lean-to, out of which [they] may have to move when the mealie-crop is gathered.”[2] Amongst them was a hollander, J c van der craght who was “unable to teach english, and his work [was] contained to preparing his scholars for their first communion.”[3] others included h W Boers, J e Twyman, h S Meerdink, c h Schmidt, G Frieslich, S Vogel and J K Fischer.[4] In 1859 the Superintendent of Natal education, dr robert Mann, had reported that “these [itinerant] schools are effectually preparing the way for fixed schools of a higher class. I suggest that they be fixed as soon as possible.”

According to Mr Foy Vermaak, a Miss charles was also employed as a governess of his family on the helpmekaar ridge, probably in the 1880s. A Miss elsie Schoeman (a niece of the famous writer and poet, eugene Marais who had taught in the Netherlands) spoke seven languages. She had “weekly boarders”, pupils that would go to their homes over weekends and return to be taught in her house during the week. In 1946 rheumatism “took over” and she retired.

In 1877 a Mr W Wright launched a small boarding establishment for 40 pupils somewhere near the settlement we now call dundee, “but after struggling for 18 months it collapsed for want of support from the neighbouring farmers.”[5] The previous year the Superintendent of education (Soe) had expressed the opinion that “there is a latent suspicion on the part of the dutch colonists that the Government volunteers to educate their children for some purpose of its own. In some few situations an unwillingness was expressed to have their children instructed in english...”

1 Superintendent of education for Natal (Soe) report 1875.2 Soe report 1886.3 Soe report 1875.4 Soe report 1861.5 Soe report for 1882.

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having met with “the Boers themselves, and with those best acquainted with them”, the Soe the following year averred that “our dutch fellow-colonists are becoming more alive to the importance of giving their children a thoroughly good education. They are willing to pay liberally for it, and they will send their children to good central Boarding Schools, provided there is nothing in the management of the schools, antagonistic to their ways of thought. one hindrance to both dutch and english sending their children from home is the want of labour. The boys are useful in superintending [servants], and in looking after the cattle and sheep; while the girls are needed in housework. This, however, is no new objection, and is one which may be met by various expedients if the parents are in earnest about the education of their children.” They were; and dundee with its growing community of miners and those servicing their needs and those of their families – “300 settlers living within a radius of ten miles of dundee”[1] -in 1878 petitioned the Natal Government for a permanent school.

The government was willing to provide one, “with a master’s house attached, with accommodation for fifteen or twenty boarders. [Then should be appointed] a married trained master, at a fixed salary from Government of £200 a year. Good men cannot be had for less – not even for that salary unless they see some prospect of bettering themselves. Let one pupil teacher be appointed for every 25 scholars after the first 30. Let the pupil teachers be engaged for four years, and during that time, let them receive stated instructions from the master, and be paid £15, £20, £25, and £30 a year each by the Government. They must annually satisfy the Government Inspector that they are making satisfactory progress.”[2]

It was not until Alex Graham arrived in 1884 and set up a private “aided” school in a little wood and iron building somewhere on Market Square (now occupied by the checkers supermarket complex) that such a permanent schooling system was established in dundee. Graham, an Australian probably from Adelaide, had 17 boys and 11 girls under his tutelage, with an average number of absentees of seven learners, paying between 2/6d and 7/6d[3] each per month. he had itchy feet and was euphemistically described as having had “a varied colonial experience”, his having by 1884 “tried school-keeping in five or six districts of the colony in as many years.”[4]

Maybe it was his aesthetic, artistic nature that kept him on the move. he was something of a poet, as can be seen by a letter he wrote to local auctioneer and musician Mr J W holding in 1885:

1 Soe report for 1882.2 Soe report for 1877.3 Between two shillings and six pence and seven shillings and six pence. From the Soe report 1884.4 Soe report 1884.

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99


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And on 12 october 1885 Mr Graham wrote a 24-line poem to ten year-old christina (later, Mrs Willis of Talana) who had picked him a bunch of lilies that morning on her way to school over the veldt:

“Lilies, lilies, mountain lilies!Pure and sweet and fair,

Bright and purple-petalled lilies,Scenting all the air.

Lilies, lilies, mountain lilies,Brought to me today,

Hear, Christina, what the liliesSeem to us to say …”

Alex Graham resigned in 1886 and moved on to run a school at richmond road. Then he was “master” at “The reserve” School, a private school of all of seven boys and eight girls situated somewhere in the vicinity of what is now the Bergville Toll plaza on the N3. having resigned from there in February 1889, a Mr McLaren was obliged to do much to retrieve the position...” And on went Alex Graham to start up a school at New Leeds, with an attendance of thirty children... and when he resigned in April 1890 he was replaced by a Mr W Stead.

There is a comment in the Superintendent’s report of 1895 – which might or might not have reference to any of dundee’s early principals – where he writes that “It is a matter of notoriety that several of our teachers are persons who have failed in other professions, and who have taken up teaching as a seemingly easy method of making a living, or as serving to occupy time till something better turns up. Intemperance is not uncommon amongst a certain class...”

Graham, however, was replaced in dundee by an experienced teacher, Mr charles paglar. he operated his “aided school” with the assistance of a “local committee” and charged his 24 boys and 19 girls five shillings each per month and the average number of absentees declined to five pupils each day. his school was transferred to the old Masonic hall situated on a “waste strip of ground opposite the present Municipal power Station, adjoining the residence of Mr F ritson”.[1]

1 r o pearse: dIS commemorative Brochure, 1934.


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opposite, what used to be the electricity department, is now the yard of right price hardware. After the Anglo-Boer War, this building was dismantled and re-erected in Victoria Street, “near to the [then] present firm of Messrs. Lyon and Thorrold [in Gladstone Street], where for many years it did service as the National Bank.” In 1934 it was still standing.

In 1934, the Vice-principal of dundee Intermediate School, reg pearse, visited with Mrs Willis. She showed Mr pearse the poem from Mr Graham and handed him this photograph of Mr paglar’s school in 1884. Mr pearse commented that “even to-day you may see the remains of the old stone wall that bounded the playground on the western side, and where freckled urchins sat sunning themselves on a winter’s morning.

Mr paglar can be seen on the far left of the picture, and on the right is the school’s only other teacher, Miss Thorrold. There is also Annie Mary Kate Macphail and her sister, Isabella Kate Macphail (later Mrs West Thorrold), christina (later Mrs Willis), and their brother, douglas Middleton Macphail, too. They were children of a founder of dundee, Mr dugald Macphail, who had coal carts bearing the words “MAc WILL NeVer ‘phAIL’ You!” Annie died in 1931 and Isabella in 1951 and both are buried in the old Talana cemetery. There is there John cumming, whose family lived at the corner of Gladstone and Gray Streets (now the premises of the land surveyors, h S K Simpson & partners) and who, like Mr dugald Macphail, saw action at the Battle of Talana. one can also see Alfred redman, patterson Smith, Sarah Ann (“Annie”) cooper (later wife of headmaster Mr r A Gowthorpe[1]), her brother douglas and their sister, who became Mrs umpleby. her husband co-founded the steel firm churchyard & umpleby that operates in Glencoe to this day). Gordon Smith is present with his sister, Isabelle, the future Mrs charles Talbot, the chemist (who lived in the magnificent home “coniston” at 1 harvey place) and also the Wades of Malonjeni.

1 richard and Annie Gowthorpe had four children, Amy (Jamieson), richard cooper, Blyth (Bailey) and Sheila (Johnson): (rundgren 2007: 51).


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In october 1887 Mr paglar resigned as “master” and went on to start and run a school at cato ridge until the end of June 1889. his time at dundee had “not been a success” and “the results of the inspection [were] very poor”.[1] A Mr robert Agars Wood succeeded him. Assisting Mr Wood were three “ladies of spirit” from Lurgan, Northern Ireland, the Misses dill. Their family had emigrated to Natal where their father ran a store for the wealthy dundee coal merchant Thomas dewar on the road to rorke’s drift. of the two wagons used in the defence of rorke’s drift one had belonged to Mr dill. Mr dewar himself features in education later in this account.

Mr Wood, in time, relinquished the school to one of the dill ladies and she was assisted by her sisters. each day the women would gather their young charges in a tent wagon drawn by oxen. Nearby farmers sent their children in on horse-back or by cart. The school ground, reg pearse wrote, must have resembled a miniature laager! The dills’ school was not a good one. Inspected three times in 1890 alone, the results of all of the visits were unsatisfactory and “the children have not been properly taught. Much well-directed hard work is needed to bring the school up to the average of the other Government schools.” hardly surprisingly, it was not long before two of them, by now arm’s A M c Malcolm and a Mrs A dunton (a former Mayoress of dundee) retired to Newcastle.

1 Soe report 1887.

Chapter 2 - Dundee Government School (1890 - 1904)

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CHAPTER 2 - DUNDEE GOVERNMENT SCHOOL (1890 - 1904)

on 1 July 1890 the Natal Government took over the “aided school” and called it “dundee primary School.” A Mr r J White from Verulam was appointed as the first headmaster. In those years, the school was outside the town on “crown lands.” he “kept the pot boiling” for a mere 18 months – again rather inefficiently – before he was succeeded by a Mr S harvard Baker. The Soe’s report for June 1892 states that on inspection the school was gradually recovering from the neglect of those 18 months and he was pleased say, “everything about the school has changed for the better – discipline, organisation, work, and general tone; and the building and grounds are properly looked after. even after 6 months of hard work the new master was not able to prevent 56 failures against only 96 passes...”

It would appear that Mr Baker, formerly a First Assistant at the Boys’ Model School, pietermaritzburg, worked himself to death. Tragically, in August he died after only having been eight months in office, and Inspector charles James Mudie stepped into the breach, acting as headmaster for a couple of months until 5 September 1892. Mr Mudie had been born in the “Scottish dundee” in 1857 and he became the founding principal of estcourt Government School. during the years 1904 through 1917, he was Soe for Natal,[1] a married man with a son and a daughter, he died on the channel Island of Jersey in 1920.

1 Surely, a new name – the first name – for the plaque in the “directors’ courtyard”?!


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The “new man” to take the reins of this fledgling school on 5 September 1892 was 31 year-old Mr richard Appelton Gowthorpe, and under his careful management, the school flourished. he started with 58 boys and 48 girls, ten of whom were “free pupils”. Mr Gowthorpe had been the Senior Assistant (the equivalent of deputy principal) at the Boys’ Model School in durban and he remained as headmaster until 1 August 1904. Later he became the first principal of the Natal Training college in pietermaritzburg. There, he was described as a firm believer in repetition, in correctness of statement and in attention to detail. he used to drill into his students definitions and declarations which he believed contained essential pearls of wisdom.[1] Mr J W hudson, headmaster in 1934, wrote that it had been his great privilege, as a young man teaching in pietermaritzburg to come into close contact with Mr Gowthorpe. “I found what a splendid man he was.” Not a few old pupils of dundee School “now arrived at middle age” informed him that “he was a stern disciplinarian but by all… he is held, not only in respect, but in affection. Such was the man who laid the foundations.”[2]

Mr Gowthorpe led the school in dundee for twelve event-filled years. About him the “centre of Natal” – “coalopolis” – was growing phenomenally, especially after the Anglo-Boer War. And during this entire period “the p.W.d. [the public Works department, today’s Building Services] was kept busy enlarging the school building.”

1 George dale, “Natal Training college (1909-1987)” page 86.2 dundee Intermediate School centenary Magazine 1984: 36.


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In September 1892 he had 85 pupils on his register; by 1902 there were 356, some of them coming in from Zululand and the Glencoe district. classes in school were “abnormally large, and in some instances numbered as many as fifty” yet the departmental report in May 1894 said that “the organisation, discipline, Tone and progress [in the school] are perfectly satisfactory.” In 1895 the report stated that “The children’s exercise books are a pleasure to look at.” In 1897 the carpentry shop run by a Mr T h Serridge was obviously impressive, and Inspector Mr dukes complimented the school in that it was “one of the best ordered in the colony.”


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one junior boy, from about 1895 until 1898, was ernst Albert ritter, son of dundee’s first magistrate, captain carsten ritter. In 1955 ernst wrote up the oral history of king Shaka as he had heard it growing up in the district.[1] his book, Shaka Zulu,[2] became a most popular (and controversial) account of the founder of the Zulu nation.

[3]

1 personal communicatiuon with Mr V ritter: 1 June 2016.2 ritter, e.A., 1955. Shaka Zulu: The rise of the Zulu empire. 1st ed. London: Longmans Green.3 photograph of Mr ritter from the 1955 1st edition by Longmans Green of Shaka Zulu: The rise of the Zulu empire.


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Another pupil, from 1897 until 1902, was Samuel ravenscroft, whose father, rev. Stanley hough ravenscroft was minister of the Methodist church in dundee from 1898-1903.[1] Mr ravenscroft wrote that “the school [“what was then called the dundee Government School”] has grown out of all recognition to what it was in the old days... The main School building, which still may be seen [in 1934] is in the centre of town, and does duty as the Girls’ hostel. The headmaster’s residence is also still in existence, and serves a like purpose today.”

“Sport,” he wrote, “which is now such an important item in the life of the School, was then not so highly organised, and we were further handicapped in having only one playground. The older boys played cricket, and soccer was very popular, but rugby had not yet made its debut either in the town or district. The girls, as far as I can remember, found much enjoyment and relaxation in Ye Ancient Game of hop-Scotch. A very popular game amongst the majority of boys was marbles, and between the various syndicates and partnerships formed between them some really attained to colossal wealth as far as their holdings in the various kinds of marbles were concerned. Tops also enjoyed their following of ‘fans.’ In passing the playground at the Junior School I notice the boys still playing “red rover,’ a game which we also played. I am open to correction, but I believe this game had its origin in dundee, as I have never seen it played at any other school. With all due respect to the cricket and football pundits, it was splendid fun!”

1 Simpson 2013: 8


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In the interests of local history, an insert regarding “red rover” is required. Also known as “forcing the city gates” and “octopus tag”, the game actually came from Britain and it spread worldwide (and to dundee, Natal). Two teams would line up opposite each other, no more than 30 feet apart and the first agreed to call one player from the opposite team. The boys chanted, “red rover, red rover, send (whatever player’s name) on over!” and that person called had to run to the other line and attempt to break the chain (formed by the linking of hands).[1] This game was also played in the almost dark – with great enthusiasm and considerable roughness! – by the dundee Scouts in the 1990s.

Arthur Whitfield, a pupil during the First World War years (1914-1919), wrote that in his day, “Marbles was, of course, the premier game among the self-made amusements. every boy in the School, whether large or small, played in season, and this game probably promoted the majority of the major fights. Another game that was very popular was red rover (so popular, in fact, that another old Boy was convinced it had been ‘invented’ at dundee!), which resulted in shirts being nearly torn off, and no doubt accounted for the fashion in jerseys. donkey fighting, bok-bok, stick-stick, hat-hat, push-push, fly, and even peg tops had their day, and came round in regularly recurrent ‘seasons’.”

“during the summer months quite a number of us boys were keen on swimming, and the popular rendezvous was the spruit [locally known as the Sterkspruit] on Mr Macphail’s farm. A diving board was erected, and we had great times in the river. A large number of donkeys grazed on the farm. These, we understood, belonged to local [traders], but possession was nine points of the law, and we worried little about ownership. It was a common practice for us to take French leave [in today’s parlance, “bunk”] and ride the donkeys to the swimming pool and keep them there for the return trip. Since my return to dundee I have paid a visit to the old swimming pool, but the river has undergone a big change, and the old familiar spot can hardly be recognised. This is due to the silting up of the sand and the caving in of the banks.”

The days seemed halcyon; yet war clouds were brewing. conflict – what would become the second Anglo-Boer War – loomed. The Bloemfontein conference (31 May through 5 June 1899) called to clear the air between Britain and the Boer republics failed and the rector of St James’ Anglican church wrote that “for many weeks before the declaration of war we were having an anxious time. every place in such times is prone to rumours, but dundee would take a lot of beating.”[2] understandably. The region was prosperous from coal mining; and close enough to the Transvaal border so that a military invasion, with all that that entailed for civilians and their property and for local businesses, to be a real possibility.

1 From: www.grandparents.com.2 Gerard Bailey, “Seven Months under Boer rule” page 12.


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“Business got slack. houses ceased going up. Nobody seemed inclined to venture. The dutch [Afrikaans-speaking] farmers, especially those from across the Buffalo river, were conspicuous by their absence. ‘Times are getting very bad,’ everyone said. ‘It is time this Transvaal question was settled one way or another; it is a perpetual cause of unrest.”[1] Yet life went on at the little school.

Arthur Whitfield continues: “Another experience which is still printed indelibly on my memory was the weekly clean-up of the school grounds. Sandwich lunches at school were the order of the day, and as a consequence a great deal of waste-paper was strewn about the grounds, this even despite the possibility of there being waste-bins in convenient positions. on Friday afternoons the principal marshalled the boys together and at a given signal we had to do a ‘paper-chase’ and gather all the paper strewn here, there and everywhere. To return empty-handed incurred rather a sore penalty, and quite a number of us ‘old soldiers’ came prepared for this contingency by bringing an old piece of paper in our pockets, as we feared the possibility of being unable to locate a piece of paper, and rather dreaded the consequences!”

The approach of war had dictated the location of a 4 500-strong British garrison under Lt-Gen Sir William penn-Symons in dundee on ryley’s hill (near the present-day KwaZulu-Natal Traffic department depot in Karel Landman Street). And all the while beforehand r.S.M. higgins had toiled out from Ladysmith “carrying on Military and physical drill to our entire satisfaction” for the boys and, later, the Natal police continued with the exercises.

Then the War came, and on 20 october 1899 the battle for control of dundee was fought around Talana hill. This event, and indeed this period, became a major turning-point in the history of dundee.

1 ibid.


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english people evacuated the town and, recalling the panic, Mrs ella Turnbull said, “people were getting very nervous before we were ordered away, as things got worse… and one day we went to school as usual, and during the morning the headmaster and someone in uniform… came round together and they said we must run home as fast as we could and tell our mothers to put a few things together and to be down at the station by one o’clock. Well, then we were all nervous and we were running as fast as we could in all directions to get home quickly.”[1]

1 personal interview conducted with the honeywell [sometimes spelled honywill] sisters (Lily and Mabel honeywell and their oldest sister, ella Turnbull) in their home at the corner of Willson and Gray Streets, dundee, in February 1984 with dundee high School standard 8 (grade 10) pupils.


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Gerard Bailey wrote: “Try and imagine an order being issued in a small town in england for all the women and children to leave their homes in a couple of hours. For that was about the time allowed to many in dundee. No time for packing away or concealing valuables; all must be left to the mercies of an invading army.”[1] one five year-old mite comforted another, “You know, they’re going to kill all the english people: but we’re all right – we’re Scotch!”[2]

one schoolboy, Jimmy durham, had gone down to Betania hospital on the day of the battle for dundee because his mother was giving birth to his newest brother. It was too much for Jimmy – he climbed to the top of the hospital roof and clinging on until he was ordered down, witnessed the to-ing and fro-ing of shells, bullets and soldiers. And, no doubt, he witnessed the British wounded (that included the general, Sir William penn Symons) being brought in beneath him from the field hospital situated near the present-day dundee Secondary School.

And when the British troops, led by Brigadier James Yule, surreptitiously retreated on a three day march to Ladysmith (arriving on 26 october), dundee was left to the mercies of the Boer kommandos of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (the Transvaal republic) who, according to deneys reitz “went whooping through the town… and plundering shops and dwelling houses.”[3] Gerard Bailey remained in the town and witnessed lawless destruction: “how shall I describe it all? In this way. To accomplish what these looters did I should want a dozen strong English navvies.[4] And the following would be my instructions to them, ‘You are to go to every store and office in dundee. If you find that the doors are locked and barred, break them in, or smash the windows. having got inside, take away everything you fancy, but before you leave, wreck the place from top to bottom.

1 Gerard Bailey, “Seven Months under Boer rule” page 17.2 Mrs Turnbull, recalling her friend’s words!3 deneys reitz, “Adrift on the open Veld” page 22.4 A “navvy” is a dated – and probably un-pc – word for an unskilled labourer.


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Throw down everything from the shelves. Break open every glass case, scatter the contents, sweep everything off the counters, and then trample all under foot, and mind you have good heavy boots. If you have a crowbar or two to aid you in your work all the better. N.B. Mind you break open every safe.”[1]

The town was occupied by ZAr forces from 23 october 1899 until its recapture by General Buller on 16 May 1900. Boer families were settled into the english houses of “Meyersdorp” (as dundee was now named) and the school buildings doubled as a hospital for their sick and wounded as a place of education for their children”[2] only on 1 August 1900, General Buller having retaken the area on May 16, did classes for the children of the townsfolk who had returned commence again, and then in what used to be the Masonic hall that stands on the corner of Boundary and McKenzie Streets (now, the premises of Stok’s Systems, the old “creamery buildings”).

1 Gerard Bailey, “Seven Months under Boer rule” pages 70-71.2 Bill Guest, Natal and the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 page 27; Soe report 1899.


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The townsfolk were blessed to have the phlegmatic Mr Gowthorpe in charge of their school. he took up the reins from where they had been laid down and the inspector’s report was soon declaring: “So ship-shape was everything, and so excellent were the results, that it was hard to believe that a hiatus of 10 months had occurred, and that the pupils had had only 4 months of hard work.”[1]

What later became known as “environmental education” was even practised and the senior school physiography[2] class was taken down the coalfields Mine pit by its manager, Walter rowan, who “stopped the cage to examine each successive stratum [and to] explain to us the origin and effect of the FAuLT.”[3]

despite Indian jugglers and snake charmers that intrigued the children in town and the fascination of watching “naked Zulus doing war dances on Market Square”, and Fillis’s circus parade with elephants down Victoria Street,[4] the war years had left their mark, and for a long time target shooting was a prime sport carried on at the school. And old scholar, Mr holding, remembered the lead bullets “as big as a boy’s thumb and a kicked [sic] worse than any living mule!” he says, “We used to sit upright on the edge of the mound, and each shot just about knocked us flat, after five shots every boy was black and blue, some crying with pain, nevertheless next practice would see the team all there and willing to go through it over again!”[5]

Mr Gowthorpe soon had the school functioning efficiently. occasions such as the coronation of King edward VII in 1902 were useful unifying events in a racially divided community, and Mr Gowthorpe became a member of the Festivities committee. As was the Annual distribution of prizes that took place on Friday 20 June that year. That was preceded by “physical drill in the School Grounds” by the cadets and senior boys and girls “with drill, dumb-bell drill and Indian club drill.” The following year the school was more ambitious yet, with an evening programme (commencing at 7 o’clock) containing no fewer than 35 items, including Flag drill, recitations (What Mother Calls Me by Six Boys), kindergarten songs (When Granny Comes Home by May retallack and two Girls) and items from the School choir (concluding with an appropriately-named Action Song called the Yawning Song). For all concerned it must have required stamina.

In 1902 Inspector Mr deer confined his report to: “There is no need for a detailed report on the work of this School. It is excellent.” Indeed, in the annual examination sat by all “government schools in Natal, in 1902 and in 1903, dundee School came fourth in its results of the seventeen schools that sat for the “collective examination”.

1 Soe report 1900.2 What, today, would be called geomorphology or physical geography.3 dundee Intermediate School centenary Magazine 1984: 12.4 personal interview with Mrs Sheila henderson at Talana Museum, February 1984.5 “dundee cadets”, Times of Natal Special, 1904.


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dux of the school at that 1902 prize Giving was russell pears Tatham, son of Augustus Gould Turner (“Gus”) Tatham and his wife, Louisa Mary (née Murray). coincidentally, Gus’ younger brother (by one year), William henry Tatham, also married a Louisa (née hodges); both families settled in dundee and became active in the community; and both brothers saw action in the Battle of Talana (20 october 1899) as members of the dundee rifle Association.

The Tathams had lived in pietermaritzburg where, with his father and another brother, Gus had been a wheel- or wagon-wright, but when he became a district agent for the South African Mutual Life Assurance co., they moved to where the money was, the coal-rich town of dundee. Gus was active as a town councillor, a committee member of the dundee district political Association, a member of the dundee public Library and of the dundee rifle Association, and Tatham Street, the road on which the present high School stands, is named after him. When the Anglo-Boer War broke out he joined up and he “had some interesting experiences”, being captured by Boers as he covered the escape of five of his comrades at Makhatiya’s Kop[1] and ending up with both the Queen’s South Africa and King’s South Africa Medals (with bars for Talana, Laing’s Nek and Transvaal).

1 rundgren 2007: 31.


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russell was the youngest of the six children of Gus and Louisa, five boys and a girl: edmund Murray (no doubt named for his mother’s “side”), born 12 August 1883 in King William’s Town; Alfred heathcote, born 19 october 1884; harold carlyon, born 9 August 1886; Arthur Frederick, born 14 February 1888 (but died a year later, on 20 June 1889); Anne Letitia Louise, born 22 September 1889; and russell, born in dundee 26 July 1891.

russell was not only School dux in 1903; he passed the end-year examinations with a “1st class honours” pass, was placed tenth in Natal and was awarded a bursary of £40 a year for three years. his brother harold was 26th with a First-class pass the previous year and sister Annie obtained a “pass” in the 1903 exams. russell took to teaching after school but at the outbreak of the First World War he and his brothers and cousins joined up and served through the German South-West Africa campaign that commenced on 15 September 1914. When the South African overseas contingent was formed, russell was initially a private but he was rapidly promoted to being a sergeant. After seeing action against the Senussi in egypt and taking part in the successful battle at Mersa Matruh, he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant in his own battalion “for his gallantry and devotion to duty.”[1]

his regiment, the 2nd South African Infantry, participated in France and on 20 July 1916, aged a mere 25, he was killed in action at the Battle of delville Wood. he died on the same day as his cousin, errol Victor Tatham (a barrister, son of Frederick Spence Tatham). russell’s parents, Gus and Louisa, returned to pietermaritzburg and bought a house on Zwartkop road. Gus died there on 24 december 1926 and Louisa, having moved down to durban, died on 7 February 1950 aged 94.[2] She remained strong until her last. She had been a premature baby and was remembered as saying, “I was in a hurry to get into this world and I’m in no hurry to leave it.”

The Tatham’s cousin, Sidney Mortimore Tatham, also an old scholar of the school (born on 12 June 1888) served with the South African forces from 1914-1918. he broke his stride in the armed services to marry the 28 year-old Miss Mary Moorhead on 9 July 1917 and, on resumption of civilian life in November 1920 they set up home in Wendover road, pietermaritzburg. he progressed in the colonial civil service to become registrar of deeds for Natal and, on retirement in 1948 they moved to live in the appropriately-named “Onze Rust” in Main road, Fish hoek, in the cape. he died in September 1939.

1 The Times, 7 September 1916.2 The Tatham Family of county durham. 2018. russell pears Tatham. [oNLINe] Available at: http://www.saxonlodge.net/getperson.php?personId=I1608&tree=Tatham. [Accessed 28 May 2018].


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For eight and a half months from 1 August 1903, Mr Gowthorpe enjoyed a “busman’s holiday,” standing in as an acting inspector of schools for the South coast district during his long leave. A Mr h overton administered the school in his absence. he reported that 336 pupils were “on the roll.” Mr Gowthorpe was no sooner back (on 16 May 1904) than he was given promotion to pietermaritzburg to be acting principal (from 15 August 1904) and then the headmaster of the Boys’ Model School (from 17 March 1905).

Just before he left the school was paid an official visit on Thursday 9 June by the chief Justice of Natal and his wife, Sir henry and Lady Bale, Major harry Lugg of the umvoti Mounted rifles, captain Lamb, The Mayor of dundee, William henry (“harry”) Tatham and his wife and the Town clerk. Mr Gowthorpe, who had been born in 1860 in cranswick, Yorkshire, died in 1949 at his home in Swartkopskloof (now called Blackridge, about 40 km from pietermaritzburg), aged 89 years.

Chapter 3 - Dundee Boys’ Government School (1904-1909)

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CHAPTER 3 - DUNDEE BOYS’GOVERNMENT SCHOOL (1904 - 1909)

Frederick Mayfield Sivil was appointed as the new headmaster on 1 July 1904. he had been born in Lincolnshire, england, in 1873 and as a 24 year-old school teacher he settled in durban. At the outbreak of the Boer War he joined the naval militia unit, the Natal Naval Volunteers, and saw service as a gunner in the defence of Ladysmith as part of the Naval Brigade. he says that he “heard the faint thud of the guns” during the battle of Talana when encamped with his unit on the hills of Ladysmith.[1] he was discharged after the Ladysmith siege was lifted and returned to his life as a teacher.[2] In January of 1904 he visited dundee, conducting “Vacation classes for Teachers in the art of singing from the Tonic Solfa and Staff Notations.”

1 r.o. pearse: dundee Intermediate School 1884-1934, page 15.2 Surprisingly, Mr Sivil – in his late 60s – served for at least two years during World War II in a voluntary organisation in South Africa that “benefitted the local war effort and thereby qualified for the South African Medal for War Service.”


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Now, having been appointed headmaster of the old mixed school in the centre of the town, Sivil had “the boys, girls and infants of the town to the number of approximately three hundred … all taught under the same roof. The building was an inadequate patch-work affair, consisting of only one large room, capable of being divided into three classrooms by means of green baize curtains, and several smaller rooms, which had originally been the headmaster’s house. Thirty-seven years ago, when I first came to Natal, this method of combining the headmaster’s house and the School under one roof was a popular one in the country. It certainly had the advantage of being only a step from the dining room to the class room.”

“Needless to say,” continued Mr Sivil, many of these rooms were ill-lighted and ill-suited for educational purposes.” parental protestations became vociferous: “It was not surprising therefore that the parents and towns-people pressed for a more up-to-date school, and, as there was at the time a very strong local opinion in favour of the separation of the boys from the girls, the Natal Government, with the advice of the education department, undertook the building of a new school for boys on the Berea” (the site of the present school in Tatham Street).

It should be recalled that although dundee district was considered wealthy because of its coal industry, progressive agriculture and businesses, it was part of a rural colony, without the benefits of rapid transport and communication. This was also a time of some hardship for farmers, as there had been a massive attack of rinderpest in 1897; a colony-wide economic recession from 1904 through 1906; an internal war against a Zulu faction in 1906 that resulted in destruction of their property and land afterwards, as retribution; and yet another plague, east coast fever that ruined cattle farmers in 1907 and 1908.

Local parents expressed dissatisfaction because “all the facilities for higher education were concentrated in pietermaritzburg and in durban.” up to this time, only Maritzburg college and durban high School provided only a primary education up to Standard VII. The cost of sending boys and girls to high schools for anything beyond standard 7 [grade 9], which was the top class of the primary Schools in those days, was almost prohibitive.”

Simon haw has commented: “Generally speaking, government primary schools were places where children of working class parents might receive a practical education. high schools taught an altogether more rarefied curriculum to the children of middle class parents. A pupil who had emerged from the top end of a government primary school was usually deficient in the knowledge of the classical languages required by the high schools.”[1]

Inspector Mr F d hugo, later Natal’s Soe, complained about “the absence of hostel accommodation, the unwillingness of parents to break away from schools they had previously supported, and the scarcity of teachers properly equipped for the wider field of secondary education. The main fact, however, was probably the absence of a general demand for secondary education.” After conferring with the district Inspector of the North,

1 haw, “Taking Stock” page 29.


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Mr hugh Bryan (later also an Soe for Natal), the principals of Newcastle, Vryheid, Ladysmith, utrecht and dundee Schools decided to establish secondary departments in each of their schools “and to see what the response there was on the part of the parents.”

even local schools, such as the new Talana Boys’ preparatory School that opened on 28 october 1904, attracted up to 45 of Sivil’s pupils. It was run by a former hilton college teacher, Mr A B clifton MA, and then by a Mr Blackthorne. Tom dewar, the coal magnate, acquired the large home in which the school was run in Newcastle road (later named oldacre Street) in about 1919. The house is now owned by Allen and Magda devereux, deputy principal and Librarian of the high School respectively. Another boys’ school was in the hands of a Miss hodge who ran it from her home at the corner of Victoria Street and Golf Lane. Some boys attending these private schools were accommodated in a dwelling nicknamed “The Incubator”, so named because of the peculiar shape of its roof. It was altered structurally many years later and became the home of the Kennedy family.

At last, Mr Sivil’s dream of a newly-built school on the “Berea” materialised: the older buildings now occupied by the high School. There was some delay before the new buildings on “the Berea” could be officially opened because the original contractor had “deserted, and new tenders had to be called for”, but when dundee’s Mayor, West Thorrold, assisted by Inspector h r dukes “before a good attendance of townspeople” opened the main door with “a rather massive, gold-painted key” on 1 March 1907. It was a grand occasion!


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“The building was inspected by the visitors, who duly admired the airy well-lit rooms, the solidly built walls, the wood-block floors, etc., etc.” Years later, Gregory de Jager recalled that the main entrance for the school was in the early years on the oxborrow Street side of the building, and not from Tatham Street, as is now the case. on 20 March 1992, at a ceremony where adults and children spilled out onto Tatham Street, the buildings were declared a National Monument by the director of education and old scholar, dr Gerald hosking.

“They could not, however, have admired the furniture,” on that opening day, wrote Mr Sivil in 1934, “ for the Government argued that if there were sufficient desks for 300 odd boys and girls in the old school there should be sufficient for two schools; so half the well-worn old-fashioned desks, with the names or initials of past generations of school boys carved all over them, were sent up to the new building, where they looked singularly out of place in the spick-and-span new rooms.”


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“But whilst all looked pleasant within, what a contrast the outside presented! The site of the building was on a piece of sloping ground, and the p.W.d. or the contractors had started at the lowest point and dug into the hillside, at one end, [the building] was several feet below the ground level. No proper drainage had been provided, and the first good rain turned the clayey soil around the building into a quagmire. pupils and teachers had to cross pools of standing water by means of planks. In due course, after much correspondence and a visit from the Soe, matters were, if not put right, at least much improved. But of course it took time to cover up, with grass and paths, the ugly scars made by the builders.”Sivil continued: “The piece of veldt which was fenced in as the school playing fields, was another problem requiring much time and energy, but a good deal of it was fairly level. “To crown it all, on Monday, 11 March 1907, a mere 10 days after the new school’s opening: there was a “heavy storm of rain. Water came through and marked the walls. discovered a skylight in the roof had been maliciously opened.”

The perennial flooding of certain classrooms was only solved by “Works” in the late 1960s. one teacher complained in the 1930s that “the Science Laboratory was on one occasion a foot deep in water.” The wheels of progress grind sometimes slowly forward!

Girls wishing a secondary education had to go to State-aided or private institutions (such as the holy rosary convent or St John’s School), and there was a short-lived preparatory school for girls run by a Miss orr on the Berea. The convent had been founded by dominican Sisters and at first it was situated on a triangular piece of land behind the royal hotel and the old post office, where dr Johan “plankie” Fourie’s clinic now stands. The need for better facilities saw the acquisition of a large site at the western end of Victoria Street in the early 1920s. during lunch break boys from the Intermediate School used to nip across and explore the magnificent new buildings as they were being constructed.


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The convent had a reputation, as some do, for the exceptional strictness of its staff members, but it was also renowned for the quality of its music instruction. one of its best scholars was a Vryheid girl, Beryl Leslie. She studied for some years in Vienna and there earned praise for her prowess on the violin. The convent shut its doors at the end of 1969 because, like some other catholic institutions, it suffered from an inability to staff itself. In November of 1972, headmaster Mr Kriel was informed by the department that it was taking possession of the convent’s facilities and grounds and that dundee high School could use them from 1973. he was pleased because “The fact that there are 8 classrooms at the old convent, and all are spacious enough to accommodate the large groups of 30 and more, will solve the problem of new, big classes.”

hermie Kriel’s enthusiasm for managing a school with twin campuses dwindled rapidly. In 1978 he wrote: “our sojourn in the old convent was not a success; distances were excessive and the condition of the buildings was poor. Synchronization of bells was a problem we were quite unable to resolve, and as a result discipline suffered. Furthermore, teachers working in the prefabs had to make do without electricity and worked in miserably dusty conditions. As the new blocks took shape, noise and dust filled the air so badly that trying to teach became farcical for hours at a time. rainy seasons added interest to the builder’s wasteland that had once been pathways and playground, but we became more and more heartened as the new blocks soared skywards and filled out into neat and well-finished classroom units. Now we can function efficiently again: the school is congregated around a large quadrangle which is already being developed by a special committee formed for the purpose of beautifying the school grounds under the new circumstances. We have a fine resources centre, a spacious lecture theatre, fully equipped laboratories, workshop and housecraft centres, and substantial new change rooms with full toilet facilities, including hot water!”


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Indeed, the convent’s beautiful buildings were not to be swallowed up into the high School but were, in fact, to play a vital role in quite a different form of education. Seeing a need to teach those children in the community who would struggle in a “mainstream” school, local attorney and National party Mp Gert hanekom called together a committee in the first half of 1975 and dennis Gehren, dundee high School old scholar and big-hearted businessman became the group’s treasurer. Two committees were formed to explore the possibility of starting a school catering for such young people, however big or small it would be: one committee dealing with fundraising and the other with the school’s management.

on 8 october 1975 an informal school was started with 16 children, initially separated into an english class and an Afrikaans class, with two teachers, Bev Garner (a trained occupational therapist) and Ann heesakkers (a Netherlander). Bev says, “We had unqualified black ladies assist us – paulina and helena, and later ovina – three wonderful women!” And the name, “pro Nobis” [“For us”], was suggested by Mrs hanekom and enthusiastically accepted. Bev acted as principal from April 1976, when the school was formally registered.

The school itself occupied the small house (now the SApS cId offices) in McKenzie Street on the then school grounds of the dundee Junior primary. Because Mrs hanekom was principal of that school, “pro Nobis” had access to its resources and swimming pool. A prefab with three classrooms was also erected parallel with the railway line. The formal registration with department of National education in pretoria was effected in April 1976 and the school was known as “pro Nobis Training centre for the Mentally retarded”.[1] (The thinking of the time was that these children were trainable not educable.)

In mid-1976 a hostel was opened, using the dormitories and kitchens of what is now Melusi Mission. children were then admitted from Vryheid, Newcastle and Ladysmith and dennis Gehren also arranged for a Toyota 16-seater bus to transport children from around dundee and Glencoe.

The death of Gert hanekom in 1977 was a blow to the fledgling school, but dennis accepted the mantle of funding and helping to run it. It became a focus in his life and he served on the board as chairman and Treasurer until 2016. on the demise of the holy rosary convent, dennis organised the purchase of the beautiful buildings and their transformation into a special school and set of hostels and workshops for challenged young people. The move to the convent buildings took place in 1978. It was quite a mission! “Much of the older building was derelict and trying to keep the kids from exploring / hiding from us was a nightmare for teachers on playground duty.”[2]

1 Today, it is known as a “school for severely intellectually disabled learners” (personal communication with Mrs dube, principal).2 personal communication with Bev Garner: 20 october 2017.


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Today pro Nobis Special School, registered for learners with severe mental handicaps, is a model for other such institutions throughout the country, well-run and achieving high standards. It has 138 day scholars and 122 hostel boarders – a total of 260 learners. There are 25 departmentally-paid educators and 84 support personnel.

dennis also helped purchase the old Mpati hotel in Victoria Street, which was renamed “The dundee Adult centre.” It provides a home for pro Nobis’ learners after they have reached the age of 18. The principal of pro Nobis School, Mrs Ziphezinhle dube, says “It is a safe haven where they will be cared for in every need until the day they pass on. They keep the adults busy with needlework, crocheting, bead work, laundry duties, kitchen duties, arts and crafts as well as wood work and refurbishing of furniture. It is not a school, it is an extension where persons with SId [severe intellectual difficulties] are kept busy and taught skills to help them become as self-sufficient as possible.”[1] on 29 April 2017 after a short illness dennis died at the age of 83. “pro Nobis” and “The Adult centre” are monuments to his love for these special young people.

A “Ladies’ college” was to have been started on the Berea on 6 February 1906 under the leadership of Miss parkes Bradshaw, B.A. The prospectus of the school stated that it would be well-situated and it “is to be conducted upon the exact system in vogue among english schools for the daughters of gentlemen. under this system, that refinement and highmindedness found among the young english gentlewomen will be instilled here, and parents will be most fortunate if able to place their daughters in the school.”[2]

There would be boarding facilities offered: “An excellent home is provided for the boarders, and the girls will enjoy all the comforts of home-life instead of suffering under the indifference usually displayed.” The reporter in the Courier “confidently [predicted] a future for this school.” he omitted to state how long that future would be, for it was the last heard of the “Ladies’ college.”

A girls’ school that launched in January 1908 was St John’s diocesan School. It was started by Anglican sisters of St John the divine in a building opposite the church of Sweden Mission, Betania. It would seem as if this is the house next to what is now the SApS Barracks in McKenzie Street. There were 27 girls (of whom three were boarders) and a Miss collingwood who had just arrived from england who was the headmistress.[3] These school premises were later acquired by a tailor, Mr h rubenson, and for some years he also ran an unlicensed establishment, the Berea hotel. After its closure the buildings were unoccupied for some time before being purchased by the provincial Administration and converted for use as a girls’ hostel. Later, the school shifted to “castle Lodge” in Victoria Street, opposite dunmed doctors’ rooms. The boarding establishment is still visible at the back of the property.

1 personal communication with Mrs dube: 14 November 2017.2 Anonymous, 1905. A New Ladies’ college: A commendable Venture. dundee and district courier, 4 January 1905. 5.3 Stevens, helen, 1978. The Sisterhood of Saint John the divine and its association with the parish of St. James. The parish of St. James 75 Year history 1898-1978.


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There were the usual inter-school hi-jinks and in 1918 a number of boys from the Senior Government School (as dundee high was known) paid a visit to St John’s on Guy Fawkes day. In the light of the moon they not only removed the school’s gates but they threw them on to their tennis courts. Somehow headmaster Mr Gray located the eight culprits and he hauled them before the assembled school for a lecture. Then they were marched down to St John’s for a hearty helping of humble pie: the oldest of the boys had to apologise to the principal on behalf of himself and of his fellow miscreants and then they replaced the gates and repaired the courts! St John’s in dundee was closed in 1920 for lack of support and the sisters and lay staff removed themselves to the “mother” convent and school in pietermaritzburg, the renowned St John’s dSG in Scottsville.

Mr Sivil worked hard to establish a competent, competitive school. he was aware of the expectations of the townsfolk (and competition for pupils with others schools in town), so he arranged for extramural activities, such as a series of ten “First Aid to the Injured” lectures delivered by dr Galbraith and a cricket match against the school in Newcastle. on Friday 13 october 1905, when the British empire was celebrating horatio Nelson’s famous victory at Trafalgar, the entire school walked to the Masonic hall[1] to listen to the dundee Methodist church minister, rev W Wilkinson-rider, deliver a lecture on Nelson and Trafalgar “supplemented by lantern views, and the children sang patriotic songs.”

1 Formerly called “Boswell’s” and today the New Life church.


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This interesting little plaque, neatly mounted on a shield bearing “DUNDEE GIRLS GOVT SCHOOL” now hangs in the foyer of the dundee Junior School. Its legend reads:

ENGLAND EXPECTS TEMWDH[1] DUTY DEATH OF NELSON OCT 21ST 1805

CONTAINING COPPER FROM HMS VICTORYFROM THE LORDS OF THE ADMIRALTYBRITISH & FOREIGN SAILORS SOCIETY

ER VII[2]

1 Acronym for “ThAT eVerY MAN WILL do hIS” [duty].2 “er VII” was the royal cypher of King edward VII.


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Natal colony, and thence the “government” schools in it, was very much a part of the British empire. Memories of the recent war were fresh in many minds. Illustrious visitors, such as the hero of Kabul and Kandahar, Field Marshall Lord roberts, came to town on 24 october 1904 and the school cadets presented the Guard of honour. “Talana day” was celebrated each 20th of october with an assembly, a short address, the hoisting of the flag, the “salute” blown on bugles and the children being dismissed for the rest of the day, and on the Sunday thereafter, the school cadets and the local contingent of the Natal carbineers had a combined church parade. other dignitaries for which the school’s cadets formed guards of honour included Queen Victoria’s son, Arthur, the duke of connaught and his wife, princess Louise Margaret, Sir Matthew Nathan, Governor of Natal (in 1909), the prince of Wales in 1925, the prime Minister, James Barry Munnik hertzog on 28 March 1933, and the famous World War I “ace” pilot and founder of the South African Air Force, Major General Kenneth reid (“Kenny”) van der Spuy on 24 September 1935.

But by 1909, on Mr Sivil’s departure, only 120 boys were enrolled at the “new school”, and the staff was not large: three men and two unmarried ladies (who stayed at the facetiously nicknamed “harem” on the corner of cuthbert and Beaconsfield Streets), and “dutch was taught by a visiting teacher, Mr cornfield.” The Natal government might have sanctioned the expansion of some of its schools, but it “rather hoped the existing Staffs would be able to carry on the work” – with extra expenditure grudgingly provided for additional teachers and for science equipment.


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The load was greater and the number of load-bearers, for the time being, remained constant. A teacher leaving or, in the case of his vice-principal, being promoted,[1] was a cause for strain: “Needless to say the work was difficult and a great deal of it fell on the shoulders of the headmaster and one or two of the senior members of the Staff,” wrote Sivil. In his “log” of 28 August 1905 he recorded that the “headmaster teaches Arithmetic, Mathematics, Latin, and chemistry to the pupils of the School higher class now that Mr holderness has gone.” on that day two of his already small staff were “absent through sickness.” on 4 September he wrote, “As there is no opportunity during the daytime I have arranged to give the pupil teachers their lessons in Arithmetic, algebra & geometry in the evenings twice a week.”

When Mr Serridge retired as woodwork teacher Mr Sivil undertook woodwork classes too! This hardworking principal was being stretched almost to breaking point. on 25 September he entered that “We are now short of three members of the staff, & the work of the school is consequently difficult to organise.” In an extraordinary admission, on Wednesday 22 June 1906 he wrote in the Log Book: “The two pupils entering for the cape higher exam had to be abandoned. I find it impossible to carry on this work in addition to St. VI [Standard 6] supervision of the whole school.”

Sivil’s attempts to ground the school firmly were not uniformly appreciated: on one occasion, having administered a “hiding” to Geo. Simm “for getting through the fence after being warned”, the boy’s father removed his son from the school with “an impertinent letter”! Julius reubenson felt the sting of Sivil’s cane on a number of occasions. on Monday 19 August 1907, he “received ten strokes with [the] cane for deliberately throwing stones at the carpentry shop windows.” understandably, Julius’ father also “complained of the boy’s punishment and withdrew his son from the school.”

And at another time,

the headmaster saw Mr hume in court on the 24th, where he was charged and fined £10 [ten pounds].

1 Mr holderness was seconded to act as headmaster of paulpietersburg Government School.


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It was not just pupils who met with Sivil’s wrath; a teacher, Mr Jude, was frequently absent. once he claimed that he had broken his collar bone from having fallen from his bicycle. on Monday 2 december 1907, when Jude was yet again not present, and “no medical certificate was sent”, and “on personal enquiry I found the cause was drunkenness a report was sent to Mr Bryan, district Inspector.” on 9 december Jude resigned his post and, sadly, left the school. on Monday 2 March 1908, a Mr Blair who, also, had been frequently absent, was “notified that he is dismissed.” on Tuesday 31 March, “Mr Blair after completing his day’s work left the school & the service. Laus dei.” (Such was Sivil’s relief at seeing the back of Blair that he exclaims “praise [be] to God”!)

Nevertheless, Sivil was “held in affectionate remembrance” for his “great deal of charm”. he was active in the community, participating enthusiastically in local whist and bridge tournaments, Masonic activities and the parliamentary debating Society, amongst numerous other social activities.

The “old school” situated where the Municipal offices now stand became the “dundee Government Girls’ School.” Thus, there was for a time a Boys’ school and a Girls’ school in dundee, but some activities, like school tours, were shared. Meanwhile, infant classes were still held at the Girls’ School in town. When he was enrolled in class 1 in 1916, Mr h Baxter had a Miss Gilbert, “a buxom lady”, as his headmistress. he was obviously impressed by the visit of McLeod the new Inspector “garbed in a white linen suit. It is possible he had a toupee as well!”[1] McLeod, a Scotsman like so many early administrators of Natal education, hailed originally from the Isle of Lewis, and he was fluent in Gaelic. he was summoned to translate the congratulatory cable from the duke of Argyle to dugald Macphail on the occasion of his 100th birthday. McLeod became chief Inspector of Schools in Natal in the 1940s.[2]

extramurally, life was active for boys and, later, for the girls. The Scouting movement – Wolf cubs and Boy Scouts for boys and Brownies and Girl Guides for young ladies – was strong from the early days in dundee. William Turnbull, a local businessman, was instrumental in getting Scouts going in dundee in 1912 (just four years after “Bp” – Baden-powell – started scouting in england). Turnbull was keenly involved in Scouts until 1926.[3] Because dundee had one of the first Scout troops in the country, the boys and scoutmasters were honoured to wear the “green and gold” colours in their neck scarves.

1 Baxter 1984: 1.2 Kallaway 2002: 413 rundgren 2007: 100.


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In 1949 three “patrols” of Guides travelled to meet the chief Guide, olave, Lady Baden-powell at a rally in her honour near pietermaritzburg on her visit to South Africa. “Though it was a strenuous adventure – two consecutive nights in the train, and a long and exciting day at Lexden [campsite] in between – it was well worth it. It was a wonderful privilege to meet and shake hands with the founder of Guiding; and the big parade, in which some of us took part, and which brought home to us the world-wide extent of the Guide Movement, was most impressive.”


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Scouting in dundee has its fair share of “Springbok Scouts” (the highest level in Scouting in South Africa), one of the last being Mark hannon in 1991. In 1992, both Sarah Munro (Lawrence’s sister) and ruth hannon (Mark’s sister) gained the top award in the Girl Guides movement, the chief’s Award. ruth also gained her Golden hand award whilst she was a Brownie (their highest award).

Incredibly, to us today, the cadets’ stock of rifles and ammunition “was housed in the school corridor, and the Miniature rifle range was fixed in front of the protective wall of the out-buildings, as a temporary measure, ropes with red flags being stretched along each side of the firing range.” At that time, unsurprisingly, very great interest was taken in shooting with these service carbines and, at the instigation of J W holding, a shooting trophy, a shield, was purchased by public subscription in each of the Northern district Schools vying for it. “The first shoot for this trophy took place in dundee at the d. r. [dundee rifle] Association butts, the rifle range which was situated on the slopes of Talana hill.“[1] The Newcastle team winning with a surprisingly high score, and a very happy week-end was spent by all five teams. The visiting schools camped in the school grounds, the dundee parents looked after the commissariat [the supply of food and equipment], and a camp concert was held on the Saturday evening. In the following years the shoot for the trophy took place in each of the other four towns in rotation.

on Monday 14 december 1908 – only six years after the conclusion of the Anglo-Boer War! – It was reported that “four boys have leave for this week in order to attend the Transvaal cadet Bisley.”on Monday 14 June 1909, Mr Sivil was himself “absent with leave to shoot for the d. r. A. Northern dist[ricts] Shield comp[etition].”

In 1929 the school achieved an astonishing attainment in the marksmanship competition known as the Imperial challenge Shield (Junior) competition. This annual event evolved from the highly prestigious and fiercely contested earl robert Trophy inaugurated in 1907 and it was conducted under the auspices of the National rifle Association, with the object of encouraging every boy of British birth between the ages of 12-19 years to learn how to use a rifle. All school and college cadet corps throughout the British empire participated and it was described in London papers as the largest sporting event to be taking place in the world at the time. In 1925, 23,000 competitors took part and in 1938 the number rose to 28,000 in 1,302 competing teams. And of all these schools and competitors, dundee Intermediate School was 62nd in the empire, being 5th in Natal and 17th in South Africa! cadet corporal W Naude won a King’s Silver Medal, cadet Sergeant-Major e c Saville a bronze medal and 17 others qualified for Marksmen’s Badges.

1 Stanley ravenscroft, 1934.


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eric cowley Saville is listed by the South African Air Force as an “ace” pilot during the Second World War;[1] a fighter pilot who has been officially credited with five or more victories. Born on 3 February 1921 in richmond, Natal, to William and Marjorie Saville, eric was the most senior cadet at school. he joined the SAAF in 1940 and saw action in the Western desert; then, with 112 Squadron of the royal Air Force; and subsequently with the united States Air Force where he was promoted to the rank of Major. he was awarded the British distinguished Flying cross twice (i.e. the dFc and Bar) “for acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against the enemy” and the American dFc.

An official journal of record of the British government, The London Gazette, recorded on Friday 4 december 1942 that “one day in october, 1942, this officer led a formation of fighter aircraft on an interception patrol. A number of Messerschmitt 109s was observed and engaged after a short pursuit. during the combat, captain Saville destroyed 2 enemy aircraft. Subsequently, he skilfully led his formation to base where, in spite of difficulties a perfect landing was effected. This officer has invariably displayed outstanding leadership, great courage and devotion to duty. Since being awarded the distinguished Flying cross he has destroyed at least 3 enemy aircraft.”[2] eric was killed in action on 19 September 1943, flying low into intense Breda fire[3] and he is buried in the Naples War in campania, Italy.

When girls were readmitted to the “boys’ school” (from 1908) they too “showed fine proficiency” in target shooting. The other cadet activity in which boys and girls excelled was signalling, with flags or using a heliograph. No wonder: they were trained by r. r. poole, formerly a trooper in the Natal Telegraph corps and a recipient of the Natal 1906 Medal for action in the “Bambatha rebellion.”

1 Tidy 1968: 442 http://www.southafricawargraves.org/search/details.php?id=22319.3 prior to World War 1 the Breda Meccanica Bresciana company (or simply “Breda”) was a heavy industry supplier of locomotives, but during that war it helped produce FIAT machine guns for the Italian war effort such as the Mitragliatrice Breda Tipo 5c. Source: https://www.militaryfactory.com/smallarms/detail.asp?smallarms_id=776. [Accessed 24 July 2018].


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This so-called “Bambatha rebellion” (from February 1906 to december 1907) set dundee again on a war-footing. It was “the severest crisis self-governing Natal had faced” and 7 000 troops, the Zululand Field Force, were housed in dundee prior to the final assault against the “Zulu rebels” in a great camp of white tents that spread across the veld towards endumeni Mountain. It was accompanied by 25 stretcher bearers led by Sergeant-Major Mohandas K Gandhi.[1] on 1 June 1906 headmaster Mr Sivil reported that he had given the school leave “from 9 to 9.30 am . . . to see their relatives in the 1st reserves start for the Front” and the school turned out again on the 18th to witness the reserves come home. on the soldiers’ return, the school was marched down to dundee Station where, awe-struck and horrified, they were shown Bambatha’s severed head, being taken back for identification purposes![2] A Sergeant William calverley, being unable to bring the entire body, had the head carried in a saddle bag.[3]

[4]

Weather, as ever, provided safer topics for conversation. on Tuesday, 1 June 1905, Mr Sivil wrote, “Great blizzard during the night. Snow from two to three feet deep all over the grounds. Immense damage done to all the trees in the grounds. only five children and eight teachers made their way to school. These were dismissed and a report sent to the Supt of education.” And after six weeks in the new school, on Thursday 18 April 1907, “Weather very wet. only 71 pupils present. headmaster absent from school through sickness.” And again, on the following Thursday, “Bad weather; only 50 boys present.” only on Monday the 29th could he enter: “headmaster returned to duty at 9 a.m.”

1 Gandhi, The Story of My experiments with Truth, part IV, “heart Searchings”.2 personal communication: Ms p McFadden, Talana Museum, 24 May 2018.3 henderson, “Where the Thunder rolls” page 46.4 photograph by Atwell’s Studio, dundee, courtesy of dundee Magistrate’s court. Inkosi Kulu was captured and held at helpmekaar before he and his leaders were sent for trial.


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By 1933, however, official interest in cadets as an activity was at a decline. A captain Moroney was unable to review a “kitted out” detachment of the school’s cadets because “the grant had been cut off for some time and uniforms had been destroyed by white ants.”

“dundee in those days,” wrote Mr Sivil in 1934, “was a great centre for sport, and occasionally it was made the centre for championship events for Natal, mainly through the enthusiasm of that great sportsman, the late Geordie Welsh, the Williams brothers and others. School football and cricket received plenty of encouragement and assistance from the men’s clubs, but matches with other schools were always difficult on account of the distance and expense. It was made easier however by the kindness of the parents and towns-people who entertained the visitors for the week-end. often if the weather was fine, they camped at the school. These were the days when there were no motor cars; trains, with their limited week-end service; and horse transport, were the only means of getting about. I remember once taking a football team from utrecht to Newcastle (in the days before the railway was built) by ox waggon, a distance of 30 miles. The boys started on Friday afternoon, played their match on Saturday afternoon, had a sing-song that evening, and returned by mid-day on Monday. They spent two nights on the veld.”

he continued: “Swimming in dundee was the most difficult matter to deal with, there being no near-by river where the art could be successfully taught. I remember once being a member of a delegation to the dundee Town council, praying for them to consider the making of a public swimming bath down at the spruit, I, of course representing that the school age is the time to learn to swim, and pointing out four or five recent deaths from drowning in the neighbourhood. But, although the scheme we put forward would have cost only a few hundred pounds, nothing came of it at the time.”

Mr Sivil’s prayers were answered 17 years after his departure, in Mr Black’s tenure as headmaster, when – at last! – the Municipal Baths off what is now called union Street was constructed, thanks to the efforts of councillor (and lawyer and businessman) Mr William dalzel Turnbull. (he was a good athlete, enjoying aquatic exercise and even cycling.[1]) Swimming was given an impetus “and the majority availed themselves of his pleasurable, health-giving and useful activity” and “in order to encourage proficiency, certificates were issued” on the lines of the durban and pietermaritzburg Schools’ Swimming Associations.

In February 1934 the Swimming Sports were held in these Municipal Baths and in spite of being marred by a heavy rain storm, the programme was completed. Teams from Maritzburg college, durban high School, estcourt and Ladysmith also competed.

1 rundgren 2007: 100.

Chapter 4 - Dundee Senior Government School becomes Dundee Secondary School (1909-1928)

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CHAPTER 4 - DUNDEE SENIORGOVERNMENT SCHOOL BECOMES DUNDEE

SECONDARY SCHOOL (1909-1928)

on 2 August 1909 Sivil made his farewell on long leave, and “the dreamy-eyed gentleman” [1]Mr Archibald (“Archie”) Gray was appointed Acting principal. “Just as everyone in dundee called him ‘Archie’, so also did we in the privacy of our common room,” wrote Mr J W hudson. “I never met a more human man. he worked as he expected his Staff to work and from them he expected much.”

dundee people used to call the boys’ school in Tatham Street the “top school” (it was on the Berea, highest part of dundee in those days) – with about 130 pupils ranging from Standard II to Standard VI on the roll. Within a fortnight of Mr Gray’s advent, after 18 months, co-educational teaching was restored. on Friday 14 August 1908 Mr Sivil recorded, “To-day the three girls who have been receiving instruction in secondary subjects for a portion of each day were sent to take all instruction in this school, and entered on the register, by order of the Supt. of education” and on Monday 1 February 1909 a further three girls were sent over from the “Girls’ School, dundee.” An early pupil, Gregory de Jager, said “There was great consternation and dissatisfaction amongst the parents the day when the first few girls were allowed in the same school with a lot of boys.”[2]

on the completion of his “infant schooling” in 1918, Mr Baxter recalls being transferred to the Boys’ School. Then, Mr Gray was his principal. his mode of transport (unlike in the early 1990s when Gavin Jones claimed that the “company car” of high School teachers could be a Mercedes, so many teachers drove them) was a bicycle and he never failed to affix the clips to his trousers. once, having received complaints from the public about boys’ poor behaviour on their bicycles, he led a posse of them down Victoria Street, he on his own bike, they on theirs, unwaveringly, unswervingly, staidly, showing them – to the chortling delight of the school’s girls – how such things should be done.

1 Schroeder & Schütte 1976: 51.2 dundee Lantern 1975: “Baanbrekerfamilies van dundee: de Jager.”


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“his was a kindly smile,” continues Mr Baxter. “As a disciplinarian he was strict but fair. “Well do I remember how we suffered when some of us were bent over the headmaster’s knee and spanked in full view of the girls at a mid-day assembly! We had been climbing the pine trees in the school grounds – something as strictly forbidden as was the raiding of Mr h.S.K. Simpson’s orchard.”[1] Mr Simpson (or “Sgonyoza”, the strong, muscularly-built one; like a wrestler[2])was a great friend of the school for quite some years, founder of the surveying firm that still prospers in dundee under his name, and a senator from 1943 to 1948. he was remembered by Mr Jennings as also being of a happy disposition. After Mr Simpson’s sudden death on 6 February 1950, Mr Jennings wrote of him that he “always showed a tremendously keen interest in the activities of our School, and his smile and pleasing presence as chairman of judges will be deeply missed from our athletics meetings and swimming galas.”

A schoolmate of Mr Baxter’s was dr Alma Norenius. Whilst at school Alma lived with her parents, rev and Mrs Lars petter Norenius at 105 Victoria Street. her father, a founder of the Swedish Lutheran Betania Mission, was the publisher of the weekly Northern Natal Courier (that is still going strong, since July 1899) and Izwe la Kiti [“our country”] newspapers from his ebenezer press in McKenzie Street. Izwe la Kiti was founded and published as “an inter-denominational united christian, educational and political newspaper for the Zulu people” and it became a means of African protest in Natal, publishing opinions of members of the African National congress. In 1911 the church council, concerned about how the printing business had developed, withdrew its financial support. rev. Norenius took the bold step of resigning his position as a missionary and went into printing full time. Although the first years were tough, raising funds for machinery, a building and staff, together with his wife and children helping out, he managed – and eventually returned to full-time mission work.

1 Baxter 1984: 1.2 According to Ms Sindi Zulu.


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It would appear that his son, Albert, who carried on his father’s work as a printer, and his daughter, Alma, joined St James’ Anglican church in dundee where Albert and his wife doris became long-serving members of the choir. Alma also became an Anglican and, having achieved a first-class Junior certificate in 1909, she became the first girl to matriculate (second-class) from the School in 1911. She then went on to obtain her BA and MA degrees and for several years she was professor of english at potchefstroom university for christian higher education. In 1931 she obtained her phd from the university of London and in 1934 entered an Anglican community, the community of Servants of the cross. In time, she was called to be the Mother Superior of their holy rood convent in Findon, West Sussex. (This is situated quite close to the small town of heathfield, where emma, the widow of the rev. chilton Bailey, retired.) The home attached to the convent accommodated up to sixty female patients, mostly terminal cases. here was an instance of a dundee high School person going in to “orders”; whereas Miss Bradshaw and Miss Lucy Meakin (who taught later at the school) had left them.


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When Mr Sivil left dundee in July 1909 on transfer to Ladysmith the secondary section of dundee Government School had advanced as far as the Junior certificate; there were no applicants, thus far, for Matriculation. Now, at the commencement of Mr Gray’s term, the younger boys “much to their disgust” were transferred to the Junior School and in their place were admitted girls and boys up to Standard 10 (or Form 6, as it was then known). The school then became known as the dundee Senior Government School.

“The (Teachers) college entrance examination was abandoned in favour of the Matriculation, and we were in a position to concentrate all our efforts on Secondary Work,” said Mr Gray. “eventually the Natal education department agreed to re-grade us and the height of our ambition was reached; we became dundee Secondary School.” Now, it could indeed be called the “top” school in town!


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In 1910 a school badge was introduced, designed by Mr (later dr) N N haysom; this badge was altered slightly in 1922. The original badge was circular in shape and its central design was similar to the then dundee Borough crest which depicted a miner’s lamp and two crossed picks. The motto chosen was Strenuis Ardua Cedunt (“Through hard Work We Succeed”; or, better, “The heights Yield to endeavour”).

“At a ‘breaking-up’ function on the 22nd June, 1910, Mr Gray said, ‘In order to help in promoting amongst the boys that spirit of esprit de corps, which is the backbone of all schoolwork, we have adopted a new school badge...”[1] he also decided that there should be a school magazine and that the school colours should be red and black. A school blazer naturally followed, originally worn only by scholars that had distinguished themselves in games (“a rule,” wrote Mr Gray later, “which was subsequently very wisely cancelled.”)

1 L A Norenius: “The School Badge” in the dundee high School Magazine, 1971.


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Two more incidents illustrate the motivating spirit of Mr Gray. on 24 September 1909 he reported that “the ground available for gardens has been portioned out among the standards and it is hoped that a spirit of emulation will be fostered among the boys and thereby the general appearance of the grounds improved.” A month later he had “inspected the gardens. considering the lack of rain and many other handicaps the boys have done exceedingly well.” And again, on december 10, “An Attendance Flag is now open for competition in the school; the class having the highest percentage for the week holds the flag for the following week and leaves school early on Friday afternoon.”

The first union elections in 1910 were celebrated by a mock election staged at the school “to give the pupils some idea of what took place at a polling station.” “All went well – even the inevitable election fight took place, I believe, while we were counting the votes . . . It was great fun, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.” The unification of the colonies of the cape and Natal with the former republics of the Transvaal and the orange Free State (under the prime ministership of the last Boer commandant general, Louis Botha) was cause for cautious optimism; and dundonians, with their expanding local economy, felt as if they were entering a golden age.

There was prosperity in the air with a brick factory on the edge of the town (some of its quarries still fall within the high School’s boundary), the union Glass factory, a fertiliser works, a creamery, three corn mills, four carriage repairers, seven motor repair shops, three blacksmiths, a brewery and a thriving newspaper. These were aided by a good railway service to the coast and inland, cheap power (with an ample supply of coal), and a reliable water supply from the town reservoir atop Mpati (eMpathe) Mountain. And there was a good, functioning set of schools. only a war could throw a spanner in these works; and that the First World War did, for six years.

School excursions in these pre-war years included a visit on 11 February 1911 to view HMS New Zealand the visiting Indefatigable-class warship.[1] Mr Gray and Mr Jerred (a new teacher) took 52 boys and they were accompanied by pupils from the Girls’ School and their teacher, Miss Kimmel. The ship was docked in durban for several days and was open to the school children of Natal, accompanied by their teachers.

1 The hMS New Zealand was launched in 1911 as a gift of New Zealand to Britain and during 1913 she was sent on a ten- month tour of the British dominions. during the First World War she participated in all three of the major North Sea battles, such as the Battle of Jutland (31 May – 1 June 1916).


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They all travelled by train “at a much reduced price, the return fare being only seven and sixpence and we were charged only three shillings for three meals. It was a wonderful experience to be shown over the ship with its big guns. Later Mr Gray took us on a sight-seeing tour of durban and the lighthouse on the Bluff, from the top of which we had a wonderful view of the town and a large part of the coast. Such was the discipline and good behaviour of the pupils of those days that, to my knowledge, not one of them stepped out of line.”[1] In September of that year, “20 boys visited durban to inspect H.M.S. Australia.”[2]

Miss Grace McKenzie later recalled that “the main transport in those days was by horse and trap or ox wagon – Victoria Street was wide enough for an ox wagon to turn around. We had to walk to school, but on wet days we went in a ricksha.” others, who lived out of dundee, like her schoolmate, Maria hellberg, called themselves the “train children”. Mrs Wittman’s father, pastor Wilhelm hellberg, had been sent to South Africa by the hanoverian evangelical Lutheran Free church Mission in 1895. In 1896 he founded the uelzen congregation (ebenezer church) and School and he was succeeded by pastor Willi reusch (of whose children we will hear shortly) when praesus hellberg died in 1923.

Maria was bright: she was the first pupil in dundee to gain a first class matriculation pass, in 1914. “Some of us,” she later wrote, “had to travel by train between Glencoe and dundee, being late for school in the mornings and in the afternoons a bell rang at ten past three for the train children to leave twenty minutes before the rest of the school. Very often the teacher only began to give us our homework after the bell, and we had to run to catch the train. on one occasion the train was just beginning to move out, when I came to the platform. I tried to jump in, but was hampered by an armful of books and would certainly have fallen if the ticket-collector had not given me a hard push and told me in no uncertain terms that I should never try that again!”

These school trains were still in operation in the 1930s running from Glencoe through to dundee serving children from Glencoe (which only had a primary school in those days), Northfield and the surrounding farms. The train consisted of four or five very ancient coaches pulled by a small coffee-pot steam locomotive that regularly blew coal dust into the eyes of those children who poked their heads out of the windows engraved with the logo “Natal railways”. pupils from the Tayside area came by goods train with a special coach attached. By 1934 there were all of 52 “train children”: 18 from standards five and six and 34 from standards seven through ten.

1 Letter from Mrs Maria Wittmann.2 The hMAS Australia did not have as illustrious a history as her sister ship, hMS New Zealand. She was not at any of the major battles because she had collided with the New Zealand and was undergoing repairs. In her career, she fired in anger only twice: at a German merchant vessel and at a suspected submarine contact. She also suffered the indignity of having several of her sailors mutiny when she eventually returned to Australia,


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In 1913, the children saw Mohandas Gandhi. “one morning as I arrived at [Glencoe] station,” says Mrs hellberg, “it was decorated and before long the train from Johannesburg arrived and out stepped Mahatma Gandhi who was taken to a dais which had been put up for him. he gave a short address about loyalty to the British empire, was greeted with cheers and [he] continued his journey. Another time he was with us on the afternoon train and when we reached White Gates [a railway siding just outside Glencoe, en route to dundee]. The fence was lined by thousands of Indians from the mine: men, women and children waving ecstatically and calling out ‘Baba’ while he waved back out of the window.” In November of that year Gandhi whipped up sentiment against discriminatory laws in the Transvaal and, having addressed a rally of 3 000 at the Indian Temple in dundee, he led a protest into the Transvaal. Subsequently he was brought back to dundee and put on trial for treason in the “new” court house (opposite St James’ church) on Tuesday 11 November 1913.


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It was a local magistrate-cum-farmer, John William cross, who sentenced Mohandas Gandhi. Mr cross had taken part in the Battle of Talana as a member of the dundee Town Guard and subsequently he made quite a name for himself with his keen knowledge of Zulu customary law, his fluency in the Zulu language – and for his strictness in his courts. But then, Gandhi was a repeat offender: this was the second occasion that he had appeared in cross’ presence for such activities. (The first time, in January 1908, he was sentenced to 60 days’ imprisonment, without hard labour.) Mr cross’ son, e e cross, obtained a third-class Junior certificate at dundee Secondary School in 1916. At least he passed.

Some schoolmates of his were the older children of the later Mayor of dundee, John McKenzie, from Motherwell in Scotland. McKenzie was mayor from 1918-1920 and 1928-1930 and McKenzie Street was named in his honour in 1935. on 4 April 1899 he had married May Alexandra Brickhill in estcourt. She was a daughter of James Alexander Brickhill (of a semi-miraculous escape from Isandlwana fame), and their union was blessed with twelve children: Audrey Isabel, Frank ralph, Mary eleanor, Grace Jane, edith Mavis, John clark, Arthur reginald, Vivienne Lily, Victor Gerald, Barbara May, Janet Florence and duncan James potter McKenzie.

No wonder that the young reg pearse was taken aback at “bewildering mass of little boys and girls, 10 of them altogether” – then! – amongst whom was “a little girl, nine years of age then, with sparkling blue eyes and flaxen hair. I little guessed,” he writes, “that ten and a half years later I would be proposing to that same little girl on the front veranda, only a few yards away from where I was then sitting!”[1] It was edith McKenzie, whom he married on 18 december 1928.

edith’s sister, Grace Jane McKenzie, who started schooling in dundee in 1910, became the much-respected matron of dundee hospital and yet another, Mary eleanor McKenzie, was its chef. Their niece, Margaret dekker, relates that Mary “made many delicious meals for the family.” Grace McKenzie and her friend Miss eileen Funston were ladies with a vision to establish a home for the elderly in dundee and in 1964 they called together a meeting of interested “locals”; and in September 1971 eventide home[2] opened its doors.

1 pearse 2006:357.2 “eventide” fell under the umbrella organization “dundee Aged care” from July 1983.


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But it was the oldest girl of this remarkable family, Audrey Isabel McKenzie, who was born on 9 January 1900, who demonstrated even greater fortitude; a woman whose faith enabled her to “endure all things.”[1] Born on 9 January 1900 in estcourt, she was a keen horsewoman and a good rider as a child, and she matriculated in dundee in 1917. She went to Nuc (the forerunner of the university of KwaZulu-Natal) in pietermaritzburg where she met and became engaged to George Gale (a former academic dux at durban high School). George was awarded his MSc in 1921 and she, her BSc; but George having secured scholarships for further study – his missionary parents couldn’t have afforded it otherwise – had to sail off to edinburgh for four years medicine, and their only contacts were letters that took at least three weeks each way by mail ships! Meanwhile, Audrey returned to dundee high School to teach Maths and Arithmetic (on the same staff as her brother-in-law, reg pearse) and she also taught for a while in Vryheid. In August 1926 George and Audrey were at last married, in dundee, and they left again for Scotland for George’s graduation. he qualified MBchB and was awarded high honours, the conan doyle prize, the Wellcome Medal and prize and the Gold Medal and prize of the Lister centenary committee.

George and Audrey returned to pomeroy in 1928 to become medical missionaries with the church of Scotland. There, they expanded its Gordon Memorial Mission in into a fully-fledged hospital, but there was only one other doctor and Audrey often had to act as emergency anaesthetist under guidance from her husband. Their son, edward writes, tongue-in-cheek, “I understand that there were no fatalities.”[2] There was no money to speak of at the hospital either, nor was there a seamstress, so Audrey set to and sewed all of the hospital’s linen; and she brought up two sons and a daughter there “in an old stone cottage on a rocky hillside alive with snakes”; and they endured a water shortage for years on end; and “we were heartbroken to have to leave it in 1936”, because dr Gale had been appointed to the staff of Fort hare university.

Shortly thereafter, he was first Medical officer of health of pietermaritzburg, then of Benoni, and then at the end of 1938 he was asked to be the Secretary [today, director-General] for health for the country, based in pretoria. And Marjory continued her Maths teaching there as if she had never had a break, going off on her bicycle to teach her pupils.

1 [The love inspired by God] “ bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 corinthians 13:7 - New King James Version.2 dr edward Gale to their neice, Stella Smuts.


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early in 1952 George founded what is now the Medical School of the university of KwaZulu-Natal (uKZN) and he became its first dean. In 1955 they left when he was appointed professor of preventative Medicine at the progressive university college of east Africa at Makerere in uganda; then on to become professor of preventive and Social Medicine at the university of Medical Sciences in Bangkok, Thailand; and finally George and Marjory slowed down and retired to Surrey in england. Both were recognised as having a deep christian faith, which was tested but not shaken by the loss of two of their grandchildren in an air disaster.[1] on 24 March 1996 George died at the age of 75 and his ashes were interred where his heart was: in Tugela Ferry. Audrey died quietly in a retirement home in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, at the age of 96, her life full and her work at last completed.

one of Audrey’s schoolmates, A J (“Tufty”) Turton, recalled that whilst they were at school “The Great War broke out in August [1914] and there was a rush for newspapers. I managed later in the day to get hold of one. on a back page under small type was a notice – ENGLAND DECLARES WAR ON GERMANY. From that day I read the news each morning. This was later to stand me in good stead as I got top marks for any questions on general knowledge.”

“In 1916 and 1917,” he says, “the school decided to contribute to war funds and put on Gilbert and Sullivan’s operettas h M S pinafore, lolanthe and The pirates of penzance. We played to packed houses in dundee, Newcastle and Ladysmith. extra shows were given beyond the advertised days. We had succeeded beyond our wildest expectations. “When the First World War broke out, proceeds went to War Funds, “and the fact that we were doing out ‘bit’ was no small consideration with all of us,” wrote Mr Gray. Indeed, militarism was again on the rise, and “our cadet corps was perhaps our chiefest pride, and dundee had such faith in its youthful soldier lads that we were invariably called upon to take an active part in the town’s public functions; such as firing volleys at the Service in honour of the late King edward VII, and the firing of the ‘feu de joie’ at the ceremonies in connection with the coronation of King George V.” on this occasion Miss Grace McKenzie recalled the school being taken to the oval afterwards for a sports day.

Mr Turton recalled that in the early days the school cadets looked like soldiers of the French Foreign Legion. “Suspended from the back of their kepis were the white linen spine protectors made famous by the Foreign Legion. We later changed to the New Zealand type broad-brimmed hat turned up at one side without the spine protector.” he said that the First World War was upsetting – “boys of sixteen and seventeen wanted to leave and join up. one or two succeeded. dundee schoolboys played a big part in the armed forces. Three of the Turton family were there. ernest Turton, whose name figures on the dundee War Memorial, did not return – he was killed by a German shell in France.”

1 Gluckman 1976: 79.


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Indeed, before the end of the “Great War” of 1914-1918, dundee had also lost twenty of its old scholars and three of its staff members to the vicissitudes of battle. one, captain Garnet George Green, was awarded the Military cross for having, “held the whole wood [delville Wood] with 118 men of his B company of the Second regiment the whole day against three German divisions.”[1] he had been born in dundee in 1889 and had passed the Annual collective examination in 1903 at dundee. After school he joined the Natal carbineers as a trooper, seeing action during the “Bambatha rebellion” of 1906 and also in German South West Africa in 1914 - 1915. From January to March 1916 he served (like his schoolmate russell Tatham) with the 2nd South African regiment against the Senussi in egypt.

1 Natal Mercury, 29 March 1918.


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In the Battle of delville Wood (15 July–3 September 1916), with the South African Infantry, he was wounded and on 20 July he was “the last [man] to leave the trench when relief arrived. he was promoted to the rank of captain in January 1918; but on 23 March 1918, he was killed in action at Arras”.[1] Brigadier-General Tanner recommended Lt. Green for the dSo (distinguished Service order), but instead he was awarded a bar to his Mc[2] and the prime Minister of South Africa, General Louis Botha, praised him in the South African parliament. This brave man has no known grave but his name is recorded on the wall of the pozières Memorial and, of course, on the cenotaph in his hometown, dundee.

1 As stated in the recommendation for the award of the Military cross.2 In other words, he was awarded a second Military cross.


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Some teachers, like Mr W Anderson and Mr F Morris, left for “active service” with the union defence Force. These two left within days of one another, on 3 and 6 November in 1914. Some masters returned to their classrooms long afterwards. Mr Norris was home after four months away; Mr Anderson was away for eight months. And some teachers did not come back. Arthur Whitfield recalled, “The three masters who lost their lives in the Great War, and after whom three of the four School houses are named, were all on the Staff in 1914. While my impressions of Mr [W M] reid are very vague, those left by Messrs [S M] Wright and [F h] Jerred are indelibly etched on my mind – and possibly other portions of my anatomy as well – for both men were adept in the noble art of caning. In those days masters, and mistresses, administered their own canings, and it was only for a very serious offence that a boy was sent to the headmaster. Many a time I have seen a pencil box or heavy ruler hurtling through the air, destined for the head of some luckless individual in the back row. A boy would as soon think of ‘forgetting’ to do his homework as of committing suicide. Short of a letter from his parents, no excuse would prevent the inevitable ‘stick’.’’

William Mitchell reid joined the staff on 3 August 1915 and he was put in charge of the “cape Junior B class.” on 1 February 1916 he was recorded as being “on Active Service.” According to the South Africa War Graves project he joined the 4th regiment, South African Infantry and he Is buried in St. hilaire cemetery, Frevent, France, having been killed in action on 3 January 1917.

The headmaster recorded on 28 February 1917, “Mr S. M. Wright left for active service with the South African Infantry in Flanders.” According to the South Africa War Graves project(SAWGp), his proper name was Sidney Morgan-Wright and he fought with the 2nd regiment, 10th South African Infantry. his death on 14 october 1917 is recorded on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial at Ieper, Belgium and in Mr Gray’s log book on that day: “Mr S. M. Wright killed in action while on Active Service in France.”

Frank horace Jerred is remembered (amongst 72 245 others) on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme in picardy, France, a war memorial to missing British and South African servicemen who had died with no known grave. According to the SAWGp, he was killed on 12 october 1916. his demise in not recorded in Mr Gray’s usually meticulous Log Book. George Brickhill writes of Mr Jerred “teaching with the cane. An unsatisfactory method at best. he could be seen walking about, in class & out, with his cane in his hand. Young Muir was in my class, & he was not a clever student. I often felt sorry for him when he ended his day with swollen puffy hands.” one old pupil recalls that this sort of behaviour was the norm: “A ‘meester’ would never in those days of old have walked into a classroom without his stick, and no parent would ever make complaint against its excessive use; they would rather have complained if they had ‘spared the rod’”!


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If not all could go to the War, the War could come to dundee. on 22 April 1918, “during the afternoon session the scholars were taken to see the first aeroplane landing at dundee: Major Miller r.F.c.[royal Flying corps] delivered a lecture in the Masonic hall. . .” Years later Miss Grace McKenzie recalled “walking to the fields at the bottom of town [at its landing-site below Talana, where the suburb of peacevale is now situated] to watch him arrive, and the next day we walked down again to see him off.” he landed at about noon that day and flew out at 3 o’clock. Gregory de Jager remembered it as “A day of high excitement at the School and also for the entire dundee community.”

Major Allister MacIntosh Miller had been born not too far away, in Swaziland, in 1892 and after passing through rhodes university and a studying spell in engineering in england he joined first the royal Scots Guards then the royal Flying corps (the forerunner of the royal Air Force). he “flew cover” for South African troops fighting at delville Wood and was awarded the dFc[1] in July 1916. he was promoted to the rank of flight commander and despatched to South Africa to stimulate enlistment in the rFc. he was successful: 2 000 were selected, including a future recipient of the “Vc”, Andrew proctor.[2]

The visit made an impression upon the Municipality and it was decided to establish an aerodrome on the Turf club grounds on the Wasbank road and in 1930 the first hangar was built. Today, an impressive horse racing track, built to stage the annual “dundee July” stands behind the aerodrome, opposite the impressive orange Grove dairy complex. It would only be on 7 February 1930 before some of those eager pupils had the breathless thrill of a “flip”, and then with another r.F.c. ace, Sir Alan cobham, who brought his famous “Flying circus” to town.

This was a ray of sunshine in a generally gloomy time, for a recession was underway with local businesses. It was aggravated by wage disputes in the coal industry that saw labour come up against management (and mine owners). poor working conditions led to the establishment of the Natal Mine Workers’ Association. A housing shortage was prevalent in dundee and in Glencoe and a “poor White” problem lingered long after the cessation of the Anglo-Boer War in 1902 which was evidenced by an upsurge in white crime and “drifters” in the area. concomitantly, there was violent opposition to the granting of trading licences to Indians and Africans in Victoria Street.

1 distinguished Flying cross.2 uys 1992: 155.


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A thunderbolt hit South Africa in the early hours of the morning 27 August 1919. The prime minister had died of heart failure following an attack of Spanish influenza. At 2 p.m. on Friday 29 August 1919 a school parade was held “as a mark of respect to the late General Louis Botha...” An international influenza pandemic had broken out in March 1918 that, in a matter of weeks, took the lives of more than 127 000 Blacks and 11 000 Whites[1] in South Africa. The sickness was exacerbated by the movement of troops – often malnourished, battle-weary and thence vulnerable to infection – who, when repatriated, brought the viruses home with them. dundee, whose economy depended largely on the migrant labour system underlying its mining and agriculture, saw the disease taken to and from compound and workings to izindlu [homesteads] and cottages. A sense of despair and desperation pervaded the country.

Worldwide, between 50 and 100 million people died – more than the combined total casualties of World Wars I and II.[2] A reader wrote to De Burger the following letter: “So ‘n treurigheid: oorlog, droogte, hongersnood en pestilensie; aan alle kante dreig die gevaar ons, terwijl die spaanse griep duisende van slagoffers daagliks om ons heen weg maai” [“Such a grief: war, drought, famine and pestilence; on all sides we are threatened with danger, while the Spanish ‘flu mows down thousands of victims daily around us.”]

In dundee, the Swedish mission hospital was crowded with the sick. only dr Galbraith, of the town’s doctors, was unaffected by sickness and he and Sisters rouse and edmunds visited the ‘flu victims in their homes, driven in Mr Labistour’s and Mr cornforth’s cars. The death toll in the district was heavy and wagonloads of bodies were moved by night.[3] duncan Macphail, son of one of dundee’s founders, was also one of the “’flu’s” victims. For many years afterward twice-annually the school was “thoroughly scrubbed and cleaned during the holidays, according to regulations”.

1 http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/influenza-epidemic.2 Walsh 2017: 263 Where the Thunder rolls, 1992: 68.


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In the year of the “Great ‘Flu”, 1919, two girls shone academically: Margarete Kempe was named dux of the school and phyllis Blogg (related to the excellent woodwork teacher?) secured the highest marks in both Bookkeeping and Geography in the country!

After the october (or Michaelmas) holidays of 1919, the schools remained closed; but not for two boys, “Tufty” Turton and hermann Baasch. They were the dundee candidates for the harry escombe Scholarship to be competed for by all Natal schools in december at pietermaritzburg. Their dedication despite the ‘flu paid off: “I was awarded the scholarship and for the first time dundee boasted of the escombe award. I believe that some years later Bob durno also won it.” robert durno was indeed in 1929 “placed in the 1st division of the First class in the Junior certificate examination”, he was placed in the top twenty candidates in South Africa and he was awarded a university bursary of £10 (ten pounds).

Schools were prevalent to closures from diseases. It was with considerable alarm that on 3 August 1927 the popular Geography teacher Mr Attridge was “laid low” by a similar water-borne killer, typhoid. Transmitted by contaminated milk, water, or solid food, typhoid was a killer disease until a cure was discovered for it only in the 1940s. Mr Attridge eventually recovered and he served on the staff for many years – a gentleman in the best sense of the word, according to Mr W o W Schroeder – a man of impeccable nature (and dress) who never tolerated silly nonsense: one knew where one stood with him. one of dr hosking’s memories of Mr Attridge, who was quiet and small in stature but very compact, was when “some of the tough guys in the class yawned rather offensively and smiled at ‘Attie’. I have never seen a smile removed more rapidly or more aggressively, nor a boy whose expression revealed so much astonishment.” Mr Attridge married the daughter of dr Alden Lloyd before progressing to become headmaster of Ixopo high School and, later, of harward Boys’ School in havelock road, pietermaritzburg. In 1994 an epidemic of cholera swept through the umzinyathi district and many deaths occurred because of the poor quality of water in the rural areas.

Scarlet fever also made its mark in the school, especially in the hostels in June 1931, with its bright red rashes on the children’s bodies, with a high fever and sore throat. These days’ antibiotic treatments have reduced the severity of the symptoms and the prevalence of the disease, but then, this was unknown and the hostels were temporarily closed and all the children and staff members were sent home. Because “no valuable work could be done” in the absence of so many, the school itself was closed – but teachers had to stay on for the remaining week of term completing the “clerical work.”

In 1956 the Speech day ceremony was cancelled “owing to the incidence of polio.” Memories of school friends pitifully crippled by this disease still frighten many older people. There were epidemics in 1918, 1948 and (the worst one) was in the summer of 1956-57, and consequently “an ordinary prize-giving was held at which only the Inspector of Schools, Mr J. S. de Waal, the staff, and those of the scholars who were still at school attended.” More about polio at the school later.


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In May of 1972 the school was swept by “a huge ‘flu and mumps epidemic that hit it. “There are no more than 190 teachers on two consecutive days.

Mr Burton (who was kept back for extra lessons during that ‘Flu) had an interesting life. After a career as a magistrate he was appointed as chief Native commissioner for Natal. having written an exploratory paper on the simplification of documentation for persons of colour in South Africa, on 10 March 1952 he was summoned out of the blue to cape Town by the new Minister of Native Affairs, dr hendrik Verwoerd... and the dreaded “Dompas” (the “stupid pass” as it was nicknamed) was born.[1] As a result of their consultations, all “Black” persons in future were required at all times to carry their passbooks so that control could be maintained on their travelling and where they lived. dr Verwoerd, of course, went on be not only prime Minister of South Africa but to have the moniker the “architect of Apartheid.”

Some of Mr Burton’s classmates were robert (“Bob”) durno, cyril Gillbanks and roy craig, all of whom became district magistrates. There was also dennis Labistour who started off his working as an “air pilot” but “soon [he] moved to Nottingham road where he bred and trained racehorses. until then I don’t think he had ever sat on a horse! his fillies Gay Jane and C’est Si Bon won the durban July handicap.” dennis’ father was a descended from noble French stock and he was prominent in business in dundee at the turn of the 20th century. dennis’ epitaph reads: “In remembrance denis [sic] Aubrey de roquefeuil Labistour a pioneer in all fields. “other school pals were Theodore (“Fanyan”) hartwell, who became a senior manager with Standard Bank; Leslie Sears who became a pharmacist; Fritz hellberg, a successful farmer, harold Mortimer, a successful business man; and douglas Gary, a son of (the headmaster) Archie Gary, who, like his father, took up teaching as a career.

Tetris (“Tim) hartwell, a brother of “Fanyan’s”, also worked in the Standard Bank, in Bloemfontein. A further brother was richard (“dick”), and they had twin sisters, Nancy Kate (“Nan”) and Lorraine hartwell. Nan was captain of girls’ hockey from 1929-1932, captain of tennis in 1932, girls’ athletics captain in 1931 and 1932 and a shoo-in as head Girl in her final year too. She married a local farmer, harvey rodney Greenhough, and all three of their children – Gwyneth (later herman), Margaret and “dome” (Leonard rodney Greenhough) passed through the school too. on a personal note, Kevin Burge’s great-uncle, Alfred evans, was in a group of royal Navy personnel rescued from the Indian ocean during the Second World War and given recuperation at harvey and Nan’s gracious farm, “ellerdine”, near uelzen. “doem” and Sue Greenhough (née durham) still farm with dairy cattle there. Lorraine hartwell married Bryan Brickhill who also went through dundee high School.

1 Breckenridge, 2002: “From hubris to chaos.”


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What did kids get up to, back then? on Saturdays, Mr Burton says, they frequently cycled to Talana to see glass bottles being made. The empire Glass Factory was started in 1906 and after 1910 it became known as “union Glass”. By the early 1920s “The ‘factory’ was a wood and iron shack about fifteen feet by ten feet. It was a one man show operated by a Frenchman who arrived soon after the [First World] war. his equipment was a long blow-pipe operated by his lungs. he made about fifty bottles a day. he was destined not to be there long. The present glass works took him over.” This would have been consol Glass that absorbed the works in 1956. Mickey olivier, who worked for the company for 42 years, said that “At its height in the 1950’s around 3 000 people were employed, with four to five furnaces operating.” “consol” closed in 1997, a time of economic blows for dundee and its labour force.

It would have been with mixed feelings that the first Armistice day was held at the school, when at 11 a.m. on Tuesday 11 November 1919 a “two minute pause was observed” and cadets sounded the “Last post”, school was closed from 2.30 p.m. and “homework [was] cut.”

There was great excitement when the school’s senior boys were put on standby during the rand Miners’ Strike two years later; afterwards to be known as the rand revolution. Mr Turton recalls, “We were never sent to the Transvaal as the troubles came to an end fairly quickly. I think we would have given a good account of ourselves as we were all marksmen and good horsemen.” It was enough that the prime Minister of the day had the strikers bombed from aircraft!

during years of the First World War, the public Works department had expanded the school buildings. Miss Joan evans, one of the early girl pupils and for many years a teacher at the school, wrote that in those days “The school was small. The original building, which now houses the Administrative Block, was quite adequate, though as there was no hall, assembly took place in the open. The school kitchen, built later to accommodate cookery classes, (about the only concession made to meet the needs of the influx of girls) was the largest room in the school, and did duty for social occasions.” “The addition of a kitchen,” wrote Mr Gray later, “obviated the necessity for the girls to go to the Junior School [the old Girls’ School] for their domestic Science work and the entity of the school was established at last.”

Mr Serridge’s old wood and iron woodwork shop that had been dismantled at the old school and re-erected near the new buildings to do duty – “insufferably hot in Summer and unspeakably cold in Winter, though the senior boys improved matters considerably when they tackled the job of lining it with boards” – was replaced with a more permanent structure, and “when Mr A. h. Blogg took over the teaching of Woodwork progress was assured.” Mr Gray wrote on 3 September 1919 that “Matriculation boys [were] employed in [the] workshop – repairs and manufacture of desks” and a report of September that year stated, “Three or four big lads spend a few hours in the workshop and do good work. They are at present making a couple of school desks, and doing them well.” evening classes for adults were also held and “the enthusiasm of these amateur cabinetmakers is responsible for many a piece of furniture in dundee homes.”


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Many are the praises heaped upon Mr (“Bloggie”) Blogg’s work over the many years that he taught woodwork in dundee and to pupils in outlying towns like dannhauser also, and this despite “the uncongenial room in which the subject is housed”, a large wood and iron shed whose floor “slopes at a rather alarming angle, so that some boys have the advantage of planing downhill, while others are handicapped by working uphill.”[1]

In 1971 Miss evans remembered there being “a school bell that hung from a sturdy wooden framework” outside of this woodwork shop, and she pertinently asked, “Where is this bell?” (Gone the way of the “Works department”, a repository for all things governmental and scrapped?) Mr Gregory de Jager recalled that in the very early years of the “new school” there was no bell at the start of a school day, “but a boy blasted a bugle to call the pupils to attention.”

1 report by Inspector Mr p Tait in 1929.


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over the years, “industrial arts” teachers have been obliged to turn their skills in dundee to the manufacture (as we have seen) of school desks, cupboards for “admin” offices, even “suggestions boxes” and shelving. With obvious disapproval, the organizing Instructor of Manual Training, Mr p Tait, noted that “At the instigation of the headmaster, a large bookcase has been made for the teachers’ common-room. It was badly needed, but has used up a lot of timber required for manual work purposes”. When Mr Blogg went on pension on 23 April 1934 and the entire school gathered together to bid him farewell, he received gifts from the staff and from pupils. he was replaced by a Mr r M comrie.

An old scholar tells a humorous story about one of the woodwork teachers who was also a veteran of the Second World War who had “lost his association with the truth somewhere in the egyptian desert. he told us how he crossed the Nile on motorbike by keeping a large rock on his lap to keep him down and then driving through under water!” one would suggest that the excellent “Industrial Arts” teachers of the 70s and 80s, Mr peter Abraham and Mr “Giel” Adendorff, both adept at helping the school beyond the call of classroom duty, would be much more in the mould of Mr Blogg.

As for the learning of Latin that had seemed so important to prepare pupils for “higher education”, it had (by the inspection of 4 and 5 November 1916) “improved, but it would be useless to pretend that it is otherwise than extremely weak with one or two outstanding exceptions. The actual knowledge of fact and construction is not despicable, but application is very poor indeed. ... The fact of the matter is that but one pupil in twenty has any material or other interest in the subject: with the advent of commercial work its devotees will be curiosities”! The teaching of this ancient language – that its devotees claimed would assist pupils better appreciate english vocabulary and even its grammar – was performed by Mr McGuire with “little understanding and less appreciation”. That McGuire was a very sick man (due to the epidemic of influenza?) did not help matters. he was sporadically absent from his classes from April 1918 until he died in durban on 10 october. No wonder Gray proposed what, to Inspector c T Loram, seemed a “little drastic” – dropping the language altogether; and he did, for a few years.

And lastly, “a well-equipped science laboratory” was included in the additions to the school. prior to this, it had been “taught under very adverse circumstances – equipment was crude and scanty – odorous experiments had to be carried out in the corridor – and efficiency suffered. our first real science equipment waste provision of a fume chamber (it now contains the school trophies) and a sink in one of the class rooms.” Nevertheless, Inspector John McLeod’s report of 8 March 1918 stated, “It is extremely unfortunate that there is only room for 6 pupils at most to do experimental science work...” It was also said, rather sarcastically, that “the demonstrations were apt to be only a little more illuminating than a conjuror’s performance, which can be very effective, and yet leaves the spectators completely mystified.” Not so today, of course.


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A “giant leap” forward in the teaching of science “throughout the school” came with the appointment of Mr John William (“John Willie”) hudson on 4 February 1920. Inspector John McLeod complimented his teaching, saying that his pupils’ work “showed a high standard of excellence.” And, “The keenness of his pupils to work overtime is in itself a testimonial.” dr hosking, a pupil who in 1977 became director of education remembers, “even if you did no other homework, come what may, you did your maths prep.” “Tufty” Turton recalls that Mr hudson “taught to such effect that when the 1922 matric results were announced it was discovered that I had come first in South Africa in maths and that my fellow student F W K (Fritz) hellberg came second.” Mr hudson was promoted to durban high School on 26 January 1925, but returned to dundee to be its principal in 1931.

replacing him (on 26 January 1926) was Mr L J “Twickie” oberle, an asset to sports at the school. originally from the channel Islands, oberle was powerfully built, “a fearless and able sportsman” who had played rugby for Natal and who had coached the Maritzburg college 1st XV from 1912-15 and he lisped. he would say, “Now this one is a little bit twickie,” or “The Bwittons were climbing up twees and throwing wocks down on the Woomans.”[1] he was not, however, to be fooled with: a colleague reckoned of him that he was as “fierce as the devil’s sister of course if you tried to play the fool with him.”[2] For a month (30 July – 31 August 1926), he acted as headmaster in Mr Black’s absence.

This was certainly an era of excellent education in dundee – and of strong personalities. Also teaching here at this time was Mr Lucien Jean Theophile Biebuyck. Biebuyck was born on 28 September 1902 in Montagu in the cape. he was the first of a number of staff members to serve as director of the education department. having taught first at Maritzburg college and then at dundee Intermediate School on 7 September 1925 he was transferred to estcourt Government School.

having served as headmaster of empangeni Intermediate School and afterwards Newcastle high School and performed well in various administrative posts in the Natal education department, he was director from 1959 until 1967.

he was remembered as “a man who was able to stimulate subordinates to give of their best. he had a slightly combative, challenging style of dealing with those under him, but far from wishing to put people down he used this method for drawing people out. he expected people to argue back, thereby refining their own ideas and bringing new light to the solution of problems.”[3]

1 Morrell 1996: 60.2 haw 1988: 192.3 Taking Stock, page 71.


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Mathematics has always been a strength of dundee high and during this time there was a “prince amongst men”, an Irishman, Mr earnest (or “paddy”) Bradley, who made Standard VIII arithmetic fascinating. he “tyrannised with love and taught via tears and laughter.”[1] He had a knack of spinning narratives such as: “Lundin, you own a trading store in Zululand and you are struggling to finance your business. Now, what you need is a bill of exchange. What interest rate is the bank manager going to charge you, Lundin – and how are you going to pay it off?!” In 2018 this Lundin’s grandson, Gary, runs a home maintenance business. he too would probably appreciate help in these matters!

he was certainly genial, with a big heart and a tremendous sense of humour, but he had a fist of iron. his discipline, though, was strict but just and mass canings were common. Like a Geography teacher of the ‘80s who used to tell his adoring rugby boys, “I hit you because I love you”, most boys never minded the whacks simply because his gentle nonsense and sympathetic humour softened the blows. Mr Schroeder’s fondest memory of Mr Bradley was when, many years later when “W o W” was one of the senior rugby referees in durban, he had made what he considered to have been an excellent speech at a conference and he saw Mr Bradley rise in his seat. Keeping a low profile, Mr Bradley shuffled up the aisle to his seat and, reaching him, he whispered, “Schroeder, I want to give you some good advice – stick to your refereeing!”

As well as excellent teachers, they also had the advantage of almost individual attention: the 1925 matric class numbered ten pupils, as far as Miss Joan evans could recall. “only five subjects – we never had any difficulty in choosing our courses! As there were only five subjects in our curriculum we had to write a five-subject matric, governed by what were known as the ‘New regulations’. extra papers and a higher standard were demanded in three of the five subjects. In our case, there were english, Maths and chemistry – chosen without any regard for our personal preferences.

A reorganisation of the two schools, the Boys’ and the Girls’ Schools, took place in 1920. The “top” Tatham Street school would deal with secondary work from standard V upwards and the “bottom” school where the civic centre now stands would provide “infant” and primary education. Both schools would be co-educational. The new Junior School buildings that housed part of the Majuba college TVeT college were completed that same year. So at the beginning of the first term of 1920 saw a group of nervous children making their way up Victoria Street from the Junior School to take their places in dundee Senior School – and vice versa. Mr Baxter was returned, for but a year, to his original school with a new headmistress, Miss Ivy Brickhill, in charge. Then it was all the way back to Tatham Street and Mr Archie Gray!

1 Schroeder &Schütte, 1976: 53.


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Miss evans wrote of her personal introduction to the Boys’ School: “We must have been a quaint little bunch of reluctant scholars (coming up from the Junior School). We had none of the confidence and sophistication of Standard 5 children today: and as school uniforms were unknown, we had not even the courage which can be derived from uniformity. Later, some of the girls in the higher classes took matters into their own hands and persuaded their mothers to supply them with navy-blue or black gym-tunics and white blouses. The fashion caught on, red-and-black ties were bought, and an unofficial school uniform was born. Most of the younger ones copied [these older girls].”

“My six years at what was then the dundee Intermediate School were very happy ones. When I matriculated and left at the end of 1925 I did not realise that my connection with the school was not ended. After four years at Natal university college I came back to dundee to teach for four years at the Junior School under Miss Brickhill. Then, after six years at Vryheid high School I returned to dundee and joined the high School Staff at the beginning of 1940. Six happy years as a pupil, and thirty equally happy years on the staff add up to quite a period.” Miss evans retired on 12 december 1968 at the age of 60, but remained an active member of the community. Some of her works of art still hang in the foyer of the administration section of the school.

It surprises one to know that by 1920 a uniform was not yet in vogue. In 1963, an “old Scholar” (probably Miss Joan evans) looking back, wrote, “School uniforms were unknown. The boys looked very dashing on cadet days, but were a rather heterogeneous mixture during the other days of the week. The girls, more dress conscious, evolved for themselves a style, which through sheer force of fashion, became general – gym slip, white shirt with a red and black tie, black shoes and stockings and a narrow red girdle: with the exception of the belt, the winter uniform of today. And blazers, of course, have always been with us. Mercifully, they were, and still are, plain. There was one hair-raising interlude when blazers with inch-wide alternating stripes of red and black made a brief and shattering appearance.”[1]

(In the School Magazine of 1963 is a ribald definition of a “baadjie” [a school blazer]: “Dis ‘n ding met moue, knope en sakke. Die voorwerp word gebruik om aan te trek as jy koud kry en om uit te trek as jy wil baklei” [“It’s a thing with sleeves, buttons and pockets. The object is used to wear if you get cold and to take off if you want to have a scrap.”])

By February 1923, Inspector McLeod reported that “the wearing of school colours is becoming the rule rather than the exception”. headmaster Mr Banks commented in 1929 that “The fostering of a corporate spirit in the school is greatly helped by the wearing of school colours.” he added, “I am sure I only have to mention this to secure the co-operation of parents in fitting out their children with hat-bands and ties when we re-open next year.”

1 “Looking Back” by an old Student: School Magazine 1963.


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of interest is that in September of 1962, headmaster Mr Burger reported that it had been decided that all the boys from standard 7 to standard 10 should in the future wear brown shoes and khaki socks in the summer months. For how long this ruling lasted is unknown, because black socks and block shoes were the norm from the early 1980s.

Mr Baxter’s standard V teacher at the “top school” was a Miss Gladys Watson: “tall and masculine in type, hair cut short and sporting golf brogues, she strode daily from the royal hotel to the school in record time. This training served her in good stead for she was the first woman to join the [comrades] Marathon runners, albeit unofficially, on the road between durban and pietermaritzburg. No pupil will forget her insistence on Arithmetical accuracy. Two sums were set every day without fail... [and the] books were collected and marked without delay. every error was ringed in red (such was her thoroughness!) and a cut administered to every pupil for every red ring.”

It was in 1920 that the first Annual Sports Meeting took place at what became known as King edward park (the oval): “We were a little doubtful whether we could make a success of such a venture; but . . . we came through with flying colours. The ‘records’ of the day have, I expect, all been beaten, but the enthusiasm can never have been more than equalled.” This meeting “established the ideal of the annual sports Meeting.” The next athletics meeting was to have been held on 10 September 1921, but a phenomenal snow-storm made postponement necessary until the following week, when 54 competitors took part. Turton records that “the school closed down for the first time since the flu epidemic. A fall of snow stretching from Johannesburg almost to pinetown closed among others all dundee roads and we boys were jubilant. The snow melted within a couple of weeks except for the top of Ndumeni Mountain where it remained until christmas day.” on 16 September 1933 they pressed on in spite of the fact that “The weather was execrable, clouds of dust sweeping the ground, but the Sports were a great success.”

of two events that stood out vividly in her career at the “Boys’ School” for Miss Grace McKenzie, one was that snow storm. “We played outside school for some time, before the headmaster announced he would ring the bell and if there were not 50 children in school, he would close the school for the day. There were 12 boys and 4 girls in my class. one was on the lookout and said, “cavy boys, he is coming!” All we saw were legs climbing through the windows! Mr Gray came in and counted 4 in the classroom. There were not 50 children in school but when the staff had their photo taken there were more than 50 children pelting them with snowballs!” According to Gray, only 43 pupils were present and because they were “very wet” the school was closed!


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Miss evans, who drove in her tiny grey Austin motorcar (slowly but very safely) until well in her 90s, recalls that Mr Gray “laid the foundations on which later headmasters have built. he introduced the house system, and had the excellent idea, when naming the houses, of paying tribute to the old Boys who had fallen in the 1914-1918 War and to the three members of the staff who had also been among the fallen: Mr J F Jerred, Mr S M Wright, and Mr W M reid.” This Mr Gray did in April of 1921, with Mr hudson placed in charge of all school sport and of arranging inter-house competitions. She recalled that the idea, in fact, for the houses came from Mr hudson and that at the time Mr Gray had said that “the suggestion rather staggered him – but he soon saw its many advantages.”[1] Mr Gray later wrote, “From the very beginning the system was an unqualified success; it did much to instil into the hearts of the scholars a team spirit, thus teaching them the value of combined effort, and added considerably to the spirit of sprit de corps throughout the school.”

In 2003, during the principalship of Mr des Krantz, at the recommendation of the Staff “in the interest of sport”[2] the four older names were dropped and a two-house system was brought in: “Sharks” (because of the KwaZulu-Natal rugby team) and “dolphins” (after the province’s cricket XI).[3] They said that there were insufficient “sporty” pupils to make inter-house sport truly competitive and that because certain families had the tradition of belonging to particular houses, this brought about a year-by-year domination on the fields of play.

Marjorie Williams (of the firm of bakers that was situated in the present “Mews” in dundee), the first girls’ house captain of Jerred’s, married Arthur Whitfield and the two lived in dundee.

1 c J evans: reminiscences, dhS Magazine 1971: 57.2 personal communication with two teachers from that time on 26 May 2017. They agreed that “colonialism” had anything to do with the decision.3 personal communication with Mr r o haschke, 26 May 2017.


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In the first edition of the dundee Secondary School Magazine published in February 1922, Mr Gray wrote about the three-fold functions of education: “It is the unfolding of the resources of the brain; it is the building up of the body; it is the development of moral character. unless education is carried along on these lines it is not producing citizens who will pull their weight in the ship of state.” Therefore a house cup would be “awarded annually to the house gaining most points – not only for games, but for every piece of work done in, and for, the house.” In his headmaster’s report at the prize-giving ceremony of 1921, Mr Gray encouraged the pupils to win the cock house trophy “by hard work, good sportsmanship and determination... You will notice that I have said ‘work and play’ for you can gain just as many points for your ‘house’ by good, honest work in school, as by fair play in the field.” (This naming of a “cock house” is very British; it was so-named because the winning house would be champion, or cock, of the school’s houses.)

“School concerts were organised and I and my contemporaries still remember with pleasure the fun we had when we took part in Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘Pirates of Penzance’. This opera was produced by the headmaster, Archie Gray, and it involved practically the whole school. Gray had also produced ‘HMS Pinafore’ and ‘Iolanthe’. Before long, there were games for the girls – tennis (one court), hockey and basketball. The boys played football (soccer) and cricket.”


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But even by 1923 “the school playground [was] quite inadequate – in fact it is rendered useless for games by the Native Quarters[1] & latrines that for some inscrutable reason were erected in the centre of it, and it will not be of much use as a playing ground until these obstructions are removed.”

The sports fields of today are a contrast with the facilities available between the two World Wars: “There were no ready-made playing fields,” writes rex Floweday, “and very little organised sport, so before the annual “Five-a-Side” football or ‘soccer’ competition and cricket matches, we scholars were told to get the grounds cleared. At break times we would collect spades and rakes from the storeroom and clear the ground of weeds etc. We younger fry used to enjoy the work, often fighting for possession of a spade.”

In those inter-war years dundee was known as a premier soccer school: Joe Green, an old boy, had played for Transvaal and South Africa, both on overseas tour to Britain and at home. In 1923, in order to correspond with other Natal high schools, a change-over to rugby took place; so whilst soccer remained the official winter game, rugby began to be played on Wednesdays. The following year soccer was abandoned and rugby became the official school game, but the first matches against high schools such as Glenwood and Maritzburg college took place only in 1931.

Arthur Whitfield recalled in the 30’s: “The subscription for the football season was 1s. [one shilling], and the season lasted until the ball bust! only those fortunate enough to be selected for team play had the pleasure of soccer throughout the season. There was only one fixture with the other Northern district Schools, and that was for the Gregory cup. The resulting excitement over the one and only match of the season was naturally very high.” A tradition we have continued, with rugby, especially, for each and every match of the season!

Mr Gray tells us that “at cricket we were not so brilliant, and the game fluctuated often for want of funds.” A local hero was hubert Gouvaine “Nummy” deane (21 July 1895 – 21 october 1939), an eshowe man who captained the dundee XI. he eventually captained the Springbok cricket team. “Some of us lads would go to the ground changed and hopefully act as substitutes on Saturdays for players who were late in arriving from other towns for a league fixture”, wrote Mr Baxter in 1984.

1 Whilst such a racial expression is repugnant to the collator of this history – and out of place in the modern South Africa – it is retained as a reflection not only of the colonial (and dehumanising) use of language at that time.


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hockey, tennis and basket ball were also played on fields and courts where eventide Mews now stands, and both boys and girls took part in shooting. Mrs dorothy Jessiman (née Kennedy), reid’s Girl house captain in 1922, recalled a silver spoon being offered to the winner of the monthly competitions, and silver cups to the inter-school winner. Mrs Jessiman later taught for many years on the staff of the high School and at the end of 1960 retired to farm in the Blood river area. She was one of five children of the district police commander, Alexander Angus Kennedy (who was always called “A. A.”), a New Zealander of Scottish ancestry. his wife, Theodora Kennedy (née Barnard, born on 3 February 1882), was Afrikaans and she too taught at the school for many years, salting her Afrikaans with “hoog-hollands” and continuing a part-time career as a newspaper correspondent.

one of their other daughters was Irene, “a tall, fair-skinned young woman with green eyes ‘flecked with gold.’” She met an immigrant teacher from Britain, hubert Jennings, who was up with a durban high School rugby team to play a match in dundee, and who was destined to be the principal of the high School in 1945. perhaps surprisingly to those who thought Mr Jennings was a little staid, he later wrote, “Irene rescued me and brought me back to normal.”

he wrote that the first time he met the family at their home in dundee he “had already met the mother — a large and formidable old lady, who was by no means besotted with her daughter’s choice. She wanted her to marry the local dentist, whom she regarded (rightly!) as being a much more profitable proposition and who had the added advantage of being, like herself, an Afrikaner. The old lady subjected me to quite a barrage to try to persuade me to withdraw. But Irene gently but firmly would have none of it. Irene’s father had no visible objections. he had retired and was greatly enjoying himself as the popular secretary of the local club. Irene’s three sisters and three brothers were prepared, apparently, to take me in their stride.”

hubert and Irene were married at St. James’s church in dundee in April 1933. Mr Jennings had made a small profit from an investment in gold shares and, in the midst of the Great depression, they were able to splash out on quite a lavish honeymoon. They sailed up the east coast of Africa on the German liner S.S. Ussukuma and through the Suez canal to visit egypt. The newly-weds even stayed at the palatial Shepheard’s hotel in cairo and saw the pyramids and the Sphinx. They travelled on to Venice, crossed the Alps, journeyed down the rhine and landed at last in england, where hubert introduced his glowing South African bride to her new relations.

Their ship the Ussukuma, had but six more years above the ocean waves. on Monday 4 december 1939, three months into the Second World War, the Ussukuma had left Bahía Blanca in Argentina to help, it is thought, the German pocket battleship Graf Spee that was heading for Montevideo. As dusk was falling on 5 december the Ussukuma met the British cruiser Ajax that was looking for the Graf Spee.[1] despite being offered safety, captain Wilmsen scuttled his ship and she sank 62 miles from the coast during the night of 5 december or morning of 6 december.[2]

1 They did meet; in the Battle of the river plate on 13 december, and the Graf Spee was sunk.2 Sangster, Andrew, 2017. An Analytical diary of 1939-1940: The Twelve Months that changed the World. 1st ed. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: cambridge Scholars publishing.


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A younger brother of Irene’s, donald, became chairman of the SA property owners’ Association, the “plutocrats’, and yet another brother, also named Alexander Angus (“Sandy”) Kennedy, who matriculated from the high School in 1924, served for three years in the department of Justice and three more years in Northern rhodesia (today, Zambia). returning in 1930 to continue his studies at Nuc, Sandy practised as an attorney in port Shepstone before being called to the Bar in 1942. he was a barrister in pietermaritzburg for a further seven years before he was appointed a judge of the Native high court and then, from 1955 until he retired in 1973, Mr Justice Kennedy was a judge of the Natal Supreme court. on the occasion of his death in 1976, the Judge president of Natal, Mr Justice James, paid tribute to him, remembering “his quickness of mind, his moral courage, his sympathy and understanding of human frailty.”[1]

Mrs Theodora Kennedy’s brother, Stephanus cecil rutgert (“cecil”) Barnard, also began his working life as a law-abiding citizen – he was a policeman for four years – but things went downhill and he became a leader of a group of notorious scofflaws who poached elephant by the hundred for ivory and smuggled goods and people across the borders of South Africa, portuguese east Africa (today, Mozambique) and rhodesia (today, Zimbabwe). That was not too difficult: Bvekenya (“The one Who Swaggers When he Walks”) had loosened the border marker and carried it with him through the bush in what is now the far north of the Kruger National park. his exploits inspired T.V. Bulpin’s 1954 novel, The Ivory Trail, and to this day there is a grave with the inscription Stephanus Cecil Rutgert Barnard near “crook’s corner.” It is said that he had become so sick once with malaria that his Shangaan helpers thought he was going to die and they dug the grave for him.[2] he lived, was reformed, died in his bed at the age of 76, and is buried well away from his old hunting grounds on his old farm near Geysdorp in North West province.

In the days of dorothy Kennedy’s successes as a schoolgirl, as possibly now, it was in the sphere of athletics that the school won its greatest renown. Stanley clarke left for england in 1924 to join the London Metropolitan police and became the British police sprint champion. But the name of the athlete and scholar daniel Jacobus Joubert must surely rank as one of the most eminent old scholars of dundee high School.

Born on 8 February 1909, the son of pieter and Sannie Joubert of Tayside, danie had seven siblings: Sally, pieter, casper, Anna (or Annie), Johanna, Marie and Janie. reg pearse wrote in 1934: “In the programme for 1923 one notices the name of a little nipper who managed to win the under 12, 220 yards, who came second in the under 14, 100 yards and the high jump, and who came third in the junior long jump. his name was danie Joubert. ...That was the commencement of an athletic career that piled up record after record, until eventually Joubert faced the athletes of the world on the running track at Los Angeles in the olympic Games of 1932”! he also held (and probably still has, as it’s not a common event nowadays), the records for throwing the cricket ball.

1 obituary in dundee Lantern 1976: 73.2 Zoutnet. 2018. Zoutpansberger | The Streets of our Names | 7. Bvekenya Barnard - the most famous of crook’s corner’s elephant hunters. [oNLINe] Available at: https://www.zoutpansberger.co.za/articles/history_streets/35903/2016-03-21/7- bvekenya-barnard-the-most-famous-of-crookas-corneras-elephant-hunters. [Accessed 02 January 2018].


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he was full of athletic promise in a variety of events. on a hot and dusty Saturday afternoon in the Sports day in his Matric year he sprinted the 100 yards in an astonishing 9.8 seconds; which would have been a British empire junior record. The timekeepers all thought the 9.8 seconds their watches had recorded was just too good to be true: obviously there was a serious mistake somewhere! “doubt and perplexity troubled the good officials and so it was decided to repeat the event in an “exhibition race” to rectify the error... and for a second time all watches agreed again at 9.8 seconds. It took some years to have the record accepted by the empire athletics authorities but, because “metric” rules supreme worldwide, no doubt this “imperial” record stands, still, to this day.

danie was born into a family of good sportspeople. his pint-sized younger brother, Jannie (who needed special boots for his outsized feet) won the 100 yards heat in the Vryheid Inter-School meeting in 10 seconds – falling over as he crossed the line. until the 1980s, his relatives petrus and cornelius Joubert still featured in the record books. In 1966, in the estcourt Inter-School meeting cornelius’ son, Albrecht, running the race of a lifetime, won the final 440 yards in the open medley relay after trailing the whole field in the takeover.


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danie proceeded to Stellenbosch university to study law and there he was the “Maties” athletics Victor Ludorum for four years. In 1929 he represented the combined South African universities against the prestigious Achilles club[1] and in 1931 he captained the SAu team against a united States team. on 16 May 1931, at a meet in Grahamstown, he set world record of 9.4 seconds for the 100 yards dash, a record which was not broken for many years. As sprint champion of South Africa and holder of the canadian 100 yards record, he was included in the South African athletics team of 1931 and danie captained the team at the 1932 Los Angeles olympics.[2] he had a disappointing Games, coming fifth in the 100 metres sprint[3] but he was selected to represent the British empire at a post-olympic event held in San Francisco on 14 August 1932.

Back home, however, danie’s career took off. having gained a BA in 1931 and an LLB in 1933, he was admitted as an advocate of the Supreme court in April 1934. Later that year he was appointed secretary to Mr Justice de Waal, Judge president of the Transvaal. he practised the law for a time before joining the civil service and became prominent in various transportation boards and committees. eventually he was appointed Secretary [today’s equivalent of being director-General] of Transport for South Africa. While in this capacity, he was nominated to chair the perishable products export control Board. The danie Joubert Freeway, one of the busiest roads on South Africa, was also named after him, as were streets in various parts of the country (and Namibia) and even a primary school! Mr Joubert died on 2 March 1997 in pretoria aged 88. dundee high School may indeed be proud of this “fleet foot” who brought his country so much honour; but what of the boy who beat him in the 1923 under-14 100 yards race, S clarke?! The winning time, incidentally, was 11.2 seconds.

An unofficial sport, practised behind the scenes, was boxing. disputes would be settled by boys by way of fisticuffs in the depressions in the Show Grounds or at the Station. The rallying cry was “Kiep! Kiep!” In 1923 a professional boxing match was staged at the air field between Bob Starbuck and rosella and all were delighted when rosella (who had lost) visited the school to demonstrate his training methods.

If his predecessors had laid the foundations of a potentially fine school, Gray had proved himself a master builder. he left solid structure behind him, and in every area of school life his mark of excellence and progress had been felt. he could not be bowed by “little difficulties”: “So much for the buildings; but the soul of a school lies in the hearts of the children, and no bricks and mortar could confine the joyous spirit that prevailed. The pride they had in everything connected with their school; the enthusiasm with which they tackled work and play; the jealousy with which they upheld the reputation of the school; these are memories.” The inspectors’ report for 1922 concluded, “The germ of an excellent school is here.” Indeed!

1 possibly the most famous and successful club of its sort, the Achilles club was established for past and present oxford university Athletics club and cambridge uAc members.2 The first Los Angeles Games was held from 30 July through 14 August 1932.3 Gold in the 100 m was won by eddie Tolan of the uSA in 10.3 seconds. danie Joubert’s time was 10.6. The defending olympic champion and world record holder, percy Williams of canada, did not advance past the semi-finals.


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Mr Gray’s term of office, commencing in August 1909, now was sadly concluded with his going on long leave on 3 March 1923. “As a matter of policy,” commented Baxter in 1984, “the authorities had decreed that all principals of high Schools should be graduates of a university. Mr Gray only held a Board of education certificate (england) as did many other teachers from Britain who played a significant part in the development of education in Natal during the early day.” The final entry penned by Gray in the headmaster’s log book is profound (considering the comprehensiveness of his other entries) in its starkness of emotion: “handed over to Mr pape. A Gray.”

Mr hudson, a spiritual tower even in those days, and editor of the four-editioned “dundee Secondary School Magazine”, writes in the final issue (dated december, 1923), “We have lost Mr Gray whose unfailing kindness made him not only a master but a friend to every pupil at the school.” recognising that bricks and mortar a school do not make, becoming as the structure may be; but that the plumb-line of a school’s excellence is the quality of the characters of the citizens it helps form; then Mr Gray had over and again proved himself an architect and craftsmen for the dundee high that was in its youth without peer.


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The burly, very bald Mr Septimus William pape taught at durban high School from 1902 until his transfer to serve as acting headmaster of dundee Intermediate School on 3 March 1923 at the age of 46. he grew up in the Lake district of england near Keswick. he was an excellent academic and a great linguist, taking an honours degree in classics at Queen’s college, oxford. he also represented its first XV in rugby.

There is an amusing story that demonstrates pape’s love for precision in language. he once wrote to the Mayor of durban that the city should revert to the original spelling of d’urban. The reply to his suggestion was addressed to “S.W. p’Ape, esq.”

Mr pape was also remarkable for his pioneering work amongst english-speaking Natalians in the learning of Nederlands: after a special trip to the cape to learn it, he was to teach it successfully (although the classics remained his first love) for years. It is possible that this knowledge of the language was at least partly responsible for his promotion to dundee. Ten months previously, Inspector Fouché had noted, “Afrikaans instead of dutch is taken in the lower forms, and it is most pleasing to learn how wonderfully successful they have been.” It was only during headmaster Mr James Black’s term, from February 1925, when Afrikaans medium classes were introduced and it was some years after that that sufficient Afrikaans-speaking pupils could make their own Matric class operable. In the beginning, Mr Brand, a young man fresh from the university and with very little teaching experience, was in charge of the sole six Afrikaans pupils, who were spread over standards 5, 6 and 10.[1]

Anyone less than Mr pape might have trodden warily in so great a shadow as Mr Gray’s, but in five short months as acting headmaster, Inspector McLeod reported that “there is much to indicate that (his) personality is not only making itself felt in the various classrooms by infusing energy into the classes, but its healthy influence on conduct is observed outside of school and school-hours as well.” There may be some irony in his words, for Mr pape was deservedly renowned for being no disciple of soft psychology. “Many an inattentive dream was rudely interrupted by the onset of the hasty rod!”

Mr pape was promoted to the headship of Vryheid Secondary School, from 4 July 1923 until the end of 1925. From there, he was sent to Maritzburg college. his tenure there was not popular: “he seems to have been one of the noisiest, most bombastic headmasters that college has ever had... In truth, neither his staff nor his pupils appear to have liked him very much, and those of a more sensitive disposition regarding him as a rude, noisy bully. In his defence, it should be remembered that pape was expected [by the education department] to tighten up the discipline of the school and give it new energy and direction and this he certainly succeeded in doing.”[2]

1 Inspector p. Fouché report, 15 April 1925.2 haw, For hearth and home, page 248.


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his place was taken, on 1 August 1923, as the new headmaster by a former colleague from durban high School, Mr James (“Jimmy”) Black. Mr Black had arrived in South Africa from Forfar, Scotland, in 1912 and he joined the staff of durban high School as an Assistant Master under A. S. Langley. coincidentally, the founding family of dundee, the Smiths, were also from Forfar, having farmed at holemill Farm nearby. Now, coming from an all-boys school, it was with many misgivings that he heard of his new posting: “I learned with some consternation that the dundee School was ‘mixed’. My experience in the control of girls was exactly nil, and it is not surprising that I entered upon my task with much humility and considerable trepidation. May I say at the outset that my fears were groundless. The management of girls was really one of the easiest tasks I have ever undertaken. . . I can only conclude that it is after marriage that girls become difficult.”

A colleague later wrote of Black that “no sounder man could have been chosen to develop secondary work in this district. A splendid teacher himself, he was a vigorous disciplinarian, and he saw to it that every boy and girl in the School worked, while he developed the innovations Gray had inaugurated.”


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Academically, Black was to set the school on a sounder footing, taking up cudgels with like-minded educationalists around the country for “a widened scheme of subjects and syllabuses in the Secondary Schools of South Africa.” The pupils were compelled to take five subjects – with usually no choice of courses. did he have an artful tongue in his chauvinistic cheek when he wrote, “Those who are acquainted with a Matriculation Mathematics paper on the higher Grade . . . will realise what a very severe strain was placed on girls, all of whom were compelled to take this subject. I shall never forget the manner in which the girls tackled the obstacle and surmounted it successfully. I am constantly told that girls are no good as mathematicians, but my experience leads me to think otherwise. Not only have they tenacity of purpose but quite frequently they have real ability in the subject”.

he had fixed views on excessive subject specialisation which (ultimately unfairly) dictated a child’s choice of careers: “Secondary education today has over-emphasised education for acquisitiveness, but the best schools are those which have a wholesome regard for cultural values. For this reason I place dundee School in the first rank.”

In Mr Black’s first year in 1923 the joint dux of the school was a diminutive girl, constance Joan evans. After qualifying as a teacher she taught at Vryheid high School before being appointed on the dundee high School staff where she remained until her retirement twenty-eight years afterwards. She taught english A (to english-speaking pupils) and often english B too (to Afrikaans-speaking pupils) as well as history, but when Art became a school subject it was “thrust upon her” as no one more suitable could be found. And what a success she made of it!

Miss evans remembered some of her remarkable teachers from this period: Mr Black (later head of Glenwood high School, then of dhS) who never had a failure in Matriculation Maths; Mr hudson (later head of Maritzburg college and then of hilton college) who taught chemistry; Mr r o pearse (later head of Newcastle high School, then estcourt high School and, in his retirement, an eminent author) who taught english; Miss c M Bradshaw taught history and managed to inspire some of us with her own enthusiasm for the subject and who was – to the boys at least – a severe disciplinarian; and Mr Mostert taught high dutch (Nederlands). on his departure on 1 April 1929 to the headship of Middelburg Trades School, the inspector wrote of him: “he served faithfully for the ten years I have examined his work, and I take this opportunity of recording my appreciation of the valuable service he gave ungrudgingly both in and out of school during his tenure of office.”

Seeing a girl “sweep the academic boards” was not the only old custom in rural education to be challenged. Shortly after Mr Black’s arrival he received a letter from a parent requesting a certificate stating that his son had passed Standard Six. unfortunately the boy had not qualified and the request was refused. Some days later he received a communication which read: “If you will send me a certificate, I will send you a bag of potatoes.” This document met with a similar fate. Shortly afterwards he received the following: “A large box of magnificent fruit has been railed to you today. please send certificate. “Mr Black was informed later by a prominent dundee resident, to whom the position had been explained, that the fruit was really excellent.


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dux in 1925 was a young man of extraordinary ability who became a renowned plant taxonomist, Leslie (“Les”) edward Wostall codd. Born on 16 September 1908 at Vant’s drift (where the only signs of life even today are farms and imizi[1] along the Buffalo river and a lonely trading store), he gained an MSc at Natal university college in 1928 and, thanks to a Webb Scholarship, he went on to cambridge in 1929 and, powered by an Imperial research Scholarship, to the Imperial college of Tropical Agriculture in Trinidad in 1930. There he met his wife, cynthia.

having worked with the department of Agriculture in British Guiana between 1931 and 1936 and in 1937, he returned home to South Africa and in 1945 he became the officer-in-charge at the prinshof experiment Station of the university of pretoria. At the same time he was in charge of the Botanical Survey of South Africa and, a frequent visitor to the Kruger National park on plant-collecting trips, he produced the book Trees and Shrubs of the Kruger National Park and he co-authored Botanical Exploration of Southern Africa. he was director of the Botanical research Institute from 1963 until his retirement in 1973 but he continued working in the Flora research Section. Numerous specific botanical names (such as Agapanthus coddii Leighton) are named for him and he had more than 10 000 specimens in his collection. dr codd died on 2 March 1999, having achieved the highest posts and the top awards for a botanist and plant taxonomist in South Africa.

Another prominent agriculturalist who passed through dundee high School was Werner J Stielau. having obtained his MSc cum laude in 1960 he was sidetracked away from “proper” farming by a serious illness and into academia. he wrote innumerable papers with unpronounceable words that only clever scientists can understand and he was awarded a phd by the university of california in davis (california).And there he stayed, becoming a professor and dean of the department of Animal and poultry Science. There he also married, having a son and four daughters. his younger brother, Theo, was dux of dundee high in 1962. A family member, oskar (son of Mr and Mrs Gus Stielau), on matriculating in 1982, studied at rAu, gained an M Ing degree and continued with his doctorate. Bright family!

The school was increasing, gradually, in numbers all the time, and chronic pressure was placed upon the boys’ and girls’ hostels to accommodate out-of-town pupils. The first hostel had been opened in August 1918, “the old Victoria building adjoining ryley’s Mill”, adapted to give accommodation for 40 pupils. This small, single-storey building was situated about thirty metres back from Victoria Street, behind where there is now a “KFc” outlet. It was demolished late in 1984. Mr Gray recalled, “conditions were by no means ideal – the premises were so situated that the housing and supervision of boys and girls was a very difficult problem – but applications for admission came pouring in, and the necessity for further accommodation soon became apparent.”

1 Zulu homesteads.


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The opportunity for this expansion came when the Junior School was built in 1920 adjacent to the Girls’ School. The old dundee School buildings (situated to one side of the present Municipal offices) were turned into a hostel for girls. When the dundee Junior primary School (now ethangeni combined School in cornhill Street) and the dundee Senior primary School (now called the dundee Junior School, in excelsior Lane) were opened in 1964, the old Junior School became home until 2008 of the dundee and district commando, a volunteer infantry unit of the South African Army and, for a few years, Talana Museum; and, was the first of two campuses of Majuba TVeT college in dundee.

The boys remained at the original hostel. It was “really an old hotel (the Victoria) full of cubby holes, where adequate supervisions of the boys was difficult.” Black remembered many surprise visits he paid to the boys’ hostel at strange hours of the night. “on one occasion I watched a boxing contest on one of the verandahs at 1 o’clock in the morning. Fortunately no incidents worse than this occurred,” and he was filled with “welcome relief” at the building of the “magnificent new hostel” “situated near the hospital in extensive grounds.”

Mr Burger wrote that “The [new] Boys’ hostel was occupied in 1927”[1] and of the satisfaction and pride he experienced as he looked his headmaster’s office window and saw the new structure across the road – the new Senior Girls’ hostel – taking shape. The boarder girls took occupation of it when school re-opened in January 1963 and on 16 August of that year it was officially opened by the director, Mr L o T Biebuyck with the words: “My sincere wish is that this building will serve our girls well and become accepted by them as their home in dundee.”

1 dundee high School Magazine, 1962: 13, principal’s comments.


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Mr Burger was of the opinion that the Senior Boys’ hostel at the bottom end of Tatham Street needed to be partially reconstructed to allow more space for increased numbers of boarders. “We have received far more applications than we can accept” and, in fact, “We need a third hostel badly and urgently.” A school brochure in 1934 had advised, “There is accommodation for 50 boys”; but by 1984 seventy boys, two matrons and four boarder masters lived in! The superintendent lived in an adjoining cottage on the property. In 1934 there were but 17 girls in their hostel and 24 boys in theirs; 14 girls and 27 boys boarded privately. In the late 1980s, with the advent of better roads in the district numbers of boarders declined until, in 1992 the Senior Boys’ hostel was closed and the remaining boys were housed with the girls in the Senior Girls’ hostel opposite the high School.

The School gave back the Boys’ hostel to the Natal education department and for much of 1993 it stood deserted and somewhat dilapidated until the director of education, Mr olmesdahl invited history teacher (and former superintendent of the hostel) Kevin Burge, to assume the management of the new dundee environmental education centre. The beautiful buildings were given a thorough refurbishment and internal structural alterations (girls’ bathrooms have different needs from boys’!) and the centre “opened its doors” in January 1994. other environmental education centres were situated in Morningside and the Bluff in durban, in estcourt and in eshowe.

From the second quarter the centre was a success, becoming popular venue for schools’ tours of the “Battlefields” and for “outdoor learning” and a leader in the new education centres movement in KwaZulu-Natal after 2003 (of which there were eventually 117 education centres across the province). It was at this time that, in keeping with the expansion of its role from helping children educationally to working with upgrading educators, providing extra classes in literacy, numeracy and practical courses for out-of-school adults and extra lessons for school children, it was renamed the umzinyathi community education centre.

one can but read pieces such as the following to recall the happy mischief hostel boys got up to, down the years: “Some time this year peter [Solomon], colin and Glen went fruit-swiping. For some unknown reason they chose to swipe the fruit of the police officers, whose houses are found running parallel to the railway station. peter, who was halfway up a tree, all of a sudden heard colin shout, drop the kitbag and run. Glen was off like a bullet, and so the cop chose to chase peter. peter, who thought that he could not get away, screamed, “Asseblief, oom” [“please, sir”], but the cop, having no mercy, shouted, “Jou bliksem” [“You {untranslatable}], and hit him with the sjambok.[1] Nevertheless, peter cleared a five foot fence and ran for all that he was worth. They picked up the kitbag later and laughed at the whole affair, but it would not have been a laughing matter if the cop had caught hold of peter.”

1 A litupa or a heavy leather whip.


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one of the fruit thieves squad today says, that they had a hole ready-cut in the policeman’s chain-link fence and they would put a white plastic bag by the hole so that, in the dark, they would know where their escape route was. “Haye, but that Maarsku [his name for the policeman], he not only had the finest orchard in town, but he had the best and sweetest peaches! – and he was clever! he knew what we were up to and he would move that white bag about ten metres to one side and when peter ran for the fence he slammed into it, fell on his back and was a target for the sjambok! That’s when peter went for the wall!”

The same squad-member (who was, years later, a respected hod at the school!) reveals that the hostel boys would sneak down to the swimming pool for a midnight swim kaalgat [in a naked state]. one night Maarsku got to hear what they were doing and quietly, very quietly, he removed their clothes and left them in a bundle at the hostel entrance and the boys had to run “starkers” back up the road! he saw them in the street some weeks later and asked them if they had found their clothes and they laughed as they then realised what had happened!

A renowned dundonian of the 1960s was Mr Toebal [Tubal] van rooyen, who lived quite close to penn Symons Street at the Glencoe entrance to town. he was the proud owner of three young lions that he allowed to stroll about his yard. he had brought them up from cubs and to him and his family they were as large dogs, big and tame. Two hostel boys were unaware of the danger into which they were advancing when they launched themselves on a fruit-hunt late one night from the van rooyens’ trees. All it took was a yawn – one of them said it was a roar – and the brakke were sprinting back down Karel Landman Street as fast as their legs would carry them. Tubal’s son, Leon (alias “Mielie”) van rooyen, obviously had wildlife firmly in his blood. he retired as director of Nature conservation of Nambia; and his friendship with Malan Nel is as strong today as when they were “lighties” [youngsters] together in class in dundee.[1]

And lastly, by the anonymous same author of the constable Maarsku story, from 1965: “A certain master, nicknamed ‘Snoop’, was being visited by his then fiancée. Attie, as mischievous as ever, was peeping through the keyhole when he happened to glance down and, to his surprise, he saw the brown shoes of another master nicknamed Gerry. After his fiancée had gone, “Snoop” asked Attie what he was doing looking through his keyhole, and he gave the rather amusing reply that he was listening to the rugby test that was being played that day against France.[2] Anyway, four cuts settled the argument and Attie tells me that what he saw was worth ten cuts. creeps, it must have been good rugby!”[3]

1 personal communication with Mr piet Nel: 28 december 2017.2 This might have been the infamous pam Brink Stadium match in Springs played on 25 July 1964 where the Springboks were beaten 6-8 by France at rugby. They won the boxing match, however.3 Anonymous: “hostel drama” in the School Magazine of 1965.


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on 28 January 1929 Mr Black was transferred to become headmaster of the Technical high School in durban. It had just moved to new premises in Mcdonald road and he was not impressed with the place. he once remarked, “I went into a building, dumped in the virgin bush with the carpenter’s shavings still lying on the floor of my office.” he remained there until 1931 when he was appointed as headmaster of durban high School. Three years after his departure, the Technical high School changed its name to Glenwood high School. Mr Black was headmaster of “dhS” until 1945, a time complicated by the effects of economic depression and of the Second World War; one of the most difficult periods in the history of dhS.[1] during his time there, he “was known as The headmaster of the province. he ran his schools with efficiency, understanding and strength, a man’s man in a world of teachers and boys, thus held in high respect by pupils and staff wherever he ruled – with his rod as much as his impressive personality: impeccably dressed in his pin-stripe suits, smart and well-groomed, he was not only an outstanding teacher in class (Maths), he was an exemplary disciplinarian; and all knew it! Mr Black was a man who simply stood no nonsense!”

A recollection that caused Mr W o W Schroeder amusement was associated with an athletics meeting at dhS in about 1943: “one of durban’s leading ladies, a sweet lass of substantial stature, had been invited to present the cups and prizes. In her speech she drifted into the inevitable praises of Mr Black and then surprised everybody by suddenly appealing to the multitude of boys assembled there to be ‘nice’ to Mr Black! he is such a nice man; I am asking you boys to be nice to him! That of course, in the minds of the parents as much as the philistines who knew their man, was asking the crows to be nice to a tiger, so, there was a great and spontaneous explosion of laughter. And, let me add, that no one enjoyed that moment of mirth more than the cause of it: Mr Black! Bless him, and the memories. he knew his own strength.”[2] Mr and Mrs Black retired not back in Scotland, but where he had found his heart, in Natal. he died on the Bluff in durban in 1994.[3]

Mr Black wrote at the end of his tenure as headmaster that he looked back upon his dundee days with feelings of pleasure. “We had our troubles, some of them quite big, but what school is without them? I remember cheerful boys and girls performing their tasks with earnestness and efficiency; a Staff second to none; a happy mixing of both races[4] and a complete absence of those unpleasant relations which sometimes did exist among older people outside the School.”

1 durban high School. 2017. General Information. [oNLINe] Available at:http://mysite.mweb.co.za/residents/dhs/gen_info.htm#history. [Accessed 18 July 2017].2 “Let us now praise Famous Men” by Mr W o W Schoeder.3 Facts About durban. 2017. What happened in durban 50 / 40 years ago? 1965 / 1975. – Facts About durban. [oNLINe] Available at: https://www.fad.co.za/2015/01/03/what-happened-in-durban-50-40-years-ago-1965-1975/. [Accessed 18 July 2017].4 Mr Black meant english- and Afrikaans-speaking pupils and teachers.

Chapter 5 - Dundee Intermediate School (1929-1931)

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CHAPTER 5 - DUNDEE INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL (1929-1931)

Mr reginald Alfred Banks succeeded Mr Black on 29 January 1929. There were 207 children enrolled at the school. Mr Banks, who was to leave after only 2¼ years at dundee, went on to the Inspectorate, and ultimately the pinnacle, the Superintendent ship, of Natal. But what a 2¼ years! “he came with high ideals and carried them out!” dr Gerald hosking said of him that he was “undoubtedly one of the outstanding figures in the history of education in Natal ... a man among men.”

Mr Banks was born in London in May 1890 and emigrated to Natal with his parents when he was only seven and it had been discovered that he had a weak chest. he attended primary school in camperdown and high school at Maritzburg college. There, he proved to be a good all-round sportsman, played cricket, was a member of the First XV and the Senior Athletics champion. he was regimental Sergeant-Major of the cadet corps and in 1908, after heading the list of Natal candidates in the intermediate B.A. examination, he was awarded a four-year scholarship to cambridge university. At corpus christi college he read for the Natural Science tripos and was awarded the B.A. (hons.) in 1912.


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Mr Banks had set his heart on a career in mining and he spent a year reading up on geology, metallurgy, surveying and engineering, but on his return to South Africa he found the mines disrupted by strikes and – worryingly for one with a “weak chest” – rife with the lung disease phthisis. he was persuaded by the offer of a teaching post at Newcastle Intermediate School to switch directions, and he started there in September 1913 at the age of 23. Within three years he was headmaster of utrecht Senior School and four years later he became headmaster of Merchiston! Then he returned to northern Natal as headmaster of dundee Secondary School and three years later, on 31 March 1931, he was appointed Inspector of Schools. In 1940 he became chief Inspector and then in 1941 he succeeded Mr F d hugo as director of education. After 40 years in education he retired – then he served another 17 years in a temporary capacity in the provincial Library Services (which he had founded in 1950). Mr Banks died in July 1980 at the grand age of 90.

Mr Banks summed up his new school and, four months into his term, on 7 May 1929 he “discussed a few questions with the staff: establishment of a prefect system, improvement in the morning assembly by a VIth [Sixth] Former reading a portion of Scripture, raising funds for purchase of pictures for classrooms.”

Mr W o W Schroeder recollects: “When I arrived at the high school I was in Standard 6 and Mr Banks was headmaster. our morning assemblies, out in the open, in the vast emptiness of what was called a quadrangle: the space now occupied by the first hall, presently used as the staff room – with gravel underfoot and an open sky above us. The whole school, indeed, in those years consisted of that single ancient block, now the administrative emporium in a bustling major ‘factory.’”

“My most vivid memories of those days are a simple picture with all of us gathered there for prayers and ‘orders of the day’ and Mr Banks in his gown and ginger hair, looking like a fierce and fearless Viking warrior in his glory, against the wall with a beam of sunlight heightening the dramatic effects of one’s fanciful imagination! In retrospect, I knew in time that behind that imposing countenance there was to be found a gentle and sensitive soul, just and sensible: a great headmaster.”[1]

There was no prefect system in the early 1920s, but the eight house captains (four boys, four girls) did more or less what was expected of prefects in later years. “discipline was never a matter of great difficulty,” he later wrote, “but in order that the senior boys and girls might gain some experience in controlling others and seeing certain school problems from the administrative side, the prefect system was instituted.” The first prefects and the house captains were awarded with their badges in a ceremony in Assembly on Tuesday 28 January 1930. In 1994 a new body, elected by the pupils themselves (fitting for a new, democratic dispensation pervading the land) to represent them to the school management, was the “Student council.” This has become, in some ways, a more powerful group than even the prefects’ body in the school.

1 “Let us now praise Famous Men” by Mr W o W Schoeder: centenary Magazine 1984.


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An old student, back at his alma mater in 1963 after thirty years’ absence, remembered that “where the hall [the present Staff room] now stands there was an empty gravelled space, used for morning assembly, and by the girls for ‘drill’ – often conducted by the house captains, who had quite a number of duties in the days before prefects were introduced. In 1934 the hall was built. Now so inadequate, it was then the be all and end all – or so we thought – of our desires.”[1]

Also under Mr Banks’ direction, steps were taken to develop the boys’ hostel fields (two blocks away, down Tatham Street) as a type of sport complex, for rugby and hockey fields and a cricket oval, and, of course, the tennis court. A most modest gum pole and grass “pavilion” was erected at one side, too. In 1995 those grounds and the gracious headmaster’s house were “made back” to the dundee Municipality which, in turn, granted them to dundee Aged care. A few dozen two- and three-bedroom houses were built on the old grounds and made available as life rights cottages for retired people known as the eventide Mews complex. The headmaster’s house, first made over to the school from the roads Inspectorate in January 1938, is now known as the “Big house” by the “oldies” and it is used for their communal activities. In September 1958 it was intended to convert it to be used as an annexe to the burgeoning girls’ hostel; but headmasters continued to use this beautiful National Monument as their home up until des Krantz’s time, in 1992. on 8 May 1957 history was made when a telephone was installed in the house that was then occupied by Mr Burger.

Mr Banks was on the academic war-front too: he took advantage of the Matriculation regulations that had recently come into force to broaden the range of available subjects. “Geography was introduced . . . as an alternative to Latin, and Bookkeeping to history. The Geography option (hardly surprisingly) immediately jumped into favour.” he had accomplished what a string of headmasters had striven to do for decades, against the better judgement of a longer string of inspectors: it sounded the death knell to Latin in dundee.

Yet all was not mere ‘fun and games’ for him, for on 23 october 1929 the headmistress of the Junior School informed him that it had come to her notice that certain boys residing at the Boys’ hostel had done certain wanton damage in the town on the evening of Friday 18 october. The young felons, L Meyer, d Zietsman, N Lundin, d combrink, W Strydom and c pieters, had been granted permission to attend a lantern lecture (a type of slide show) at the Wesleyan hall when they had chosen rather to remove a signal lamp from the railway line, pull up flowers and cut a hose-pipe in the grounds of the swimming baths and cut the tyre of a motor car standing in the street. The police and magistrate and headmaster conferred, the boys were given a tongue-lashing-from captain Lane of the “law”, and they were each administered six strokes from the suitably indignant Mr Banks!

Maybe it was as well that Mrs Margaret Shennan, a leading light in the Woman’s christian Temperance union worldwide came to address the scholars on “Moral education” on Friday 1 November 1929.

1 “Looking Back” by an old Student: School Magazine 1963.


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A school, for Mr Banks, was not “a sausage machine which processes tens of thousands of young people through anaemic curricula”[1] but a serious institution preparing young people for life. “Last year you were warned [by his predecessor, Mr Black] that it was very difficult for children who had only passed Standard VI [6] to find suitable employment,” he said to pupils and parents. “The position is unchanged. It is practically essential for children to have passed Standard VII [7] to obtain anything more than a blind-alley job, whilst their chances will be greatly increased by allowing them to pass Standard VIII [8].”

Being part of the colonial system had its advantages in transfers, too. on 13 September 1929 Mr Banks reported, “Mr B. J. Lindahl B.Sc. who has obtained an appointment in the education dept. of Kenya colony left today” on transfer North. Five years later, his colleague from dundee, reg pearse, paid him a visit at his new school, the prince of Wales School (now named the Nairobi School). reg was jealous! “I have seen many beautiful buildings, but few that have impressed me more than this place. It is one of [Sir herbert] Baker’s... That it was a boys’ school was unbelievable... The staff room, equipped with a telephone, bell-pulls to the dormitories and the school bell, easy-chairs done in leather... The dining-room – a large hall – more like a hotel than a school; dormitories and classrooms all the same... Science lecture rooms – fitted with epidiascope – gymnasium; everything, in fact, that you can think of. They even have their own cinema, and get films every Saturday night for a school show. Lindahl’s own rooms were tastefully furnished – bedroom, sitting-room, and small pantry. I confess, when I thought of poor old dundee school, I was green with envy.”[2] one can gather by reverse deduction, that these were not facilities that dundee Intermediate School possessed, even in 1935!

1 Jansen 2017: 13.2 pearse 1935: 106.

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Chapter 6 - Dundee High School (1931-1945)

CHAPTER 6 - DUNDEE HIGH SCHOOL (1931-1945)

In 1931, Mr Banks handed the school on to one of Natal’s – indeed, one of South Africa’s – finest headmasters; a man who knew dundee School intimately and who was prepared to cut his stamp on its weal: Mr John William hudson. “For the school-mastering profession J W was clearly destined. he had a profound belief in the importance of the teacher and great responsibility resting on him. What the boy is, what the schoolmaster is, he believed, was much more vital than all the yard-sticks of intelligence quotients, statistical records, the investigations of psychologists and psychiatrists. . .” he brought a noble and high calling to dundee and influenced hundreds of young lives – and teachers too – with his call to excellence. dundee School was yet again in worthy hands.

What then were the attributes of this remarkable educationist? Inspector “Jock” McLeod recollected: “...poetic destiny ordained that the present headmaster (J W hudson), then is now full of enthusiasm, should be the first of a number of assistant teachers (who were products of Natal’s own high Schools and university) who were to infuse new life and vigour into classroom and playing field at the School he very soon succeeded not only in putting the teaching of his own subject on a new high plane, but in launching a games organization that, slowly at first but steadily, grew into the vitalizing power that it is today”.

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According to Mr McLeod the four headmasters of the School who were known to him (Messrs. Gray, Black, Banks and hudson) all possessed the qualities that went to the making of a great headmaster. In addition they had “the power of visualizing a definite education objective and an invincible determination to achieve it; faith in the moral worth of honest, intelligent effort in work and play; and (one that is perhaps too often forgotten in life), to refuse to be discouraged when means are limited but rather to make the very utmost of the means at hand”.

“John Willie”, as hudson was commonly known, had a high regard for headmaster Mr Archie Gray on whose staff he served in the early Twenties, but one cannot fail to note that he admired those qualities in Mr Gray which were very much his own forté. hudson recalls that he was a human man who “worked as he expected his Staff to work and from them he extracted much, ….he produced Gilbert and Sullivan operas with School children (Mr hudson dragooned his members of Staff into the productions of the local drama Society) and he urged the importance of games which had put athletics and swimming on a sound footing and he taught arithmetic as I have never seen it taught before!”

his close involvement with the pupils of the school is evident from dr Gerald hosking’s recollections: “he taught mathematics, coached the 1st cricket team, ran the debating Society and kept us on our toes, for he was something of a martinet”. Mr W o W Schroeder, the witty and fluent scribe of dundonian memories recalls, “And so he enjoyed playing the tyrant. Yet whenever in the matric class he took for Maths and Science (on Saturdays) he had reduced the boys to tears and the girls to fainting, he always proved himself the perfect gentleman by never letting us go home without coming to apologise to the class: for being abrupt with us and impatient!”

And how was success at the end of the year to be assured? “It is the earnest endeavour prior to the final effort in december (the academic year ended very late in those days) which is of most value. honest, steady work in these coming months will earn its full reward (STRENUIS ARDUA CEDUNT). ”

There was a very real chastisement for those who languished in the aftermath of the strenuous J c exams (Junior certificate) of the Fourth Form (standard 8):“We sometimes wish the Fifth (standard 9) would realise this more fully, and not regard its residence in that form room as a period of recuperation and frivolity after the herculean labours in the Fourth. They leave us, we fear, with Augean stables to clean when they arrive in the Sixth (Standard 10).”[1]

1 dundee Secondary School Magazine No. 2, August 1922.

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And then the words of wisdom and sound advice contained in the editorial of the fourth and last edition of the Magazine (evidently none of his colleagues saw fit to take over from Mr hudson): “At such a school as ours there are opportunities, great opportunities for the building up of an institution which can take its place among the best schools of the province. This rests entirely with you, and it is your efforts both in school and on the sports’ field, which go towards building up the traditions of your school. Never forget that the general tone of the school depends to a very large extent on your own actions and character. Try to play the game in every department of life and in everything you do. remember that it is you yourself who are responsible for the honour and moral tone of your school.”

By no means physically a big man, John Willie nevertheless possessed an authority and an aura which commanded the respect and immediate attention of anyone in his presence. W o W Schroeder says, “Whenever he came into the staffroom, all idle chatter ceased; there was a spontaneous, respectful silence and all, which means just everyone, smartly got to his feet until he heard: Be seated, gentlemen. Then Mr hudson’s clear and articulated voice was all one heard.”

“came the morning at assembly, where also silence reigned supreme and Mr hudson was speaking to the school, suddenly he stopped short, in dramatic manner, and in the ensuing silence laden with potential disaster, just looked at the back wall, opened his eyes a shade wider and said: That boy there, cleaning his nails, will you get up and go to my office. [And] no less than three boys got up in various parts of the hall and walked to the office.”[1]

The authority of Mr hudson over his staff was supreme. Mr h M Baxter remembered that finding a master to accompany teams to fixtures over weekends (and by train it nearly almost meant the whole weekend) was very straight-forward in those days. Being the youngster on the Staff he would simply be instructed: “Mr Baxter, you will accompany the teams to Vryheid this weekend”. plans for a private weekend – there were none! Mr Baxter, who was the first ex-pupil to join the staff in January 1931, lived at 72 Willson Street in dundee and was a keen member of holy Trinity presbyterian church and played hockey for Natal. Amongst his first scholars in standard 5 was Gerald hosking. Mr Baxter became Mr hudson’s Assistant Master (the equivalent today of a deputy principal) and he progressed in 1951 to become the well-loved headmaster of richmond primary School until he retired in 1970 after 39 years in the teaching profession.

John Jackson mentions in a letter, “…our headmaster in the Thirties, Mr J W hudson, was most gentlemanly; he even took his pipe out of his mouth and raised his hat in return to a greeting from one of his pupils”. Mr erich Landsberg, deputy headmaster in 1984, wrote that he could personally vouch for these sentiments, “for such was the demeanour of the then retired gentleman I got to know quite well as a schoolboy and student on many a visit to his cottage at 72 Willson Street Scottsville, pietermaritzburg.” his daughter, Gwyneth Montgomery (née hudson), was also a dundee high School pupil and she had been Mr Landsberg’s Matric class teacher at Greytown high School in 1959.

1 “Let us now praise Famous Men” by Mr W o W Schroeder.

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“Besides Mr hudson’s pipe (he referred to it as his Lady Nicotine) and hat, a walking stick was also a constant companion, and they were not forsaken when posing for a school group photograph! All in all a polished gentleman with a very striking appearance, resonant voice (which he used to good effect as ‘the very model of a modern Major-General’ in the production of the ‘Pirates of Penzance’ by Gilbert and Sullivan which our class was fortunate enough to attend at the university of Natal in pietermaritzburg in the late Fifties!) and a good deal of personal charm. his self-discipline and zest for hard work set an example to his children, his pupils and his subordinates alike, but the latter did cause the former to suffer whilst he was devising some new mathematical problems en route to some destination; his attention and awareness would stray from the actual (and very critical) business in hand . . . keeping the family car on the road!”

In 1934 “John Willie” was appealing to everyone who could profit by it to “seize the opportunity of obtaining Secondary education”. his staff of 18 specialist teachers were qualified and able to provide a sound general Secondary education (four year post Standard 6) or a specialised commercial course – “designed primarily to provide a useful two-year course for those who do not wish to proceed to Matriculation” (up to standard 8) and extended by a further two years of study in commercial subjects to enable students to qualify for clerical posts. (The choice, as Miss evans points out, was therefore quite simple and not as utterly confusing as the multiple choices of subject packages of today. It was “straight six” for Matric – nor nix!)

The cost of education in those days? A princely £10 (r20.00 – then) per annum comprised as follows: School fees (standard 10 pupil): £2.10.0 (r5.00). Books: £5.0.0 (r10.00). Sports fees: £1.0.0 (r2.00). Mr Schroeder reminded us in 1992[1] that when he was “booked in” to the school in 1932 it was in the middle of the dreadful economic depression which started with the 1929 “Wall Street crash.” As a result, dundee itself had reached a static period in its existence where for 16 years or so not a single house or new building was erected in the town. Few shops still operated in the town; business was terribly slack and many businessmen were completely desperate. That the new School hall was erected (now, the Staff room) in 1934 was almost a wonder.

1 personal letter: Mr W o W Schroeder.

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It was, in fact, part of a government move to resuscitate the country financially by decentralising administration. More and more, dundee, with its proximity to centres such as Vryheid, Ladysmith and Newcastle, which increasingly became the base for departments such as the roads Inspectorate, the Schools Inspectorate, the public Works Inspectorate, the public Building Inspectorate, the Mining commissioner and the regional Library for Northern Natal.

on the night of Wednesday 28 March 1934 the school office was broken into by burglars and the safe was removed. It was discovered later in the showgrounds (today’s sports fields), battered but with its contents intact. Mr hudson reported that “the police are investigating.” The tribulations that are heaped upon the already heavy administrative load of a school principal!

The demand did not justify a complete secondary course through the medium of Afrikaans fifty years ago, “but all pupils in the school study the second language and all are urged to sit for the Taalbond certificates”. Mr hudson reported that “there is no doubt that the great majority of our scholars are becoming thoroughly bilingual”. The Soe had as early as February 1929 reported that he was “very pleased indeed to see the obviously good condition in which Afrikaans finds itself in your school!” (The study of Afrikaans had commenced in August 1921 at the dundee Secondary School).

Mr hudson’s concern for his pupils’ academics and the need for them to succeed is perhaps best illustrated by the statistics of the results of the matriculation examinations at the beginning and at the end of his principalship at dundee high School. In 1930 eight pupils entered for these vital examinations, three passed and five failed, but in 1936 there were only two failures out of the 23 entries and they subsequently passed the supplementary exam in February 1937 to score an unprecedented 100% pass rate.

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cultural activities thrived as Gilbert and Sullivan shows were produced, cultural evenings were held on Fridays during which debates took place or lectures were given, and a radiogram purchased “so that we may listen not only to lectures, but also to good music when it is available”. he believed that work in the classroom and on the games field had to consist of “brisk, continuous action”. A child had to be taught that effort is required to learn, but these intensive sessions were to be relieved by periods of relaxation and cultural appreciation in “the library, the music lessons, and in the radio. I believe in cultural education along the lines I have indicated”.

putting on a concert was a cultural activity in its own right for it hopefully would teach pupils “something of chorus singing and (could serve) to give them an interest in music”. Mr hudson’s enthusiasm shines through his report of 28 June 1932: “A concert & cantata was given in the dundee Theatre last night. It was a wonderful success in every way. The proceeds are to be devoted to the development of the school playing fields.” This passion for fine music is hardly surprising, for Mr hudson had been born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in england and he was gifted with such a fine singing voice that at the age of eight he was singing solos in the ancient cathedral in durham. It was because his father, a civil engineer, had relocated his family to durban (where Mr hudson attended durban high School), that South Africa was blessed with one of its great headmasters.

having first taught at highbury preparatory School from 1911, Mr hudson enlisted with the heavy Artillery and took part in the South West African campaign. one of his comrades in arms recalled how “John Willie” climbed out their trenches one starlit night and started singing, loudly and beautifully. Whilst admiring his ability – and, no doubt, his foolhardiness – his unit was convinced that the nearby Germans would gun down the balladeer; but as the current headmaster, Mr rudi haschke would attest, “Germans have always appreciated good music!”

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returning from the war front, Mr hudson taught briefly at durban preparatory high School before leaving for the Smuts campaign in German east Africa (today, Tanzania). Boarded back home with a heart complaint in 1917 he enrolled at the young Nuc and graduated with a BA in 1919. he taught mathematics and physical science for a brief year at his alma mater, dhS (the other one), before his posting to dundee in 1920. having been sent in 1926 to teach at Maritzburg college, he was visited in March 1931 by the director of education, dr Lorum, who asked him to become an inspector of schools. “I told him I did not want to be an inspector, because I preferred to teach. he then asked me what I wanted, and I said, ‘I want college’. he replied, ‘You won’t get it unless you go into the country for experience’. I said I was prepared to do that, and he promptly said, ‘Will you go to dundee at easter?’ I replied, ‘Yes’. A few days later the headmaster, Mr pape, called the school together and bade me an official farewell”.[1] This account demonstrates well the focus and decisiveness of a man who knew exactly where he wished to go.

What then about sport? “John Willie was mad about sport”, says old scholar Frank hardy. he believed implicitly that “the soundness of a school is, in a large measure, to be found in the soundness of its team games”. Besides getting the house System of sport established when he was a master on Gray’s staff in the early Twenties, he was instrumental in getting that “new sports complex” established on the grounds of the Senior Boys’ hostel that consisted of a rugby field, a hockey field, a tennis court and a kiosk. A cricket pitch was later built on the rugby field and this allowed two cricket games to be played simultaneously on these grounds. This “complex” was named after Mr hudson and the shadowy remains of it can still be seen to this day. how he would have loved the magnificent facilities in the hosking Fields (the old dundee Showgrounds)! Before these facilities were centralised on the hudson Fields they had played on the cricket field at the show-grounds – except for the month of June each year when they were needed to prepare for the Show – by courtesy of the Agricultural Society.

Sport was compulsory for pupils and a great many games and activities were catered for. The teams excelled in athletics, swimming (the first swimming sports were held on 25 February 1933), shooting (girls also participated in this activity with marked success), hockey and tennis. The old Boys Trophy, presented by the old scholars of the school, was competed for annually by the four School houses. It is interesting to note that soccer was displaced by rugby as the official school game only in 1924. In 1929 Banks was “particularly gratified in securing a victory over Vryheid in rugby, a feat which has, I understand, never before been achieved.”

Mr hudson laid the foundations of cricket at the school in the years 1920-1925 and he was himself a keen golfer, cricketer and rugby player who played for local club teams in his days. reg pearse coached athletics and organised a successful sports day. It was Mr Attridge’s responsibility to manage hockey in the school.

Sports teams travelled as far as pietermaritzburg and durban to compete against teams of high schools such as durban high School and Maritzburg college. Journeys by train took most of the weekends and were exhausting.

1 haw 1988: 296.

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In 1934 the Jubilee of the dundee School – the 50th anniversary of its founding – coincided with the opening of the School hall (the present Staff room) on 12 december by the Administrator of Natal, the honourable h Gordon Watson, I.S.o.[1] in the presence of a large and distinguished gathering. The hall had been a much needed, and long overdue, facility at the school and even the national Minister of the Interior, public health and education, Jan h hofmeyr, was pleased. “An Assembly hall,” he said, “can do much to teach us that the school is more than the sum total of staff and scholars”, and this was echoed by Mr F d hugo, the Soe: “here will be held in the morning, assembly that serves to make the whole school feel one, and that provides that valuable opportunity for speaking a word of warning, of encouragement, of inspiration – that word which may influence boys and girls for good throughout their lives.”

Mr Banks’ successor, Mr hudson, was also convinced of the necessity for getting his school community together and on a regular basis. “during the time I had been head of various schools I became more and more convinced that the morning assembly of the whole school was a potent factor in stimulating the corporate life of the school, and I took steps to make this ceremony more elaborate” – which involved opening each day with a reading of a portion from the Bible, and with prayer; a custom which continues to this day, in twice-weekly assemblies and classroom devotions.

1 Since 1993 this is a disused British decoration, the Imperial Service order. established by King edward VII in 1902, it was awarded on retirement to the administration and clerical staff of the civil Service throughout the British empire for long and meritorious service.

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Mr hudson was determined that the hall should be the centre of corporate life in the school. It would be the centre at which the school would hold annual concerts and Speech days. When the new School hall was constructed in 1964, the “1934 model” was converted into a magnificent staff room, surely the most spacious and gracious of its kind at any school in the province!

It must have been a great relief for Mr hudson to have a venue where prize distributions could be conducted in dignity, far away from the “hooligan element” which had bothered him in december 1931 when this function was still held at the dundee Theatre. There were many people in town whose attitude was merely “This is a free show.” consequently there was a tremendous crowd and its behaviour detracted from the dignity of the proceedings. The following year, on 15 december 1932, prize Giving was held at the school and it was a “dignified and well attended ceremony. “Another milestone was reached when on August 30, 1935, he was informed by the Acting Soe, Mr Lawlor that the school was henceforth to be known as dundee high School. It had finally come of age!

Back in october 1899, 21 000 Boers had unexpectedly invaded Natal and, for the British garrisons that had thought that they had been encircling the Boers’ republics, the Second Anglo-Boer War had begun. Burghers besieged Ladysmith for 118 days but on Thursday 2 November the last train to leave town before they cut the railway link steamed south to pietermaritzburg. on board was Mrs Sarah pearse and also Major General John French and his chief of Staff, Major douglas haig.[1] They all had their backs to the engine because it was being “riddled with bullets.”[2] Sarah’s husband Frederick feared for her health and safety and wisely sent her (and the baby she was expecting), away from the inevitable siege; General White felt that his senior staffers would be of more use outside Ladysmith than being locked in. on the afternoon of 1 March 1900 Lord dundonald (with war correspondent Winston churchill by his side) entered Ladysmith and the siege was lifted. Ten days after the siege was lifted by General Buller on 9 March 1900, the baby (and Mr hudson’s deputy), reginald oliver pearse, was born and in time the family moved back to Ladysmith.

reg matriculated at Ladysmith Secondary School in 1917 and at the beginning of 1918 he went to Nuc in pietermaritzburg to study law, like his father. halfway through his course, however, he changed to education and obtained a BA in 1920. In June 1922 he obtained a “union T.1” (a teaching certificate) and in december of that year he gained his MA.

during his university years, reg and his two close friends, Alan paton and cyril Armitage, became enthusiastic hikers, debaters and members of the Students’ christian Association. Alan – a serious scientist and later the famous author of Cry the Beloved Country – recalls reg saying, “Let’s hike to dundee for the weekend”; and they did, a distance of 224 kilometres, sleeping where they could along the road!

1 Both French and haig would achieve great military heights in the First World War; and notoriety for the excessive bloodshed of the men under their command.2 doyle 1987: 129.

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The three organised camps for school boys at umgababa on the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal, and when reg was appointed by the education department to dundee Intermediate School in January 1923, Alan to Ixopo high School and cyril to Maritzburg college, they continued with these camps. Then, from 1927, they were joined by one of the most remarkable South Africans, Jan hendrik hofmeyr. “hoffie” as every camper, old to young, called him, was a renowned genius. By 17 he held three degrees, was a published author; a graduate of oxford and a professor by 21; principal of the university of Witwatersrand by 24; and Administrator of the Transvaal province in 1924 at 29. he was later deputy prime Minister under Jan Smuts ... and he frolicked in the south coast sands and played rugby and cricket (most enthusiastically) and counselled young men in the ways of faith.

reg spent eleven happy years at dundee School, becoming vice-principal and sports master. on 25 March 1927 he received the following report on his class work: “he made his Geography lesson most interesting on regional lines; his use of comparative maps, diagram and picture rendered his lessons very clear; and the children followed almost breathlessly, and took their good share in answering all round the class.”

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on 18 december 1928, he married his “chum”, edith McKenzie (Audrey Gale’s younger sister). Being good with his hands and a confident mechanic, he took long leave from April to July 1933 to undergo an epic journey that he would talk about for the rest of his life. With almost inconsequential recklessness (but great faith) they travelled from dundee up through central Africa through east Africa and to the north of uganda... in a Model T Ford, his “Tin Lizzie”![1] en route they enjoyed tea with friends in dannhauser, breakfast in Newcastle, late lunch with “hoffie”[2] and his mother (and a tour of pretoria), and on, up, enjoying the hospitality of old friends, new ones, and of acquaintances of dundee friends, all the way up Lake Nyasa (Malawi) to the north of uganda. A cracked sump took the pearses from Lake Malawi to uganda and back to Tanganyika (Tanzania) before it was welded up in Northern rhodesia (Zambia).

No day was complete without reg typing up his recollections at length. on their return, he sent the letters and some photographs to William Blackwood & Sons of edinburgh, asking if they thought them interesting enough to form the basis for a book. To his surprise, and many months later, a large box that had been posted in england arrived for him. Without the need for rewriting, “Blackwoods” had gone ahead and printed his first work, “Empty Highways: Ten Thousand Miles by Road and Lake through East and Central Africa”.

1 “We knew about the trip to east Africa,” says Barry Symons, who was a scholar at estcourt high School in the 1960s, “as he often gave us lectures on the subject during what he called Sunday evening hours which were supposed to inculcate some form of culture in to us rebel children.” he continues: “ I have tried to model my own life on that of ‘The Boss’ (as we called him), because he led by example. he was a fantastic headmaster.”2 Jan hofmeyr was now Minister of three diverse portfolios for the government of the union of South Africa: education, Interior, and public health; and he was persuaded to give reg a very useful letter of introduction to educational establishments that they encountered along the way. reg used it often on the trip.

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After five months as acting headmaster of Glencoe primary School in 1933 he returned to dundee Intermediate School, but in January 1935 he returned to Maritzburg college for a short spell. With him on that staff were his old pals, Alan paton and cyril Armitage. (Mr Armitage, who served also at harward School in pietermaritzburg, also became a prominent headmaster, of port Shepstone high School.) Then reg was promoted to the post of headmaster of Newcastle high School, where he spent five years and in June 1941 he was appointed headmaster of estcourt high School where he spent 24 years until his retirement at the end of 1965. In 1973 the book for which he is best known, and that made him a household name in South Africa, Barrier of Spears: Drama of the Drakensberg, was published. By the time he retired, estcourt had conferred civic honours on him. he “remained a mental giant until the very end”[1] and died in 1995, a few weeks after his 95th birthday.

1 pearse 2006:360.

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A boy who obtained a second-class pass in Matric in 1936 was Gerald, son of Senator and Mrs henry hosking. Gerald was born in dundee in 1919 and was in the same class as his friend and later colleague at Ned head office, Mr W o W Schroeder. They passed through both dundee Junior and dundee high Schools, obtaining their Junior certificates in 1934. dr hosking furthered his education at Nuc and at the university of London and he was awarded a phd in linguistics from Natal university. Whilst serving in the South African artillery in the Second World War dr hosking was awarded an Mc (Military cross).

After having taught at Weston Agricultural college, estcourt high School and at Stanger high, he held various head office posts before being appointed to its zenith as director of education, a post that he held from 1977 until 1982. The history of the Ned, Taking Stock, says that he “struck those who worked with him as having a somewhat military bearing and leadership style as befitted the recipient of a Military cross. Some found him a little remote at a time when current mores were towards more democratic leadership styles; but he was a man of integrity who set high moral standards for the profession he headed.

Mr hudson’s transfer on promotion on 25 March 1937 to Glenwood high School was, however, so sudden that it took almost two months before his successor was appointed and took up the post as the new headmaster of the young dundee high School on 17 May 1937. his successor at dundee high School was Mr r B Niven who had come from Ixopo and was to guide the destinies of the school during the difficult years of the Second World War, which presented its own set of problems of hardship and staff shortages.

Mr hudson’s closing words in the headmaster’s Log Book were: “My six years in dundee have been most happy years and it is with much regret that I leave a school & staff so loyal to me, even though my transfer is on promotion.”

during the interim period Mr M p Marais who taught history had stood at the helm as Acting principal. how proud he must have been to serve his beloved school in this capacity and how keen and faithfully he logged every single newsworthy item at the school in that brief period, and how happily he reported on 19 April 1937 that the “rugby XV defeated Vryheid by 24 to 11.” he concludes: “I am very pleased.” And well pleased he must have been for, Mr hudson had revisited dundee over that weekend (to see his family and attend the match?) and “he seems satisfied.” By an ironic twist of fate Mr Marais later became the principal of Vryheid high School!

he was a very enthusiastic sportsman and partisan coach who would endeavour to extract whatever advantage he could for his team or school. Indeed, dr Gerald hosking calls him “a real character. Totally partisan, he would argue with judges, umpires and referees if he thought that his team was not getting a square deal as he saw it!” The shock of Marais’ death is evident from this entry in Burger’s log book on 19 March 1962: “Mr M. p. Marais ... on Saturday, at an inter-school swimming gala, died from a heart attack “. The swimming bath at Vryheid high School is named after him.

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Mr Marais would have been well aware of the “run-in” hudson had had with a member of staff in 1936, of whose work he could say that he was not happy. “There is something wrong but I cannot fathom it at present,” he wrote. So Mr hudson attempted to have the unfortunate person transferred to empangeni; which fell through; but he succeeded in ridding himself of the problem by his removal to teach in Vryheid ... where he would have become Mr Marais’ problem in time!

Mr r B Niven then became the custodian of the well-oiled machine which was dundee high School. of the school’s fine reputation earned during hudson’s time, the Mpc, h S K Simpson, wrote in his foreword to the commemorative Brochure: “You have to your credit a record which in proportion to numbers cannot be beaten in this province both in examination results and in sport.”

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Not much is known about the man, Mr Niven or of the years of his principalship at dundee high School. only the barest facts with little historical value were recorded in the log book and no school magazine was published annually until 1948, three years after Mr Jennings had taken over from Mr Niven. It has, however, been possible to establish that he was a self-effacing man who did what was necessary to keep the school functioning smoothly and efficiently, and an ex-member of his staff recalls that he was an avid golfer (Greytown country club Golf champion 1927) and a devoted Freemason.

But then, the groundwork had been thoroughly done and the school continued to produce its crop of records and achievements both academically and on the sports fields for dundee high School had been fortunate in the calibre of teachers it had serving on the staff in those years just as in the years of its infancy.

It is interesting to have a rough survey of what old scholars found to do with their lives. In the 1948 School Magazine 98 are listed. one old scholar was still a student.

FARMING EDUCATION HEALTH PROFESSIONS LAW ACCOUNTANCY BUSINESS

21 17 13 8 6 4

ADMINISTRATION ELECTRICIAN MINING SURVEYING ARCHITECTURE UNKNOWN

5 3 2 1 1 10

of these old scholars, 36 had chosen to remain or return to the dundee-Glencoe area, and it gives not only an impressive indication of the potency of a dundee high School education seventy years ago (in that so many obtained university degrees), but also it is a fair reflection on the skills needed in this thriving town.

This list says there were thirteen in the “medical professions”. of these, there were three veterinary surgeons and three doctors; two dentists; one psychologist; one pharmacist; one chiropractor; one nurse; and one health inspector. of the four in “business”, two ran their own businesses and two worked for others. Then there is the category that one has loosely named “Administration”. Two of these old scholars were the mayor, hamish G Smith (in his second term), and his wife, Ivy Smith (née durham), who lived at “Bellevue”, 95 Smith Street (the former home of West and petrie Thorrold).

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There were eight “attached to the law”. of these, Gordon Alexander Allan King, son of robert King, a civil engineer of the Bungalow, dundee, had studied at the Transvaal university college (probably today’s “Tuks”, the university of pretoria), and then had been admitted to the Inner Temple in London on 9 January 1920 – where Mohandas Gandhi had also studied. Mr King kept rooms at 24 Welbeck Street and he was called to the Bar (in other words, he was a barrister) on 20 April 1921.[1] others of the eight “legal eagles” were A A (“Sandy”) Kennedy, also a barrister (and future Natal high court judge); S M Tatham who was the recently-retired registrar of deeds for Natal; W A Burton and A J A (“Tufty”) Turton, both magistrates, the former in eshowe, the latter in Ingwavuma; and three others who were practising attorneys.

one of the first new “staffers” that Mr Nixen was to welcome, on 5 August 1937, was the grandly-named Mr erling Stephan B de T Meydell; and Mr Nixen spelled it out fully in his Log Book! Another glaring example of misogyny is the following: “Miss M A Muggleston relinquished duty on 26th June [1941] on the occasion of her marriage and resumed duty [on 28 July 1941] as Mrs Alexander as a temporary assistant.” Gone was her permanent appointment! until the 1980s women teachers with similar qualifications and years of experience as their male counterparts were paid on a lower level than men, purportedly because “men were the breadwinners of their families”.

In a time when bursaries were needed by some to stay on at school, paul Nicolaas (“Nico”) hansmeyer was awarded a “Standard VIII [8] Bursary” in 1936 and he and his brother, Louis Leon hansmeyer, required one each in 1938. Their father had become very ill and died in 1937, but Nico ploughed ahead to matriculate with a first-class pass and to be Academic dux in 1938. Leon also passed his Matric first-class and he too was dux, in 1940. But there was no money in the family for them to study further. Nico, therefore, went underground as an ordinary miner at randfontein estates Gold Mines in Transvaal. his ability was spotted and he received a bursary to study mining engineering at Wits – which he kept up for two years – but his sense of adventure got the better of him and he joined the SAAF. he saw action on the battlefields of North Africa, Italy and Germany as a Spitfire pilot, but on his return in 1945 he was shocked to discover that his family had disinherited him, because he, as an Afrikaner, had “fought for the english”!

After the war, Nico found employment in the day as a clerk with the department of Bantu Administration in pretoria and after hours he earned a civil Service higher Law certificate. Married to “Babs”, he was transferred every two years and they lived in 34 different houses! Working his way up “through the ranks”, his career took off in 1961 when he was appointed private Secretary to the national Minister of Bantu Administration and development, Mr daan de Wet Nel. This involved doing parliamentary service in cape Town for six months each year.

1 e-mail communication with Ms celia pilkington, Librarian: Inner Temple, London. She says that “According to the Law Lists he seems to have spent most of his career working on the South eastern circuit and in 1941 he was based at 1 harcourt Buildings at the Temple (ec4Y 9dA).

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In 1968, he was appointed as a magistrate to Katima Mulilo in the eastern caprivi Strip, and he often described the three years living there on the banks of the Zambezi river as the most exciting posting he ever had, not only for him but also for his family. It was paradise, coming home and watching the most beautiful sunsets over the half mile wide Zambezi and learning to water-ski from your own garden (while keeping a watchful eye on the hippos on the far river bank), and swimming in the fast flowing river (except in September when the water was low and the crocs were plentiful). on the other hand, watching the Air Force helicopters taking off over their house and office for search and destroy operations and hearing the Security police patrol boats on the river and the chatter of the parabat troops high up in the watch tower amongst the orange trees in their garden reminded the family that “Katima” was a gateway for insurgents en route to South Africa. In fact, the first activity of the new magistrate, wife and teenage children upon arrival was weapons training and they became adept in the handling of r1 automatic rifles and in hurling hand grenades.

After this posting Nico became chief commissioner for the Northern and eastern Transvaal (from 1971 through 1973), then Secretary for the Bophuthatswana Government, followed by an appointment as Secretary of Finance for the “homeland” of KwaZulu. during the three years he was stationed in Nongoma, he developed a warm working relationship with the then chief Minister, prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi.

After returning to head office in pretoria, Nico was asked to be a member of the “commission into the causes of the 1976 riots in Soweto”, chaired by Mr Justice piet cillié. Justice cillié had a high respect for Nico and called “his wide experience and thorough knowledge of the matters under consideration, as well as his open-minded approach to related problems, invaluable.”[1] Two years later, because of the excellent relationship Nico had built with the chief Minister of KwaZulu, prince Buthelezi requested the South African Government that he should return to KwaZulu as commissioner-General. To take up this political position, Nico had to resign from the civil Service (at the age of 58) in order to be appointed South Africa’s representative in ulundi – a position he held from 1979 through 1988.

When requested to comment on the ten years that Nico had spent as commissioner-General, prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi said, “The National party Government [of that day] had a policy of balkanising South Africa into independent states... [and] even though we had not reached the stage of being ‘independent’, the Government in pretoria established a rudimentary frame for ambassadors to the independent states” called commissioners-General.” he commented that “Mr and Mrs hansmeyer were a wonderful couple. Although he represented the Government whose policy we did not support, we had the most cordial relations with him, both at the official level and on a personal level... My wife, princess Irene, and my mother, princess Magogo ka dinuzulu, were very good friends with Mrs hansmeyer...[2] he was universally found to be trustworthy and honest. he was a wonderful christian gentleman. And his disposition was such that Mr hansmeyer also worked very well with our King, King Zwelithini ka Bhekuzulu, and was loved by the community.”

1 cillié report: Terms of reference, 1976: 5.2 personal letter from prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi: 15 November 2017.

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Nico and Babs hansmeyer retired on 31 december 1988 and returned to the first house that they had bought (in 1958) in Lyttelton, centurion. Nico died on 15 May 2004, five weeks after his 83rd birthday. prince Buthelezi said, “As Minister of home Affairs in pretoria, I sometimes stopped at the hansmeyer’s home in pretoria to have a chat and a cup of tea with Mrs hansmeyer after her husband had passed on”.

As for Nico’s brother Leon, he studied at onderstepoort (the university of pretoria) to become a vet and he had his practice in Springs. he was also professor extraordinaire for onderstepoort and final year examiner until his retirement, which meant that all final year students passed through his hands. After retiring at the age of 60, he and his wife elfrieda moved to a farm in Schoemanskloof, close to White river, where he died at the age of 90 in 2013.

Another exceptional scholar and sportsman who matriculated the year in-between Nico and Leon, in 1939, was harold dudley (“harry”) Small. Born in durban on 7 January 1922, harry attended the Berea road primary School (a school with beautiful architecture that, sadly, no longer is a place of teaching and learning) and dundee high School from 1936-1939 – when “cliff” portsmouth was head Boy and playing in the three-quarters. What a team that must have been! harry’s sporting talents were recognised early and he was in that 1st XV from standard 8 through to Matric and he also played 1st XI cricket in his final year.

harry went up to Johannesburg to attend the Government Mining School at crown Mines, then on to “Wits” on a government bursary to study towards a BSc in Mining engineering. As World War II was by then being waged, harry took a break to join the British Merchant Navy seeing active service “on the ocean wave” ferrying goods from 1944 through 1945 as fourth engineer on a ship. he then returned to his studies to complete his BSc (Min eng) in 1946 – and followed it up with a BSc in Geology!

Whilst at Wits, harry excelled in his rugby and played in the varsity 1st XV for three years, captaining the team in 1947. he also played for Transvaal in 1947 (pipped in the currie cup final by Western province), 1948 (beat Wp) and 1949. he also represented the Northern universities against the All Blacks. That year, 1949, he was awarded the coveted rhodes Scholarship and left South Africa to read politics, philosophy and economics (the “Modern Greats”) at St John’s college at oxford university.

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There he was awarded a Full Blue[1] for rugby in 1949 and in 1950 and he had the immense privilege of playing for the British Barbarians in 1949, 1950 and in 1951 and also representing england in rugby against Ireland, Wales, Scotland, France and the British Lions.[2] he was also a member of the oxford and cambridge combined XV that toured his home country, South Africa, in 1951, and was on that tour that he met his future wife, henriette, at rhodes university.

harry worked for the Anglo American corporation in various gold mines and with base minerals, then with diamonds in de Beers and lastly at “Anglo’s” headquarters. For a while he was based as a consultant at Kilembe Mines in uganda “in the middle of nowhere” and it was there that his sons had their formative years. More, especially, of “Bingo” later! he then headed up the Gencor[3] coal mines in Natal and when he retired in 1985, he took up residence again in dundee in Victoria Street. Two of his sons Fergus and Ian (Bingo) matriculated at the high School in 1981 and in 1985 respectively, and his granddaughter, Michelle Small, carried on the proud family tradition, matriculating in 2000.

An old scholar who became a legend at Maritzburg college (where he completed his schooling after having been a pupil at dundee high) was William “Max” castle. At “college”, where he taught from 1946 until 1979, he was renowned as being “a superb teacher with a keen intelligence and great skill at imparting his knowledge to those with any willingness to learn.” he also “was a man who was not known to tolerate the foolish and the idle”, demonstrating “occasional homicidal outbursts of temper during which physical ejectment from the laboratory or classroom was the least of the victim’s worries...”[4] With this in mind, and understanding that boarder masters in their early 20s were (very much) underlings in the professional structure, he would quietly enjoy being coaxed to tell of his “war stories” as part of the South African forces fighting in Italy during the Second World War. one was when he and a friend were strolling in some woods near their base, and they surprised three Germans on patrol. The Germans immediately threw up their hands, shouting “Surrender!” whereupon the astonished Max and his friend marched their prizes back to camp!

Also at the school in the “war years “was Neville Glyn durham, who rode his bicycle four kilometres from his parents’ farm to start standard 6 in 1941. he was descended from the founders of dundee, peter and Ann Smith, but his parents, cecil and Sheila, were not wealthy. In 1927 his father (also an old scholar of the school) bought seven cows from Mr Atwell and kept them in an orange orchard behind their home in Smith Street and his mother sold milk to passers-by. In 1932 cecil moved his family out to “Boschfontein” (now called Glynton Farm) just off the Wasbank road and slowly “orange Grove dairy” expanded. Soon it was delivering milk by bicycle in one-gallon milk cans, then in bottles by mule cart (a practice that only ceased in 1984).

1 A full blue is the highest honour that may be bestowed on an oxford sportsperson and it is much sought after. It demonstrates that the awardee has achieved the level of success at a national level of student competition.2 Another dundee “boy,” Geoff Appleford, represented the england Sevens in 2001 and won a “full” england cap in 2002; but although a schoolboy at dundee Junior School, he completed his high schooling in pietermaritzburg, not at dundee high!3 General Mining corporation.4 haw 1988: 313.

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Glyn was a vigorous, adventurous youngster, always on the go. From the age of 14 he worked on the farm each morning and as soon as he got home from school. In later years, to hear him explaining the art of in-spanning oxen and the psychology behind which animal to place where in a ploughing team and then how to turn over and furrow the lands provided insights into agricultural methods long gone. And yet, as Glyn’s son pete (himself an expert cattleman) says, “dad was way ahead of his time in so many ways with regards to farming practices. he always read profusely and sought knowledge that he could adapt and apply.”

Glyn officially joined his parents in the business in 1945, but by the age of 63 he had the foresight to hand over most of his business to his sons. “orange Grove” has gone from strength to strength, a major employer in the umzinyathi region. 90 years after its founding, “orange Grove” manufactures and distributes over 180 products, its massive trucks plying the roads in every part of KwaZulu-Natal and Swaziland and running deep into Gauteng and Mpumalanga. The Glynton Jersey herd is South Africa’s largest pedigree Jersey herd. dave (who came on board in 1979) manages orange Grove dairy; Mike (who joined in 1981) ran the maize mill “Boxer processing” and Mica Farming enterprises (agriculture and beef); and pete (who started in 1985) handles Glynton Jerseys and Indumeni Farms. Glyn durham died on 23 November 2013, leaving a firm that is a monument to him; but then, so are his innumerable kindnesses and the esteem in which he and his family is held. he had an ability not only to see a need, but also to try to meet that need, and his generosity to his home town is legendary. Glyn’s daughter-in-law, Sue (née Bradley; wife of Glyn’s oldest son, dave) taught Biology at the school from 1980 through 1983.

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Chapter 6 - Dundee High School (1931-1945)Before he left dundee high in 1985, chris piccione, a committed environmentalist, had been working away rehabilitating dongas on Glyn durham’s farm. For some years he and dedicated pupils in his “Science Symposium” would form gabions, filling them with rocks and even planting trees to hold the washaways together. chris knew that it was “a long-term project” and that the reportable results might be years away but they plodded on. Johan Strydom and Leon van Wyk gained success with another project nearer to the school, restoring the ecosystem in the quarries.

There was yet another future agriculturalist at the school in this era, dieter reusch. he had two older brothers, Werner and Martin and their parents were pastor Willie reusch and his wife Agnes (née dieterich) of the uelzen Lutheran congregation. Born on 14 September 1929, as a young child he was already helpful delivering church notices, sometimes by bicycle, to the local farmers. From being a fun-loving youngster at uelzen primary he progressed to dundee high School. even then he “had his eye” on rosemarie Schroeder – of the gigantic local clan! – and they married in 1957; but not before he had qualified cum laude at the university of Natal, pietermaritzburg, with a BSc in genetics and plant breeding. In 1953 he was awarded a scholarship to study at Aberystwyth university in Wales and he travelled there by ship. he attained his doctorate in plant breeding in 1956 and dieter worked at cedara college of Agriculture for a few years before spending five years as a maize breeder in Lichtenburg in the Northern Transvaal.

he was then appointed as senior lecturer and researcher in agricultural genetics at his alma mater university in pietermaritzburg where he was a popular lecturer, though also known for his strict discipline. Barefooted and noisy students would be sent packing from his lecture theatre and he was known to spin around and accurately target a disruptive student with a piece of chalk! he was fascinatingly ambidextrous: he would use his left hand to write on the left side of the blackboard and then continue the notes on the right with his right hand.

As a man of the earth, he loved gardening and planting. he nurtured his children with the vegetables and fruits from his garden in Scottsville and in place of insects fertilizing his delicious pawpaws he personally brushed on the pollen at night with feathers. Following his retirement in 1990 he consulted at cedara, mentoring and inspiring young researchers, and he also became involved in the breeding and development of new varieties of foraging grasses, some of which were named after the grandchildren of whom he was so proud. These proved to be some of his happiest working years.

When dieter and rosemarie moved to the suburb of Montrose, he planted up a semi-forest of indigenous trees in front of the complex, creating a beautiful park, for which he was recognised with a conservancy award. he loved the birds which his plants attracted, and he trained fork-tailed drongo birds to catch morsels of cheese in midflight. every week he physically mowed the lawn of their steep hectare-sized garden until he had a stroke at the age of 82. Woodwork was his passion and the homes of his family and friends were filled with the beautiful furniture and mirrors he made. dieter was a committed man of God and he was ready to meet his Maker. on the Sunday before he died, when the carers at Amberfield Frail care in howick carried him to hear the uplifting songs of his church’s choir, dieter asked his wife rosemarie in sincere belief, “Am I in heaven?”

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dieter reusch’s brothers, Werner and Martin, were educators: Werner in dundee (where he became a renowned judge in athletics and in swimming) and Martin at the old Glencoe high School (where was a very strict but, they say, a very fair history teacher). Werner also “did time” as a boarder master in the Boys’ hostel. An account by an unnamed boarder in 1965 tells of how he and three other boys, Attie, peter and Jock, had been discovered talking (in the old prep room?) one night after midnight. “he did not chase us to bed until he had made use of his famous cricket bat, causing friction with the bases of our spines”! he rose to become headmaster of Ladysmith high School

and, having served some while as deputy head of “Glencoe”, Martin joined the Ned inspectorate, based in pietermaritzburg.

one cannot but notice the inherent stability of the staff of dundee high School in the “war years” despite the disruptive influence that the conflict and National Service had on the males on the staff. Some would be transferred to other schools but would soon be back at dundee high again. Such a person was Mr F J (Frans) hugo who was first appointed on 27 January 1931, and who acted as principal of Glencoe School in 1939 and 1941 and was promoted to Greytown as vice-principal in March 1948. In 1937 he had married a colleague on his own staff, Miss Wahl – “as delicate as a piece of china” – as W o W Schroeder recalls.

In 1961 Mr hugo was back at dundee high School as principal – a post from which he retired in 1971. Mr Schroeder himself was promoted at the commencement of 1965 to become Vice principal of the school. one of a large clan of German families in the area, Mr Schroeder was what is described as a “legend” of a maths teacher – and not averse to applying the “rod of correction to the seat of learning”! Mrs cecelia Gold recalls (with wide eyes) that “he was very strict!” Mr edwin Schroeder (who still farms in the dundee area, having retired from the summit of the once-mighty NLK), recalls how those boys who did not achieve 40% or more in their tests would receive “three of the best”. But not he! he, because he was Onkel Walter’s nephew, would be expected to surpass 80%, or he would be caned! For some years now, a great-nephew of Mr Schroeder, Mr rudi haschke, has been headmaster of the school. The stock of canes is still kept; but never ever used; in enlightened times there are more humane methods of corrective guidance for errant learners!

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of interest (for those who disapprove, anyway, of corporal punishment), here is a poem written by a boy called Tony Meyer that was printed in the 1958 School Magazine. It is based on a famous poem by Jan F e cilliers titled Dis al:

Dis ‘n outjie wat daar buk, [It’s a boy who bends there,]Dis ‘n onnie wat hom pluk, [It’s a teacher that swipes at him,]Dis ‘n lat wat val; [It’s a cane that strikes;]Dis ‘n enkele snik. [It’s a single sob.]Dis al. [That’s all.]

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But the story of Mr Schroeder himself requires some “fleshing out”. Born on 12 october 1915, he was taken out of school after completion of his standard 8 year to farm with his father, Georg. Two years later, he was back in dundee high in standard 9; but at mid-year they promoted him into the Matric class – and he was dux of that year, 1936! he gained a BSc (with mathematics and physics as his majors) at Nuc in durban and, having taught Maths in the city he was appointed to Glencoe high School. put in charge of its sole rugby team, Glencoe played and beat some of the best schools in the province. After teaching at hilton college and then Glencoe again and then serving at dundee high he decided to become a fencing contractor. But he returned to education once more! he applied for the headmastership of Aliwal North high School and, of thirty applicants, he was appointed to the post, serving there until he retired back to his farm “Imitolo”, collecting stories of the area and its stones and offending the authorities of the day with his forthright views!

Another famous member of staff in those days included Jack Albers, a brilliant mathematician about whom Miss Joan evans wrote, “teaching must have been so easy”. Mr Schroeder described him as “the rare genius in mathematics, manners and teaching”. Mr Albers commenced work in February 1934. his niece, Mrs Sherlee Wade, says he could add the numbers on railway trucks on the move and at the end could provide his highly impressed (and stunned!) pupils with the answer. The Sterling monetary system presented no problem either as all three columns were added simultaneously to establish the sum. (how laboriously we used to do battle with this rather complex system, and how lucky our modern-day pupils ought to consider themselves in having the simple decimal system! And calculators!). When in 1978 the original school building was being renovated to become the present Admin Block a blackboard was removed from a wall to reveal a maths problem beautifully set out in Albers’ own immaculate handwriting on the original “blackboard” – a black painted section of the wall!

Talking of Maths teachers, an aside for a post-World War II story, told about david (“Duif”) Vermaak, the late younger brother of Foy Vermaak, the patriarch of the helpmekaar ridge. (The nickname “duif” was probably a schoolboy corruption of his name, “dave”.) “he was our class’s blackboard cleaner. our maths teacher, who spent time fighting in WW2 and was rumoured to suffer from ‘Bomb Shock’, had spent his entire tea break to write the test to be written after break on the board (remember, no duplicating facilities at the time!). As we came in, the teacher was standing at the back of the class. duif gave the blackboard one look and started cleaning the board. The teacher became all the colours of the rainbow and shouted: ‘Ja, Vermaak, vee af, vee alles af!!’ [‘Yes, Vermaak, clean it off, clean it all off!!’] duif, leaning against the blackboard, with one hand on the board duster, looked around and said: ‘Goed meneer’[‘Very well, sir’] and carried on.”

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The principal’s report of 1969 would have helped set “duif’s” teacher’s heart at ease, for, with the help of funding from the education department, it was a time of technological advances: “the overhead projector is used in the Mathematics, Management, Biology and Geography class. This simplifies many things because unnecessary blackboard work is eliminated and instead of wiping away the work done, the film is simply filed.” The school also possessed that bulky, inconvenient device, an epidiascope which, he said “is invaluable in virtually any subject, because where a particular picture is too small to look at, it is now projected against the wall and all can participate in the discussion at the same time.” For years, now, “smart boards” and data projectors linked to the Internet have made the work of the teacher oh! so much more convenient!

“duif” and Foy spent only one year at the same school and in the same hostel as one another. When Foy was in Matric, david was in standard 5. Foy says that their father was a perfectionist; as was david. They were very particular that the right thing should be done at all times. david went on to become the manager of the Government Agricultural research Station near hluhluwe. he was always immaculately and neatly dressed, says Foy, and “an incident I will always remember was in approximately 1950 when we went on our first family holiday to the Kruger park. My mother saved and bought us each a pair of corduroy longs. That term was strange to us farm boys. david was immediately in tears and under no uncertain terms told my mother that he was not going to wear a ‘Kort rooi broek’ [‘short red pants’] and he burst into tears. his eldest son is the split image of him in looks and manners and he is presently the financial manager at Gallagher estates.

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Mr r c McFarquhar, another “legend” and a stern disciplinarian, taught english and was attached to the dundee high School staff for many years from 1936. Mr hudson must have given him a stern talking-to when he arrived, for he says in his report, “I am thoroughly dissatisfied with the english & Science results in Matric. I believe the cause has been rank bad teaching.” McFarquhar must have rectified matters, because he progressed after twenty years to become first the principal of the dundee Junior School (in 1956) and then he was the fearsome headmaster of the Northlands Boys’ high School in durban. he was “a man of great charm and ability... a thoroughbred gentleman by nature: with a film star-smile and a masterful pair of hands – in gloves!” said dr hosking and “no professor or lecturer ever handled a Shakespearean play more memorably than he.” he was the editor of the school magazine in 1948 – the first of an unbroken series since then. on congratulating dundee high with its 1982 magazine, he recalled that he had been “dragooned into the job” by Jennings. Mr McFarquar taught at Maritzburg college for a while after his retirement when he was living in pietermaritzburg.

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he was replaced, on his advancement to the Junior School, by a delightful addition to the history “department”, Miss Ingrid perrett. one can personally attest to her fine understanding of historiography and to her gentle sense of humour. Years later, in 1969, she “critted” this writer’s first “prac lesson” before a class at penzance primary in durban. The topic on the engineering of the mouth was delivered with such enthusiasm that she commented to him, “Well, you really sold teeth to them, didn’t you?!” Miss perrett married and, between penning history books intended for younger readers and compiling history text books that were years ahead of their time[1] and being for many years the lively and efficient Secretary of the durban Branch of the South African Military history Society she completed her doctorate and became known as dr Ingrid Machin.

We salute also Mr h M Baxter, an old boy who joined the staff in 1931 – the first to do so. In 1934 he played hockey for Natal and in 1936 spent the year as an exchange teacher in england. After his spell of National Service in 1940-41 he came back to the school and finally retired as principal of richmond primary School.

Mr Jan Beukes, later a senior man in the Ned, said that his teachers at dundee high “were really ‘salt of the earth’. We respected them because they respected us. They really were our role models.” he had both Solly Levinsohn and Willem van rooyen, future directors of education, teaching him. “As a young teacher [Mr van rooyen] played ‘fly’ with us during breaks!” other teachers he admired were Werner reusch, roy Kirkness (later chief physical planner at the Ned) and ewald Klingenberg, all of whom who also became school principals.

And now, in the interest of rejuvenating the game of “Fly” it is necessary to place here an interjection, courtesy of an expert from all those years ago, Mr Beukes himself: “You draw a line on the playground with your dusty school shoe. Then each player puts both feet on the line and jumps forward as far as possible. Where he lands, the spot is marked. The person who lands closest to the line then bends down on the mark where he landed and the others one by one run op to the line, gather momentum, land on the line with both feet and dive forward, horizontal to the ground, and ‘leap frogs’ the one bending down. The ‘frog’ moves a little forward once all have successfully leaped (or flown) until someone cannot complete his leap. he then has to bend. At this age I would not dare to demonstrate - it is dangerous! We had a few broken collar bones, especially when the ‘frog’ decided to step away.” We are now enlightened and we heartily thank you, Mr Beukes!

1 Such as “history is About people” published by Shuter & Shooter, pietermaritzburg.

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Mr Beukes referred to a Mr Johannes Willem Jacobus (“Willie”) van rooyen who was on the cusp of his career when he joined the staff of dundee high on 12 May 1944. Born in 1921 in Louwsburg, a few kilometres away from what is now the Ithala Game reserve, Mr van rooyen was a large man with a booming voice, fluent in his home language of Afrikaans but also (with a deep accent) in english. he attended Louwsburg primary, became a koshuisbrak (boarder) at Vryheid high School, and then proceeded to study at the Nuc in pietermaritzburg. his first posting had been at Ixopo high School, then Stanger high School, before coming to dundee. After his spell at dundee high School he proceeded on 11 August 1947 to Newcastle high; then he lectured at durban Teachers’ Training college in 1958; and afterwards he was appointed Inspector for the Zululand schools. It was as an inspector that this writer encountered him, both in his classroom and over the lunch table in the Boys’ hostel at empangeni high. he was unfailingly encouraging and his words of upliftment have been carried beyond those way-off years.

he was rugby coach at dundee high in 1957, and the rough-and-ready, ebullient joviality of his report is revealing: “The prospects at the start of this season were certainly not rosy; in fact, it was probably the weakest known at dundee high School for many years. Thirty-two boys over the age of fifteen available as potential first and second-team players! And after only two practices the dreaded polio chose Alfie oldfield as its victim! We were scared, but fate was not done with us yet. Just as we started practising once more Glutz broke his collarbone and two other boys lost interest in rugby. Twenty-eight boys across the two teams from which to choose – it sounds ridiculous, but we did it. ‘how?’ you might well ask. Ah, my brother, there is the art – it’s all a matter of spirit. We could not lose anything (except of course every game) – and there were so many we could win. We decided to play the game in the right mind – just for our enjoyment.”

And so they did play, winning four games, drawing one and losing five. Impressive is that the teams scored 104 points in the season, with only 65 points scored against them. And jolly Mr van rooyen concludes his rugby report with, “our greatest joy was to welcome Alfie back to us in August again. We hope the day is near when he can take an egg again [throw around a rugby ball].” phew! An old school friend tells that Alfie and his younger brother George lived in Glencoe and he did return to school after months of being ill. he says, “The polio issue was very serious and the gala was cancelled that year. one boy [a relative of one of South Africa’s legendary sports administrators] was out of school for six months in our matric year, having his spine straightened.”

Mr Van rooyen has been described, when he was appointed director of education (1984-1986) as follows: “Beneath a playful and at times charming exterior, lurked a steely determination... despite his supreme confidence in his own judgement which made him appear autocratic to many of those who had dealings with him, he had his ear firmly to the ground.”[1] one of Miss evans’ recollections of his time in dundee was his inspiring pupils with ‘n sekere plankie [a certain piece of wood] so that they should not be die agterste os in die kraal [the last ox in the corral] in his science classes!

1 haw 1995: 93.

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A final story of Mr van rooyen: according to Anthony coleman, he had a way of marking first team rugby players, literally. he would come up behind them in the corridors and give each of his boys a smack on the back of his head with a hand soaked in hydrogen peroxide. They would wear their whitened locks as badges of pride! “We worshipped him,” Anthony says!

Another future, renowned headmaster who joined the staff on 25 January 1943 was Mr ewald otto Klingenberg, a German who went on to set up hoërskool port Natal as die vlagskip van Afrikaans in Durban [the flagship of Afrikaans in durban]. he had been born on the farm “uithoek” (the farm of the second in charge of the Voortrekkers at the Battle of Blood river, Karel Landman) in what is now the Glencoe area, on 11 November 1918 and he matriculated at hermannsburg School near Greytown. he, like Mr van rooyen, studied at Nuc in pietermaritzburg and then at the paarl Training college in the cape. Like many “Springbok Germans” (a nickname for South African Germans) even today, he was fluent in his home language, but also in Afrikaans, in english and in isiZulu. Leaving dundee in 1960, he was head of utrecht high School, then was posted back to dundee as deputy head; then on he went in January 1965 to be principal of Stamford hill high School and, at last, in 1966 he became head of hoërskool port Natal. his wife lectured “Infant Teaching” across the road at “dokkies”. Mr Klingenberg was known to be a true gentleman whose integrity could never be doubted. he “set the pace” for those under him, leading by example as an educator, demonstrating exceptional love for children, with his remarkable creation of facilities for his schools, a profound enjoyment of music and also by an impeccable neatness at work and in his person.[1]

Another famous teacher (at least, locally) at this time was Miss Lucy Meakin, who had been principal of a convent school in harrismith. Like Miss c M Bradshaw who taught simultaneously with her, Miss Meakin had been a roman catholic nun. Miss Bradshaw was “an outstanding teacher of history, who later became a valued member of the staff of Girls’ high School, pietermaritzburg.[2] on the closure of the convent school in the late 1910s, Lucy received papal permission to relinquish her vows and she then joined the staff and was assigned to teach mainly the junior classes. Later, she was put in charge of music, a subject for which she had not been trained, but she rose to the task and an inspection report of her teaching carried out on 25 February 1924 reads as follows: “The teacher’s manner, method and application to work make a thoroughly good impression. She controls attention & makes it her business to realise who are in difficulties and takes pains to carry the whole of the class with her. The style and neatness obtaining in Arith exercises [to which she had by then been promoted] are thoroughly good and the manner in which the Arith lesson is utilised to develop oral english by strict insistence upon coherent expression is worthy of imitation in other classes for all lessons.” Another report, in 1926, said that she “makes a strong point of good notes and clean sketches [in Art, too]; some of the books kept by the pupils of this class last year are a real credit to her perseverance.”

1 Izak Vorster, 1989.2 c J evans, reminiscences, School Magazine 1971: 57.

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Mr Baxter recalls that one day the dedicated and meticulous Miss Meakin’s sangfroid was disturbed when the class monitor, whose job it was to replenish the ink well in the desks with ink, had done so faithfully – but using not a bottle of ink but, by mistake, a bottle of laboratory acid! It was in licking their G-nibs that some discovered a distinct nip in the ink. “To her dismay doreen harris found her stocking disintegrating when some of the ink was spilled.”

The two former nuns got around. At the end of 1926 we learn that Miss Meakin and a Miss Stocks left for London to participate in the League of the empire’s “Interchange of home and dominion Teachers’ scheme”, a programme that ran from 1907–1931 and that in 1929, Miss Bradshaw “swopped” with a Miss Lupton from Britain.[1] Lucy Meakin also spent the october of 1933 overseas.

“Meakie” (as she was known) became very much a part of the school’s varied activities. For many years she taught english and tried to instil her own love of literature – particularly of poetry – into successive batches of pupils. Side by side with this interest went her enthusiasm for amateur theatricals. one of her most successful productions at school was “Toad of Toad Hall” – a dramatized version of A A Milne’s much loved story “The Wind in the Willows”. Miss Meakin herself was no mean actress and many people in dundee found great pleasure in her performance in play-readings produced by the dundee Amateur dramatic Society.

For many years Lucy Meakin also coached the senior girls for their appearance in the drill display which at that time was part of the annual school athletic sports meeting. until the early 1990s, drum majorettes were very popular with the girls as a follow-on from more formal cadet-style drilling, and they performed elegantly and with excellent coordination and smartly turned out – always with long boots – at school functions.

Miss Meakin was also game for a bit of fun. When a roller-skating rink opened in dundee, she joined the excited crowd... and spent months in plaster as a result! When she retired in 1944 everyone hoped that she would have the pleasant, leisured years which she so richly deserved, but it was not, unfortunately, to be and she died within a few months. The feeling that some kind of memorial was desirable was shared by parents, staff and old pupils alike and there was complete agreement as to its form: the school was badly in need of a library, and they all knew that no other memorial could have pleased her more.

The business of raising money began and generous donations were made by her many friends; and in addition the usual money-raising methods were used. For example, in 1945, an evening of two one-act plays and an operetta was held by the high School. Mr hugo (a later headmaster, then an Assistant Master on the staff) produced the Afrikaans play Die Genadelose Slagter [“The Merciless Butcher”]; Miss Joan evans produced the english play “Oliver’s Island” (which, like “Toad of Toad Hall”, was by A A Milne; Miss Meakin would have approved, and would have enjoyed it); and Miss Wright produced the operetta, “The Ghosts of Hilo”... all of which brought in £65 – which was a very useful sum of money at that time.

1 Mr Banks’ headmaster’s report of 1929.

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Finally sufficient money was raised but it was an impossible time for building. As the Second World War was only just over and there were shortages of building materials and the provincial Authorities (who were going to help fund the project on a pound-for-pound basis) clamped down on all such enterprises. By the time building again became possible, prices had rocketed and further fund-raising became necessary! eventually the target was reached, plans were submitted and finally approved and the library was built. It was officially opened in 1951, at which time Mr Jennings was headmaster.

over the years the building has served as a library, a music room (“Mrs osborn’s sanctuary”), a classroom, a staff room, a venue for university examinations and a school museum. Miss evans officially unlocked its doors on Friday 18 May 1984 during the centenary celebrations. When the “Lucy Meakin” was a library, it also provided, behind the stacks of books, a hiding place for a bottle charles Glass’ brew, enjoyed by two matriculants (one of whom became a maths teacher in later years). The things youngsters get up to! But then, when the old Senior Boys’ hostel was undergoing extensive renovation at the end of 1993 prior to becoming the dundee environmental education centre, a whole glass recycling depot could almost have been launched with the proceeds of what came from beneath the oregon pine floorboards of the “Matrics’ Wing.” And the masters, over the 43 years of the hostel’s existence, were obviously oblivious to the goings-on!

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Who were the men who proceeded on military service during World War II, then? on 6 August 1940 Messrs. h L Attridge, h M Baxter, F B oscroft, r c McFarquhar, S B de T Meydell and A F horning left for training and warfare, but soon some were being discharged. The last two to return were Mr McFarquhar on 15 october 1945 and Mr horning at the beginning of the following year. Simultaneous with Mr McFarquhar’s return was the arrival on the staff of another well-known educator; one whose history books became standard material throughout South Africa, Mr George Allan chadwick.

Mr chadwick was born in the Qudeni area, not far from Isandlwana, and travelled to school and then university in pietermaritzburg by ox wagon. Like his forefather, the missionary James Archbell who was appointed by the Voortrekkers as their first dominee [pastor, clergyman], George acquired a remarkable fluency in Afrikaans, english and in isiZulu. he began his teaching career at Glencoe then joined up with the rand Light Infantry and fought in Libya. Whilst “up North” he became fascinated by the relics of history all around him and he used to guide visitors to the el Alamein battlefield, carefully avoiding the minefields there!

After the Second World War he taught at dundee high for four years until early 1949 when he went on promotion to become vice-principal at hoërskool port Natal. After a spell as headmaster of Queensburgh high School in 1965 he was appointed to the inspectorate with responsibility for the teaching of history. Whilst a teacher in dundee, he was granted a day’s leave to escort the visiting Administrator of Natal, denis Gem Shepstone (grandson of Sir Theophilus Shepstone and nephew of George Shepstone, who was killed at Isandlwana) to visit the battlefields. (of interest, great-grandchildren of Sir Theophilus’, dianne and ray Sharp – through their late mother – passed through dundee high school in the 1980s, as did their children, too, in later years.)

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Mr chadwick believed strongly in “outdoor education” and, leading by example, he encouraged teachers and pupils to use the environment as a source of information and to go to actual historical sites. These included the battlefields that abound near dundee and also mission stations, old farms, roads and cemeteries to see who did what where. he also produced a series of informative pamphlets covering many aspects of KwaZulu-Natal history.

As the Natal representative on the National Monuments’ council (as it then was), he identified places of historical significance, and also supervised the upkeep of monuments and historical sites in the province in conjunction with the provincial department of Works. Mr chadwick, wrote Jack Frost of the Witness newspaper – himself an outstanding historian – “made a distinguished contribution to the study, preservation and popularisation of historical sites.” [1]he was also a skilled organiser of festivals and commemorations. Like “Solly” Levinsohn, chadwick was a loyal member of the MoThS movement.

It was no wonder that one young teacher said of him: “When it came to historical sites, George chadwick was virtually omniscient. Specialist academic historians might have had more detailed knowledge of circumscribed areas, but nobody could rival the breadth of his knowledge.” he loved talking about Blood river and Talana, and in one such illustrated lecture in 1984 Mr Ian Macphail interrupted him to tell him that his grandfather (Mr dugald Macphail, who had seen action at Isandlwana and at the battle of Talana) had told him that the very first British boy in uniform to be shot at Talana was a 14 year-old drummer. “Why would that have been?” he asked. A comment (meant humorously) came from someone, “Afrikaners have never liked music, have they?” Mr chadwick died in durban in August 2000, one day short of his 87th birthday.

Mr chadwick was replaced at dundee high School in 1949 by a delightful gentleman, Mr holgate, who was later principal of dundee Junior School and, after retirement, was a pastor in the Baptist church in empangeni. he was also father of one of the greatest modern-day African explorers, the incomparable Kingsley holgate. Kingsley was a pupil in dundee high for a while before pursuing a short-lived career as a policeman (posted in, of all places, Kingsley police Station, near Blood river!).

1 Frost, 2010: 67-68.

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And then there was a future mayor of dundee, Mrs Luba catterall. In a letter to the dundee Lantern in 1974 she wrote that “my association with the School has been a long and happy one. It was to take up an appointment as a teacher at the high School that I came to dundee [in 1949]”. In days when civic service was an unpaid honour, Mrs catterall exemplified self-sacrificial service to the entire community.

during the war years, on 26 January 1942, another beloved teacher joined the ranks of the staff: Mr J J S de Waal. on 6 June 1944 oom Stan was appointed the first Vice principal of the high School, leaving only on 26 July 1949 to become a district Inspector. Before retiring from the Natal education department he attained the position of deputy director. The official opening of the centenary celebrations in 1984 was conducted by him. oom Stan’s son, Louis de Waal, head Boy in 1954, had a distinguished career in engineering. More about him later...

during the Second World War many old scholars lost their lives while others such as Lt-col peter clement Arnold Francis Mc, royal Natal carbineers; Lt Gerald Aubrey hosking Mc, 21st Field regiment (artillery); r MacMillan MM; and c portsmouth dcM, royal Natal carbineers, were decorated for valour and distinguished conduct.

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peter Francis was born in 1916 and having first attended Michaelhouse, he matriculated at dundee high School in 1933. he studied law at Nuc and joined the volunteer regiment the royal Natal carbineers whilst still a student in 1935. he was admitted as an attorney in March 1939 and during the Second World War he served with the regiment in the east African, Abyssinian, Libyan and Italian campaigns. For a brief period he was an aide de camp to Field-Marshall Alexander, commander in chief of the Middle east Forces. As an acting Major, he was the youngest ever officer placed in charge of the carbineers when he was appointed in Italy in october 1944, and at the age of 27 he was also the youngest commanding officer in a South African division.

his was a leadership style that “led from the front”, and during the war he won the Military cross and was three times mentioned in dispatches.[1] one of these occasions, on 6 october 1944, was an attack by the carbineers on “a seemingly impregnable rocky eminence occupied by entrenched German forces”, Monte Vigese. “In driving rain and poor visibility, ‘A’ company, under Major peter Francis, performed the virtually impossible task of driving the defenders off. Vigese was one of the hardest fought carbineer engagements of the Italian campaign.”[2]

peter Francis retired as officer commanding in 1955 but he was appointed an honorary colonel of the carbineers in 1969. After the war he became a leading lawyer in pietermaritzburg and he was appointed to the boards of a number of local companies. he was also politically active and was an early member of the progressive party (a founder party to today’s democratic Alliance). As if this were not enough, he was selected to play for and also captained the Natal golf team, became president of the Natal Golf union and was on the executive of the South African Golf union. In his mid-80s he recorded two holes-in-one in the space of six weeks! he played his last game at the age of 91 and he died in the early hours of Friday morning 15 May 2009 at the age of 92.

private clifford John (“cliff”) portsmouth also served with peter Francis’ unit, the 1st regiment of the royal Natal carbineers, and was also destined for honour on the battlefield. cliff had been head Boy of dundee high School in 1939, a member of the cricket XI and the shooting squad, and he captained both the first rugby XV and the athletics team. In his matric year he represented Natal in the South African championships in the 400 yards, hurdles and long jump. Maybe this last attribute made him an obvious choice to be his unit’s “runner” – which led to his demonstration of exceptional bravery.

1 “If a soldier is mentioned in dispatches, a seniorofficersends a report to say that the soldier has fought well and should receive a medal” – http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/mentioned-in-dispatches. [Accessed 23 october 2017].2 coghlan 2005: “The Natal carbineers 150th Anniversary: A Glimpse at Some New Battle honours.”

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probably sensing that he had not done well in his Matric exams,[1] cliff “joined up” and raced to durban for the voyage north to Kenya and on to fight the enemy in North Africa. he was met by his uncle in durban who took him to the playhouse Theatre for a farewell party where they were joined by several former dundee high girls, now nurses and eager to encourage him “for king and country”.[2] he returned to the dock well past midnight, however, and he and several others found the berth where their ship, the HMS Devonshire, had been docked was empty. They thought it had left without them. Fortunately for them, it had merely been moved further down the wharf and, relieved, they clambered aboard. In the morning they all packed the rails for the northward journey and to hear the famous “Lady in White”, perla Siedle Gibson, serenade them with such Vera Lynn hits as “Wish me Luck as you Wave me Goodbye” as they departed from durban. Mrs Gibson, of course, knew dundee well because her father, Mr otto Siedle, owned Mine Stores in Glencoe and she spent many of her school holidays in his house at 93 McKenzie Street (now owned by paul and Bev Garner).[3]

It was not long “up North” before the Natal carbineers were “blooded” in action, and whilst on patrol on 8 April 1944, cliff was sent to warn his platoon to prepare for immediate action. With artillery and mortar fire keeping some attacking Italian soldiers’ heads down, the carbineers launched a counter-attack and they soon scattered the bewildered defenders. cliff was occupied in the dangerous role of running backwards and forwards with messages between the forward attacking group and the command group... and suddenly he came face to face with an enemy machinegun position. he realised that unless the Italians were “neutralised” they would bring their weapon to bear on his mates who were advancing towards them. Without hesitation he leapt in amongst them and killed seven of them with his rifle!

his platoon was able to continue their attack and unexpectedly they once more began drawing heavy fire from the well-entrenched enemy troops hiding in broken ground. The officer in charge ordered cliff to find a way around the enemy. cliff set off by himself and at last found some more Italian soldiers in a rock cistern. cliff “neutralised” that position with grenades and demolished their gun that they were using to pin down the attacking South Africans. After routing the enemy his platoon returned safely with fifty Italian prisoners! For his actions private cliff portsmouth was awarded the distinguished conduct Medal for bravery. This was a very high honour, second only to being awarded the Victoria cross. Indeed, in the same campaign, a farmer from estcourt and former pupil of reg pearse, Quentin Smythe, was awarded the Vc.

1 out of his class he was only one to have failed! In 1937 he had achieved a third class Junior certificate.2 Bentz 2013; 30.3 perla Gibson trained as an opera singer and during the Second World War stood on the end of the pier at durban harbour and sang to every troop ship entering or leaving the harbour – even on the day that she got the news of her own son’s death.

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unfortunately for cliff, before he and his comrades could return home, a large number of them were captured and sent to a poW camp in Italy. one night, he and some Free French troops threw blankets over the barbed wire fence and disappeared into the mountains northwest of Florence. For three months he lived with an Italian family who hid him whenever German patrols came near. Tuning in to a radio of an evening, he was thrilled to hear that the Italian war effort had collapsed and the victorious Allies were urging their comrades “on the run” to return to their poW camps in order to facilitate their reintegration into the army. This cliff and his mates did with haste, believing that “Free Italy” was but days away... and the German guards were astonished to find scores of Allied soldiers willingly returning to captivity over the next few days! The poWs discovered to their dismay that it had been a clever hoax designed to recapture escaped men without expending limited manpower searching for them. [1]cliff was among the first to be bundled into cattle cars to take them north to camps in Germany, and during a point of confusion where more men were being either loaded or offloaded near the Austrian border, he and several others slipped away and trekked towards the Swiss border. German patrols using tracker dogs caught them only hundreds of metres away from freedom, and they were then sent in the opposite direction towards czechoslovakia.

coming back to South Africa after such adventures must have seemed tame to such men; but adjusting to civilian life had to happen. cliff married and became a customs officer in durban. Another old scholar, Leslie “Stack” Sears, who himself was “in the bag” for most of the War, also got on with life, qualifying as a chemist and becoming manager of a pharmacy in durban.[2] Ian Kennedy (“Norman”) was severely wounded in the Italian campaign but he continued farming in the underberg district.

It was many years before a memorial to these teachers and former pupils could be dedicated, and the School Magazine of 1951 has an account of the occasion: “A simple, and yet very moving ceremony, took place on Thursday, 8th November, in the high School hall. It was the unveiling of a plaque bearing the names of old boys of the school who lost their lives in the last war – a companion plaque to that which bears the names of masters and old boys who fell in the war of 1914-1918. The occasion was a solemn one, and the solemnity was heightened by the presence of a cadet Guard of honour outside the hall, and by the four cadets who stood, motionless, with reversed arms, beside the plaque.

“After a short, but inspiring, address by the principal, and the reading of psalm 121, in Afrikaans, by the Vice-principal, prayers were offered by the rev A e G Tomes. The ‘retreat’ was sounded by the buglers, and the unveiling followed. The plaque was given to the school by the old Students Association, and it was fitting that it should be unveiled by the president of the Association, denis Smith, an old boy of the school, and himself an ex-serviceman. As the rays of the setting sun streamed through the open windows of the hall, the buglers sounded the “Last post”; and in the silence that followed, the relatives of the fallen – or their representatives – laid wreaths below the plaque. A prayer followed; and after the sounding of the ‘Reveille’, the blessing brought the ceremony to an end.

1 Bentz 2013: 123.2 dhS Magazine december 1948.

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“It was an occasion which we shall all remember. A large number of people – old students, members of the general public, staff, boys and girls – joined with the relatives and friends of these men to pay tribute to them. They died defending what they believed to be right; and their names are recorded as a perpetual reminder to us that they gave their lives for their friends.”

The names on the plaque are: G Barclay, J Barklie, W Brokensha, W o Brokensha, A dickeson, c h haworth, h Jeudwine, e d clarke, p B McNeill, d Miller, r B Miller, L Mitchell, T parry, r T A pugin, L Wood and J Lyon.

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Chapter 7 - The Post-War Years

CHAPTER 7 - The PosT-War Years

The end of World War II also saw the principalship of dundee high School change hands, for on 20 december 1945 Mr hubert dudley Jennings assumed duty in that capacity, and a new era was at hand. Mr Jennings was born in Muswell hill, north London, on 12 November 1896 and he had attended the coopers’ company School.[1] on 2 September 1914 Mr Jennings had had difficulty in joining a territorial regiment as he was only 17 and he looked even younger, so in the next three months his age jumped to 19, the required age for foreign service, and he went out with the first draft for the First World War in February 1915. his only training for active service was a few shots fired on a range – in a snowstorm!

1 The coopers’ company School was founded in 1536. It includes the poet John Milton amongst its distinguished scholars.

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his war experiences were frightening: “on April 22, I received a gash in my thigh from a fragment of something. As the shell hit a bomb dump in the trench, my recollections are a bit vague. I simply found myself in a trench filled with smoke and corpses, rather idiotically shaking my leg to see if it would fall off. (It was, however, quite a nice wound and earned me a couple of months’ holiday in england.) I was the only one who crawled out of that part of the trench.” In May 1916 he suffered an accident to his knee which took months of painful treatment to cure. This had its fortunate side in that Jennings was prevented from taking part in the Battle of the Somme, from which only 250 men of his battalion, and no officers, came out alive.

In 1915 he wrote a poem, “A direct hit” that was to be published in a book called “Leafy Lanes”:

Hill Sixty’s a flaming furnace on the right;Behind there’s Ypres’ gaunt old tower aflareAnd all a shrieking growling spurting glare

From Poel-Capelle to Kemmel’s blood-stained height.Scream on, you harrowing shells, snarl and bite!

Yell your demoniac laughter through the air!Nearer they come…. A chill’s in my hair….And then cold fury, yelling spite for spite!

Shivering somewhat …. Was it mine that groan?There is blood on my puttees …. some my own…

Quietly lying with an oozing thigh,Watching the shrapnel plume the darkening sky….One thought above the ear-drums’ throbbing drone:

“The leafy lanes of England by and by!”[1]

In May 1917, at the beginning of the Battle of Arras, he received the wound which was eventually to cost him an eye. Foy Vermaak recalls that as a result of this accident Mr Jennings’ nickname at the high School was “Polyphemus”, named after the one-eyed giant of Greek mythology. If ever “polyphemus” came into a classroom to investigate a disturbance, he says, pupils would work out which eye was the sightless one and made sure he missed them! Jan Beukes, a schoolmate from those days who rose to head up “education planning and development” in the Ned, concurs: “You never knew which eye was really looking at you!” In his old age Mr Jennings confided to his son that he had always had secret embarrassment about his “disfigurement”, and in photographs he holds that side of his face away from the camera.

In the following May of 1918, Mr Jennings was out of the army and then began his university training at Aberystwyth, at the expense of a grateful country – “though I would be at a loss to say in what way my efforts helped the war along,” he said, “as most of the time I just stood around in mud.” Aberystwyth must have been a green and pleasant place after the previous four years.

1 pittella-Leite, carlos (Guest editor), 2015. Special Jennings Issue: pessoa plural, page 499.

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his first teaching appointment was at the Tideswell Grammar School in the peak district of derbyshire where he endured a winter of such bitter cold that it is not surprising that he describes it as “a school founded in 1547 by some enemy of the human race. It had stone walls, stone floors, a resident ghost, and a deep penetrating chill everywhere.” Not surprisingly, he got into touch with South Africa house and immigrated to Natal in 1923. his first South African appointment was to teach for twelve years at durban high School “during the palmy days of a great school.” Whilst there he held the onerous position of sports master; but it was probably a labour of love, for cricket and rugby were both very dear to his heart. In 1935 he received his first headship, at Stanger; and after six years there, he became headmaster at Greytown, where he spent four more happy years. Then he came, for eleven years (until his retirement), to dundee high School.

It is interesting to hear old scholars of Mr Jennings’ time talk of him. Mr hannes van Niekerk, a prominent businessman in northern Natal in the 80s and 90s (and a dyed-in-the-wool “Boer”!), remembered Mr Jennings as “’n regte Pommie [a real englishman] – maar hy kon wérk! [but he could really work!] “Another “old boy”, Mr dolf Nebbe, describes Mr Jennings as “a real english gentleman.” (Mr Nebbe himself was the object of a cute poem in the 1949 School Magazine:

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He can ride any bike –He can swim box and hike –

Expert at golf,Nick-name is ‘Dolf,

And can do whatever you like!)

he was particular and efficient and strict in his running of the school, but he enjoyed walking with his family in the veld and scrambling with them up the Biggarsberg Mountains. christopher Jennings recalls having been sent as a young boy along a rocky ledge high up endumeni Mountain to examine a Verreaux’s eagle’s nest, to see if there were any eggs or chicks in it. he appreciated that he was the only one small enough in the family to squeeze along there, but he was also cognisant that if a mother eagle should return he would be in trouble. presumably his father thought he was toughening up his son – and exposing him to Nature.

Mr Jennings would no doubt have approved of the words penned fifty years earlier by Gerard Bailey:

One longs for some variety of colour and scenery. Around Dundee the hills come to our rescue. They are never the same. They wear ever-varying colours, lights and shades of green or blue. They put on one shade at early dawn, another at midday, and when the sun is setting and twilight, as in this country, makes its brief stay, the shades of colour change with great rapidity. Grey rock and dark bush add to the effects. If one is fond of climbing, there are to be found, especially about the Indumeni, exquisitely wild and rugged pieces, well worth the

trouble of reaching them.[1]

1 Bailey, 1999: 15.

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under the leadership of Mr Jennings the school not only maintained its high reputation for good results in the examination room and on the sports fields, but with the help of good friends of the school he was able to induce the provincial Administration to spend good amounts of money on the school. The hosking Fields were put in place with a new pavilion; the new biology laboratory was constructed; and the tennis courts at the Girls’ hostel were established, among other things. These were concrete testimony to his persuasive tongue and to his appreciation of the best interests of the school. To his successors he left the completion of another ambition: the building of a school swimming bath, half the cost of which had already been raised during his term of office. he also busied himself doing valuable work as an active member of the Natal Teachers’ Society becoming its president and, for many years, a member of its executive committee. he was also a member of the Joint Matriculation Board of South Africa. his has been described as a period of happy co-operation between headmaster, staff, pupils and community.

A pause is required to examine the magnitude of acquiring the hosking Fields (the present main sports grounds). on 5 March 1948 Mr Jennings reported that £325 had been raised from the school fête ... which is equivalent to about r188 416 in 2017![1] The old Show Grounds were added to the school grounds with help from the provincial Administration and it also bore the cost of levelling the grounds with heavy earth-moving machinery. The income from the fête held on 29 May 1959 was £1 100 – or r408 091 in 2017!

This report from the School Magazine of 1955 expresses the excitement during this time of advancement in the school’s history: “the new biology laboratory was a splendid addition to the school. It is the most light and spacious room in the school and very well equipped. Mr Knoesen’s keen interest in his subject has already crowded the tables with specimens of the queer objects in which the biologist delights. Biology is almost a new subject in the schools and has filled a long-felt want, and youngsters of this school are fortunate in having this room to broaden and enrich their knowledge of the wonders of the world we live in.

“The laboratory is large and airy, having seven sash windows on either side. At the back of the room there are two electric fans set in the wall. Five benches on each side of a centre aisle have a basin and tap each. underneath the windows on the right-hand side are benches with three gas taps. experiments can be carried out here. The blackboard is divided into three parts, the two sides having other detachable boards. The colour scheme is cream and it has pale green walls with a white ceiling. The windows, door, and other pieces of woodwork are in a darker green. The cupboards are varnished; the window sills are black...”

1 £1 in 1948 = £36 in 2017, according to http://inflation.stephenmorley.org/.

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Talking of science, in Mr Jennings’ first year at dundee high School he had in Matric one of the most remarkable students ever to have studied at the School, Stanley Mandelstam. Mr de Waal, who taught him physics and chemistry, often came home to tell his family how brilliant he was.[1] Stanley’s father, Boris, had emigrated from riga, Latvia to South Africa in 1913 and met his wife, Beatrice Liknaitzky, a school teacher in Johannesburg. They were blessed with two children, the extraordinary Stanley, who was born on 12 december 1928, and Gerta Abramson.[2] Boris Mandelstam moved his family to live in Glencoe where he ran a grocery supply business but, after Stanley matriculated in 1945, Boris moved them back to Johannesburg.

At his mother’s urging, Stanley studied at the university of the Witwatersrand for a BSc in chemical engineering, “a vocational degree”. As his nephew, Ian Abramson, a mathematician at the university of california in San diego notes, “at that point Stanley was fixed on his first love, mathematical physics, and all his future studies were focused there.” Stanley never referred to that first degree. he then earned a BA from the university of cambridge in 1954 and a phd from Birmingham university in 1956. he joined uc Berkeley in 1963 as a professor of physics and became a professor emeritus in 1994. he was also an emeritus faculty member of the Berkeley center for Theoretical physics (BcTp), a professor of Mathematical physics at one of his alma maters, the university of Birmingham and professeur Associé at université de paris-Sud.

dr Mandelstam’s field of research was particle theory, specifically string theory. In 1991, he received the esteemed dirac Medal for Theoretical physics, which is awarded by the International centre of Theoretical physics, Trieste, Italy only to a few of the most outstanding living theoretical physicists. he was also a Fellow of the prestigious royal Society (1962), a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1992) and an awardee of the dannie heineman prize for Mathematical physics, American physical Society in 1992.

professor Yasunori Nomura, director of the BcTp said, “Stanley Mandelstam was simply a giant in theoretical physics. he made a tremendous amount of fundamental contributions to the development of quantum field theory and string theory.” As a lecturer, he was known as a brilliant, patient, and humble instructor who found joy in helping his students make physics “come alive.” one put it “In spite of professor Mandelstam’s accomplished grasp of physics and patience as a teacher, his most prominent characteristic is his humility.” Stanley Mandelstam died on 11 June 2016 at the age of 87, researching and working until the end.

during his headmastership at dundee high, Mr Jennings had the honour of meeting King George VI and Queen elizabeth at Ladysmith on 13 March 1947. he took with him 14 staff members and 232 of the 271-strong school and “the King and Queen expressed pleasure at [their] turn-out” to him. When their daughter became Queen elizabeth II on 3 June 1953 the schools of dundee held a procession of decorated floats through town and performed in “folk dances” at the oval.

1 personal correspondence with Mr Louis de Waal, Mr de Waal’s son: 8 August 2016.2 Also an old scholar of dundee high, Mrs Abramson still lives – at the time of this writing in 2017 – in San diego.

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dundee high School, having become established in building and in name, in 1948 resurrected the School Magazine that has been in print every year since then. In the words of erich Landsberg, deputy principal in 1984, “It has become more than a tradition and an event anticipated by pupils, staff, parents and friends with pleasure and enjoyment, but also each magazine provides an historical review of the School’s progress and occurrences for the year gone by.”

1948 was the momentous year that the Nationalist Government came in to power, bringing with it the political experiment of Apartheid. The trundle of memorial ox wagons through the town ten years earlier converging from all over the union, on the occasion of the centenary of the Battle of Blood river, had enthused Afrikaans people, in particular, with a national pride. The early years of the new government were blessed with an economic boom, which saw agriculture in the area flourish with a groundnut scheme that translated into the Kilty’s sweet factory, dairying that thrived and the founding of the Natalse Landbou Koὅperasie [Natal Agricultural co-operative]; the building of engineering works to service mines and industries; an expanding coal production; the construction of a new post office building, a new railway station and a new government office block (today converted into the magistrates’ court buildings). even the roads around town were all tarred. It was a time of prosperity for dundee that augured well for its high School.

In January 1952 yet another future director of education joined dundee high School’s staff, Mr Solomon (“Solly”) Levinsohn. Born in 1919 at heuningspruit in the Free State, Mr Levinsohn had a hand in establishing the First Battle School of the union defence Force before teaching at Newcastle, dundee and at Voortrekker high Schools. he served but a short while as director, from August 1982 until January 1984, following on from yet another dundee high School “old boy”, dr Gerald hosking.

“he came across as an immensely strong and capable leader of men. he was also an exceptionally bilingual and fluent speaker who could address any gathering at length without notes. Those who worked with him remain deeply impressed by his keen, incisive mind, his powers of analysis and his amazingly retentive memory.”[1] Sadly, whilst on holiday with family and friends at port St Johns six months after retirement, he suffered a fatal heart attack, and died on Monday 27 August 1984.

dundee high School was privileged, however, to have had Levinsohn open the “directors’ courtyard” in March 1984. The courtyard and the plaque honours the teachers and old scholars from the school that have reached the summit of the education department. “Listen to this,” whispered erich Landsberg’s companion that day, “this man can really talk.” And, says erich, as Mr Levinsohn stepped forward to delight us with his fluency, his strength of presentation and breadth of knowledge, one had that rare but wonderful sensation of being floated forward on another man’s speech, enlivened by his wisdom.

1 haw 1994: 91.

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An aside on that plaque in the directors’ courtyard: The normally adept peter Abraham gave up trying to drill for “screw plugs” to fix the courtyard plaque to some impenetrable fossilised wood that edgar Torlage had found. After three new masonry bits had been flattened, peter resorted to epoxy glue to attach the plaque to it!

dundee high School has, in the past, sent everyone home early after such events, and for the visits of royalty or of the Administrator. At 12.40 p.m. on 11 February 1953 it was for a different reason: heavy rain. And just two days later the same thing, off everyone went, “to celebrate the great cricket victory in Australia” brought about by yet another “old boy” of the school, headley James Keith.

headley was born on 25 october 1927, son of the Mayor of dundee, Jimmy Keith. Mr Keith was Managing director of the company that his uncle had helped found in 1896, Johnston & Keith, builders’ merchants and building contractors. headley played cricket during his time at the high School and progressed as a left-hand batsman, strong off the back foot, to be an important component of the powerful Natal batting line-up of the 1950s. he was called up to join the national side for its tours to Australia and england, and in 1952-53 he became the first South African to score two centuries in a match in Australia, against Victoria at the McG. In that team were such greats as hugh Tayfield, Jackie McGlew and roy MacLean.

headley made his national debut in the Melbourne Test of 1953, scoring 40 not out, to seal victory and square the series. Set 295 to win on a worn wicket, South Africa had started with endean making 70 and Watkins scoring 50, and the match was won in a fifth wicket partnership of 106 in 80 minutes between Keith and McLean, who hit an unbeaten 76. No wonder a half-day was given to the school! due to the efforts of “one of our own”, the series was drawn 2–2, the first time a rubber between the two sides had not been won by Australia. In england in 1955, headley Keith made 57 at the Lord’s Test and 73 at Leeds two Tests later. commentators say that “he was watchful rather than dominant” at this level, in contrast to his usefulness playing for Natal in the currie cup. headley Keith died on 16 November 1997 aged 70 at his home in pennington on the South coast.

captain of cricket and head Boy in the following year, 1954, was Louis de Waal. Both of his parents were teachers and his father, “oom Stan”, who taught for many years at the school, rose to become chief Inspector of Schools in Natal. oom Stan was also very practical with his hands and he constructed a caravan with which the family of five (there were three boys) toured South Africa in 1947. When they arrived in cape Town they took a trip up Table Mountain in the famous cable car and Louis says it made quite an impression on him. Little was he to know that later in his life he would serve on the cableway Board for 44 years, being its chairman from 1994!

he was born in Greytown in 1937 and he received all of his schooling in dundee. having played rugby for Northern Natal whilst at school, he played 1st XV rugby for ucT whilst studying for his BSc in civil engineering. he also played rugby for Western province (modestly, he says “when [the legendary Springbok captain] doug hopwood was injured!”).

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As a student, Louis climbed Table Mountain from all sides and in 1959 – with just three days for him and his (crazy!) team to prepare – he entered the “Tip to Top” race from the cape point Lighthouse to Maclear’s Beacon, the highest point. only one person in the team could complete the race... and he was the “chosen one”. come the day, he galloped down the hill behind the lighthouse, leapt into a friend’s MG sports car and was sped to Tafelberg road just past platteklip Gorge. There he was harnessed on to a 500 metre-long wire that was pivoted from the top of the mountain and with the rest of the team acting as oxen, he was hoisted up. At one point friction on the wire took over and he was left hanging, rotating and viewing cape Town from a really dizzying height. “They had abandoned pulling. It was a stupid thing to do, but I managed to use the safety rope to reach the top and be placed third.” The winner had dived into the sea at cape point, travelled by boat to Muizenberg, hopped onto a motorbike and ridden to the reservoir on top of the Mountain via constantia Nek, then run the last few hundred metres to win and had beaten Louis’ team by an hour!

having fallen under the spell of Table Mountain, Louis de Waal could not turn down the offer to join its Board in 1973. When he became its chairperson he set about negotiating a massive (and phenomenally expensive) upgrade to the cableway; but the impact of the improvements, with greater efficiency and larger “cars”, was immediate, with visitor numbers more than doubling from 300 000 a year to over 700 000. during his time on the Board, Mr de Waal hosted 20-million visitors, including a fair smattering of the rich and famous.

There was also a busload of dundee high School standard 9’s on tour in 1984 that he met. Kevin Burge wrote to the cableway asking for a discounted price and the letter fell into Mr de Waal’s hands. By return post he offered – as an old scholar of the school – not only a free ride for the party to the top, but to meet they all there with a special present. he then went one step further: he had helped set up the Victoria and Albert docks project, and he graciously arranged for the high School group to be shown around the world famous “V&A”. Mr de Waal’s achievements are simply amazing; but they are capped off by being one of the nicest people you could wish to meet; a great ambassador for his old school.

A young man who entered the school in 1954 when Mr de Waal was head Boy was carl August Theodor (“Tokkie”) peters, a marvellous athlete. In the Natal Junior Athletics championship in 1958 he won the under-17, 880 yards race in a time of 2 minutes 0.9 seconds, which was almost five seconds quicker than the time in which the under-19 race was won. he also ran the “220” (as a 16 year-old!) in 24.1 seconds. In 1962 he ran the 880 yards race at the South African Athletics championships in 1 minute 51.9 seconds; and a year later it was down to 1:50.1 and he also won the 440 yards race in 47.4 seconds. In 1964 he was still the champion of the “440” and “880”, but he had reducedthe “440s”time to 46.6 seconds! As guest speaker at a Sports prize Giving ceremony in 1992, Mr peters urged young athletes to work exceptionally hard on the track in a “careful, scientific way” and not to be a “floppie”; by which he meant, don’t relax for a moment but pit yourself against the best. he died on 2 August 2016 at the age of 75. It was a dundee high School athlete, Nicholas Young, who managed for the first time (in 1988) to better Tokkie’s 800m record. At the 1988 Natal Schools’ championships, he ran a 1:36,6 in the boys’ under-19 race.

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The time came for Mr Jennings to retire at the close of the 1956 school year, and he was given a “farewell and presentation by parents at the civic hall.” unfortunately, owing to polio restrictions, children were not permitted to gather together to say goodbye to him, except at the prize Giving on 7 december. Jan Beukes has very fond memories of him: “As a scholar at dundee high from 1955 (standard 5 in those days) to 1960, one remembers mostly the teachers who (together with one’s parents, of course) in many ways moulded you into the person you became.” Yet even over all the years Mr Beukes protests his innocence of a misdemeanour for which he was punished: “I remember Mr Jennings gave me my first hiding with a leather strap for being innocent – or so it seemed to me”!

When Mr and Mrs Jennings departed for the slightly greener pastures of retirement in durban, he presented over 200 books, mostly english literature and history, from his own well-stocked bookshelves to help build up the reference section in the school library. In 1960 he was asked to return to the classroom at durban high School to help with the shortage of teachers caused by the post-war “baby boom” and in 1959, during his second stint at dhS, he was invited to write a history of the school, The DHS Story 1866-1966, to mark its centenary.

during his research, he learned that Fernando António Nogueira pessoa (of whom he then had but a passing knowledge) had been a pupil there. The famous literary artist roy campbell (another dhS “old boy”) described pessoa as “the finest poet in any language of this half-century. “Mr Jennings became mesmerised by the man’s work and life and he ultimately became an internationally acclaimed authority on him.[1] “[he] caught my imagination and it was said afterwards that the whole of the DHS Story was written around him — somewhat to the chagrin of those who had expected the usual glorification of sporting characters which is common to works of this genre.”[2]

on 1 March 1968 Mr Jennings took leave of his wife for two years whilst he took advantage of a bursary granted to him. he lived and studied in pessoa’s home country of portugal and he became a master of the portuguese language. In between writing extensively his own poetry and short stories (most influenced by his immersion in pessoa) he completed an MA degree on the artist’s life.[3] In literature studies from the portuguese world (which includes, of course, Brazil), Mr Jennings is regarded to be a master. he has been described by a harvard university professor as “a broad scholar, a careful biographer, a perceptive translator who understood the rhythm of poetry and even wrote poems himself.”[4]

1 pittella-Leite, carlos (Guest editor), 2015. Special Jennings Issue: pessoa plural.2 Jennings, h d – In search of Fernando pessoa, June 1979.3 This dissertation was published as a book by the centro de estudos pessoanos in porto in 1984: “os dois exilios.”4 María Gómez Lara - Fernando pessoa through the eyes of hubert Jennings: the master of multiplicity turned literary character.

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After living for a while in cape Town, the Jenningses then thought of moving back to dundee,[1] but the political success of the National party had come as a shock to him, despising, as he did, fervid nationalisms, and his son, christopher, admitted, “It was his sadness with the increasingly unhappy and turbulent civil and political life in South Africa, exacerbated by [his wife] Irene’s deteriorating health, that contributed to their decision to come to england and live with me in 1981”[2] , so they returned to live in Britain in the quaintly-named “Appletrees” in Lough road, Great Bentley, essex.

Mr Jennings mocked getting old and he recalled his father-in-law’s colleagues in durban “who had passed on during the years ... most were in their early to mid 60s. retirement age was 65, so it appears not many had long retirements. All I can attribute this to is the fact that today medication, modern medical practice like inserting stents, controlling cholesterol, bypasses and even heart transplants has appreciably increased a man’s life span.” he refused to slow down himself, however, in his advanced years and in 1980, at the age of 86, he was the main speaker at an international symposium at Van der Bilt university in Nashville, Tennessee, where he read a paper on pessoa.

Mr Jennings’ place as headmaster was taken by quite a different man, Mr J Burger. edgar Torlage served under three principals at dundee high, mainly teaching his “first love”, Accountancy, and Mr Burger he remembered as an extremely strict disciplinarian, but a good headmaster. pupil or teacher, one knew that Mr Burger was a good captain and the sole captain of his ship. his morning commenced at 6 a.m. when, presenting himself at the boys’ hostel, he would satisfy himself that the master on duty had roused himself to do his rounds. At school, a black book containing his dictums had to be signed – and strictly observed – by each teacher. Any offender would find himself treading the headmaster’s carpet in fear and trembling! each teacher was also responsible for locking and unlocking his own classroom; and woe betide anyone whose key was not found immediately afterwards hanging up in the staffroom! one day the young Torlage, forgetting that he had left his keys in the science lab the previous afternoon after a rugby meeting, arrived at school – and broke out in a cold sweat when register period with his “home” class arrived. A speedy journey home and a smashed window to get into his house, a desperate search through his jacket pockets that proved useless... and when he got back to school who should present him with the lost keys but Mr Burger: such was the awe that he inspired, says edgar!

1 dundee Lantern 1973: 46.2 Mr Jennings’ son, christopher, in pittella-Leite: pessoa plural.

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We are assured by edgar that it was not he who stole 14 sets of those classroom keys from the staffroom – and Mr Burger’s stash of canes from his office on the night of 11 december 1964! And also not on 31 March 1969, when the cleaners reported to Mr Burger before the start of the school day that during the night robbers had broken in and removed “10 to 11 keys” which prevented the classrooms affected from being used. Works Branch came to the rescue and “very kindly sent 3 men to come & open the doors of the locked rooms for us” – and to change the locks!

A sturdy little building that was constructed in Mr Jennings’ time was the school armoury. Situated next to the swimming pool it now houses paraphernalia associated with swimming: lane trolleys, a large lap clock, stroke floats, etc. It has a strong steel door and thick metal bars; and it was burgled twice in 1960! The nuisance value in such things would have been the police (and defence Force) investigations.

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Mr Jan Beukes remembers Mr Burger too: “he was nobody’s ‘pal’. his principle was to treat everyone the same – the domestic staff, the teachers and the pupils – no exceptions! during classes he used to stalk along the corridors and look in to the windows. The first thing you noticed was his bushy eyebrows appearing over the windowsill and then summoning a child or shivering teacher to the office! There was no electric school bell, our hero, Joe, stole the bell and hid it high up the jacaranda tree. Imagine the chaos at bell time, with the headmaster the only one running around trying to establish order, among teachers, servants and pupils frozen into a standstill – too afraid to say or do a thing!”

Yet Mr Burger was not without a sense of humour, albeit of a somewhat gruff one. In the 1960 School Magazine he dwelt upon the self-sacrificing nature of his staff members, concluding with: “If anyone dares to tell me that the teachers of dundee high School are soft at heart I shall with variations follow Mark Twain’s example, i.e., suspend him for a day by his neck from the nearest tree and if he does not withdraw his remarks after that I shall be very annoyed with him.” physical, to the last!

Also joining Mr Burger’s staff in 1958 was a young bookkeeping teacher, chris corbett, who, when he left to head up the small empangeni high School in Zululand in the 1960s, discovered that he was suddenly the principal of the largest school (numbers-wise) in the province, thanks to the government’s decision to develop the nearby richards Bay harbour. Mr corbett was keen on rugby (school assemblies on a Monday at empangeni could be seemingly interminable with a move-by-move commentary on the weekend’s games), and his first year at dundee he was given the sacred task of guiding the fortunes of its 1st XV. of the eight games played, two were won; one drawn; and five lost. Young digby rhodes earned his praise for his tries and tactics in the match reports, however.

Anthony coleman captained the under-15 A team in 1958 and was one of five Northern Natal XV players in his Matric year, 1960. The others were the captain, Jan Beukes; christo van rensburg; Ken hornby (who did his military service in the Army Gymnasium and later owned a filling station in Springs, Gauteng); and “porch” russell (who, after school, joined the BSAp in rhodesia).

Jan Adam (“Jannie”) Beukes, who was born in Nongoma on 20 November 1942, attended primary schools in Melmoth, Nondweni and at elandskraal before entering dundee high School in 1955. here, he did well, especially academically: as a result of his standard 8 (grade 10) public examinations, in which he achieved the highest marks in Natal for accounting, he was awarded a departmental bursary. In 1960 he was dux and the first to be awarded academic colours. In 1964 he graduated from uoFS with a BSc (chemistry and Geology) and a ued. The following year he was back at dundee high as a science teacher, and in 1974 he was promoted to become the Vice principal. Appropriately for a boy who was a “student officer” whilst he was a pupil, as a teacher he was master in charge of cadets from 1965-1970, during which time he also did duty at the Senior Boys’ hostel. captain of the school’s rugby 1st XV as a pupil, he also played uoFS 1st XV and for the “A” side of the Bloemfontein under-19 1st team. In 1962 his rugby “career” unfortunately ended with an injury.

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In 1977, after 21 years’ attachment to his old school, Jan was promoted to become deputy principal of Vryheid high School. having climbed the ladder through promotions, Mr Beukes headed the vital sub-directorate in the Ned in the directorate for planning and development. Today, supposedly retired, he lives in pietermaritzburg and he coordinates education projects in the motor industry.

And Anthony coleman? during his Army time after school Anthony also spent a great deal of time playing rugby (he had the honour of captaining the oFS under-21 team against the Northern Transvaal team in which des Krantz featured); and he also got to know all about tanks. he had a career in the motor industry after his “Army years” and, also married Letitia (“Tish”) Liversage, his sweetheart from dundee schooldays (she was a school prefect in 1963). The colemans lived in various parts of the country as Anthony travelled a great deal, but they produced two fine daughters, Janet and claire, who also, for a time, attended dundee high School. claire taught english – very well – at her alma mater after qualifying at uNd, leaving in 2007. Anthony decided to return to dundee and to start tour guiding under the name “Battle Scenes”. In 2009 he was awarded the KwaZulu-Natal Service excellence Award for being elected the best tourist guide of the year.

The School was given yet another “half-day” after 11:00 on 29 August 1958, “owing to the death of the prime Minister, Mr. J. G. Strydom.” There was a short service in the hall, attended by the principal of the Junior School, and conducted by rev. Tomes of the Methodist church and, with a nod to Mr Burger’s own dominee (and the change of culture of the school to being more Afrikaans), ds. Van Niekerk. A young farmer’s wife played the piano that day, Mrs “dolly” osborn.

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For many years since Miss B Wright left there had been no music teaching, so Mr Burger co-opted Mr Solly Levinsohn to seek and to find such an educator. And dolly – who, until that time, had but taught piano privately – was employed. reluctantly she agreed, encouraged by Sister Frances de Sales, her old teacher from the holy rosary convent, and assured by Levinsohn. he jovially told her there was nothing to worry about: “All you have to do is teach the Afrikaans children ‘Vanaand gaan die Volkies koring sny’ [‘Tonight the workers are going to harvest wheat’] and the english pupils ‘here we go round the mulberry bush’.” She was appointed as a “part-time music mistress working six hours a week at a salary of 12/6 [twelve shillings and sixpence] an hour.” Later her teaching time was increased to ten hours per week.

The first concert that she staged was a variety show with a choir of thirty very enthusiastic girls in 1958. In 1961 the standard 8 [grade 10] girls’ senior choir sang in the rotary Northern Natal eisteddfod in Ladysmith and, as the top choir, the girls had the privilege of singing at the eisteddfod’s final concert. In 1963 she, brave soul, formed her first mixed choir and it sang for the first of many times at the inauguration of the NG “Moedergemeente” church in Willson Street. She was “on a roll”, and from 1964, her Senior Mixed choir was awarded A+ and was top choir at all the Ladysmith eisteddfod until 1970.

After a time of teaching simultaneously at the Junior School and at the high School, dolly was appointed full-time at dhS in 1968. Later she wrote, quite movingly, “Looking back on the twenty-four years I taught at this [dundee high] school, at no time did I ever feel that the scholars who were my pupils were not worth making a sacrifice for. They enriched my life and brought me much happiness. I have lasting, pleasant memories of my association with all the pupils I taught. I sincerely hope that they too enjoyed what I tried to offer them in music.”

The highlight of her teaching career at dundee high was the presentation of Stainer’s “crucifixion” in April 1976. This was an advanced work for young people; but the 66 pupils memorised the 59 pages of its score and in four-part SATB[1] harmony! They were accompanied by a brilliant young organist, Vincent Baasch. Today, together with his equally bright older brother, erik, Vincent is a medical specialist in canada; and their grandfather, Victor Baasch, was also a musician who performed for a dance at the school on 13 September 1949– in spite of rain – after the inter-house athletics meeting and “he made one feel like keeping up the modern saying of, ‘come on, Bug, let’s jitter!’”

dolly also nurtured the extraordinary robert Brooks, deputy head Boy in 1974. having been based (a poor verb for a baritone) in Vienna for many years, now, robert first made a name for himself as the leader and as a soloist in the 1973 Natal Youth choir that toured europe – London, Brussels, paris, Switzerland and Sardinia – and today he has special acclaim for having founded a not-for-profit organisation called “Miagi”.

1 Irene Morrick says that this is performed by a choir with four voices represented: Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass.

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The German newspaper Tagesspiegel ran the headline “A revolution in the concert hall” after Miagi’s first concert in the Berlin philharmonic hall. “The rituals of the concert-going public were turned on their head. What a pleasure to experience this!” wrote another, commenting on the wildly enthusiastic, 15-minute standing ovation that the young musicians of Miagi received at that famed venue. After leaving the stage, they continued playing for half an hour in the foyer while hundreds of audience members stayed and danced along with them. “I have never seen anything like it,” wrote a member of that normally staid audience in a letter to his newspaper. “A smashing, wonderful concert. Sensational!” was the verdict after they performed at the Schleswig-holstein Music Festival in hamburg. “Fantastic – what fun!” was an accolade after a concert in Stockholm.[1] And what was the youth orchestra that caused such a sensation in the normally-staid concert halls of europe? None other than “Miagi”,[2] which in 2017 completed a stunningly successful month-long tour of europe; 77 young musicians of all races in their teens and early twenties who brought more than 12 000 people to their feet ... led by none other than robert Brooks from dundee high School!

After school, robert trained professionally as a musician in South Africa and in Salzburg and was for many years a prominent part of the Vienna State opera company. he happened on a trip home 14 years ago and was asked to help adjudicate some black musicians. he was so fascinated by the abundance of natural musical talent that he became drawn into forming the Miagi group. Brooks says it is part of Miagi’s expansion programme to foster innovation and musical originality. dolly would be proud that robert avers that “music is indeed a great investment, educationally, culturally and socially. It should, he says, be taught in all schools, beginning at pre-school. Not only is it culturally enriching, it even teaches you to count. From when you are four years old, you have to count those bars. It is colour blind, socially stabilising and even the poorest kid can learn to play a penny whistle.”

1 Allister Sparks 2017: 1.2 “Music is a Great Investment”

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dolly, ably helped by edgar Torlage’s niece, Anneline Torlage, was delighted to have had robert in her school choir of 1972. In 1970 there was a 45-strong Boys’ choir and in 1972 that number had increased to 64 boys and it represented Northern Natal on the SABc! After taking part in the show “young South Africa Sings”, the presenter, ronald charles, asked them to present a programme of “spirituals” that was broadcast in 1974.

Another example of a high School success is Ingrid van Zweel. Ingrid trained at the university of Stellenbosch, obtaining a BMus degree and then completed two performers’ licentiates, one from uNISA and the other from the royal School of Music. over a period of thirty years she excelled as a vocalist in many genres- opera, lieder, jazz, rock and blues, and she has laid the basis for many students and teachers to pursue their professional music careers. In her career as a soprano, a composer, a vocal instructor and an adjudicator for musical examinations, she has worked with the likes of Nataniel, Mimi coertze, Kevin Leo, Manuel escorcio, rouel Beukes and many others.[1]

Irene Fleischhauer lived across the road from dolly osborn and “at the tender age of four I began piano lessons with her and never looked back again. She was the most incredible teacher I have ever met. She engaged and encouraged without ever seeking anything in return... I remember composing a little song about my cocker-spaniel, Tickey. She encouraged me to write down the notes and even recorded it for me on a little tape-recorder. every composition was treated with the same interest and respect. Suggestions would follow about how it could be improved or ‘tweaked’ and this has, for the most part, been the reason why I have composed and arranged so much of my own music over the last 42 years.”

“Although I enjoyed playing the piano and singing while still at school, it wasn’t until after dolly passed away, that I seriously considered making it my career. After matriculating in 1986, I studied music at the university of pretoria, graduating cum laude in 1991.” Irene taught at the well-known Jeppe Girls’ high School in Johannesburg in 1992 and in 2000 she was awarded her BMus (honours) also cum laude. In 2008 her girls’ choir achieved two silver medals at the 5th World choir Games in Austria. In 1994 she married Jack Morrick and they have two very musical children, Annie and Sean (who is a pupil at the drakensberg Boys’ choir School).

1 www.satch.co.za/wordpress/wp-content/.../10/Microsoft-Word-Ingrid-van-Zweel-cV.pdf.

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But on to accounts of two remarkable friends: digby rhodes was head Boy of the high School in 1959 and, for the second year in a row, captain of cricket. he grew up near Wasbank – his father worked for “By-products” – and because transport was a problem for the family, he, his brothers Graeme, Barry and Glen and their sister Fiona had to catch lifts to and fro for the school term. “At the start of school until the holidays each term, first the dundee Junior hostel and then the dundee high School Boys’ hostel was my home, and the weekends were lived in these hostels with very kind staff.” At the age of 15 he decided to leave school for two years – then returned to finish off his Matric. he was welcomed back into the arms of the school, as he enthusiastically took part in everything he could. digby trained as a teacher and was headmaster of two schools in pietermaritzburg, clarendon primary and Scottsville primary. he has been involved for years with the “Mud rats” (the famous Merchiston prep School) in pietermaritzburg. one of whom is the vastly talented and popular Jonty rhodes – attended the school and to this day he enjoys supervising its facilities; and what more of an expert could one obtain for such a job!

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Almost certainly the most successful “career soldier” that passed through the school was Lieutenant-General philippus (“Flip”) ortlepp du preez,[1] who grew up on a farm in the Babanango area. he was born in Vryheid hospital on 28 January 1942 and he went through Babanango Junior School and then, as a boarder, he came to the high School in standard six. For two years he captained the high School rugby team, in 1958 and in 1959, the same years that his boarder friend digby rhodes was captain of the cricket team. Flip played in digby’s team and digby played in his! In athletics Flip represented Northern Natal and Natal (in 1959) and where digby was drum Major in the cadet Band, Flip was the Senior Student cadet officer. Both boys matriculated in 1959 and philip du preez was called up to do his “basics” at the Army Gymnasium at Voortrekkerhoogte in 1960.

his potential was identified and during 1961 through 1963 he studied at the Military Academy near Saldanha Bay in the cape. This was followed by specialisation (some of it in France) from 1964 through 1971 designing, developing and acquiring a low-level air defence missile system for the country. Then he spent three years in the Military Intelligence division in pretoria and from 1975 through 1983 he was based in rundu for operational and liaison duties in southern Angola during the “Border War.” Lieutenant General du preez was ultimately based at defence headquarters from where, as chief of defence Logistics, he retired in 2000. he is still involved in veterans’ affairs and he enjoys living by the sea at Yzerfontein in the Western cape.

Three of the seven new teachers reporting for duty on 1 February 1960 were Miss Gwenith Greenhough (later, in June 1964, Mrs Gwen herman) of the well-known local farming family, a former head Girl and, in her day, a champion athlete; Mr (later dr) david T rowe-rowe; and Mr edgar Torlage, who rose to become deputy headmaster and “Minister of Finance” of the school.

dundonians watched rome olympics in 1960 with great interest, as one of their own, david Forbes Meineke, was participating. he had been born on 18 october 1929 in dannhauser and was the oldest (at age 30) rower in the men’s single sculls event at those 1960 Summer olympics. his races (there are heats and then the finals) took place at Lake Albano, a volcanic crater lake about twenty kilometres south-east of rome, but unlike South Africa’s rowers of more recent olympics, he was unplaced (his average times gave him a ninth place). dave Meineke died on 1 February 2010 in pietermaritzburg.

1 personal communication with General du preez: 6 december 2017.

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dave rowe-rowe, one of those new teachers in 1960, grew up in Bechuanaland (present-day Botswana) and when his parents relocated to the South coast he and his brother Fred completed their schooling at port Shepstone high School. dave went on to Natal Training college and was posted to dundee high to teach Biology, some physical education and english. he also coached athletics and looked after the under-15 rugby teams. he married Valerie Marshall, also a Natal Training college graduate, who was also teaching bookkeeping, arithmetic and some music at the school. In July 1966 the rowe-rowes left dundee; he to join the research section of the prestigious Natal parks Board and Val to be transferred to pietermaritzburg Girls’ high School.

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Whilst at the “parks Board” dave became a renowned expert on the mammals in Natal and the data that he gathered on his field trips and in research earned him both an MSc and a phd from uNd. he attained the rank of Specialist Scientist (or Assistant director) before he retired in 1996. he and Val, who retired from teaching at pietermaritzburg Girls’ high in 1997, remained in pietermaritzburg where he soon will celebrate his 80th birthday. Sadly, Val died in 2003.

dr rowe-rowe was not alone in being a wildlife “fundi.” From 1985 through 1993 Leon van Wyk (a thoroughly english rhodesian, despite his thoroughly Afrikaans name) taught Biology and was loved by his classes. Who will forget his whole-arm wave from his car window as he swept past in the road, or the intellectual discussions on “free radicals” at the lunch table (on seeing some lathering too much butter on their bread), or the delighted embarrassment he caused his standard seven (grade nine) girls with his gorilla-like bellows, snorts and roars during the triumphal procession of classes in the 110th anniversary celebrations? Who will also forget how he worried his colleagues when he came down from the “commentary box” in the “new” grandstands one sports day and, not ducking low enough, knocked himself out cold on a metal beam, landing in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the steps? For ever after, visitors to that box have been oh! so careful, on making a descent!

Leon was a keen and good golfer and, loving nothing better than his excursions off fishing or camping in the Zambezi bush. he was intellectually active in environmental issues, enjoying, for instance, a debate on the morality of game hunting. Like dave rowe-rowe, Leon left teaching for “conservation”, taking up a job as a guide at the luxurious MalaMala reserve. Before he left to marry and to settle down in port elizabeth, Leon was chief Guide there. he is presently back in guiding, in a private reserve near the Kruger National park.

Whilst he taught at dundee high, van Wyk teamed up with Art Teacher Barry percival to explore the bush, rivers and dams of the Buffalo valley, having near-death encounters with elephant close to the Zambezi.

Barry and Leon spearheaded the “indigenisation” of the quarry area behind the sports fields’ grandstand, working with enthusiastic young people trying to quell the exotic, invasive blue gum trees, planting local trees on Arbor day with pupils and staff, and, in 1988, with hod of Science, Johan Strydom, building a bird sanctuary there.

Johan wrote of their efforts to “greening” the school, “To those who are apathetic, or who would rather leave the work to someone else, remember this: ‘If you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem!’” The quarry was, at the beginning of 1988, in (as he says) “a rather sad state. The area had for many years been used as a dumping ground. The litter that was strewn around the place was repulsive, and definitely not conducive to birds making their home in the area. Furthermore, the water seemed to be polluted in some areas; in others, it was covered in a thick carpet of duckweed. old bricks (thousands of them) and large pieces of scrap metal lay everywhere. hundreds of bottles and a few dozen old car tyres did nothing to enhance the appearance of the water. Another very negative sign was the large number of bugweed plants in the quarry.”

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With Leon van Wyk as a hands-on supervisor, junior girls got stuck in to clean up the place on Fridays during cadet periods and then, with more and more becoming involved, on Saturday mornings too. “A cheerful and busy camaraderie soon developed among the willing workers,” he said. They all knew that it was a longer-term project, one requiring some years to complete, but “it is essential that we continue in our efforts. We are concerned with the conservation of our indigenous fauna and flora, surely a very worthy cause.” hardly surprisingly, dundee high School came a close second in the Natal finals of the “conservation Symposium” held in durban that year.

In 1989 the good work continued and by Arbor day no fewer than fifty eucalyptus trees had (thankfully) “bitten the dust” and staff and students gathered to plant thirty new indigenous trees. Graham McKenzie (Stephen’s father) stocked the dams with black bass fingerings and water lilies were also planted. The team worked hard on preparing a presentation with scientific facts and conclusions drawn from its findings. “Many hours were spent selecting and rejecting slides, working on the written report, preparing transparencies [these were the days of “overhead projectors”!] and planning a concise, enlightening verbal presentation.” called to pinetown Girls’ high for the Natal Finals of the “conservation Symposium”, the team was placed first in the category “on-going projects” and it participated in the South African finals of the National Youth Symposium held at Golden Gate in that october.

Another “environmental fundi” is Brett Gehren, who matriculated at the high School in 1984. he has become very successful in the wildlife-cum-hospitality industry. having gained a Bcom degree at Stellenbosch university, Brett worked alongside Leon van Wyk as a game ranger at MalaMala from 1990 -1992.

Brett’s father, dennis edmond Gehren, was a dundee high old boy, matriculating in 1953. during his time at the high School, he distinguished himself as a Natal diver and was the school’s drum major for five years. he joined the Standard Bank in 1954 and after an upwardly mobile career as a banker, he took himself to London, where he worked, and europe, where he travelled, for 18 months before returning to dundee in 1961. he joined his father, Theo Gehren, and his partner, Jimmy Law, at GL Motors, starting “at the bottom” as a pump attendant. eventually dennis managed that garage and he bought Shardelow Garage which became dundee Toyota (now known as Jeff’s Service Station) as well as dundee Volkswagen and dundee panelbeaters. More about dennis’ inspirational work in education later.

dennis married Jennifer Johnston, a teacher from the Junior School, in 1964 and they brought up their three sons on cleveland Farm just outside dundee, on the dannhauser road. he eventually sold his businesses and moved to a lush farm situated on the uMzinyathi river, fairly near elandskraal, teeming with wildlife. It was here that father and son, dennis and Brett, started their Isibindi river explorers and Zulu Lodge. Within a few years Brett had married an environmental economist, paige elliot. They presently live with their children on a farm near eshowe in Zululand. They have built and opened Kosi Forest Lodge and Thonga Beach Lodge (both in the iSimangaliso park), ridge Safari Lodge (at hluhluwe iMfolozi park), and rhino post Lodge, plains camp and rhino Walking Safaris (all in the Kruger National park).

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Yet another “wildlife” success story is that of John Abraham, son of an old scholar and teacher at dundee high School, peter Abraham. John’s mother, ria, taught generations of youngsters at dundee Junior School. John himself attended dundee high from 1978 to 1982 and, after Matric he was conscripted into the Intelligence unit of the SANdF. having spent time in active border duty, he was awarded a bursary from Iscor and studied electronic engineering in durban. This, he discovered, was not his calling and in 1990 he founded Madubula Safaris. “27 years later this has grown into South Africa’s premier safari company. our company is the only one to be awarded the South African professional hunter of the year award five times, and our highest accolade was when I was acclaimed as the International professional hunter of the Year in 2007 in Las Vegas by Safari club International.”[1] John met and married Lauri in 1992 and they have two sons, Kyle and Talon, who are both at university in Texas. his sister is still resident in dundee. Two more old scholars, “Vlam” and Lesley Myburg (née Buntting) also worked with John Abraham. Vlam (the name means “Flame” – with his bright Gaelic hair – joined Madubula Safaris in 1997 and he has also been acknowledged as the South African professional hunter of the Year. Vlam was a great friend and “bundu rat” companion of Laurence Munro. Lesley branched off from helping keep the office’s “admin” in order into the world of accounting. Vlam and Lesley also live in pietermaritzburg and they have two sons, ross and Luke.

Vlam and his younger brother, elmar – through-and-through boerseuns[2] – grew up with their parents, dolf (principal of pro Nobis School) and Marietjie Myburg (an efficient front-of-house person in the dunmed doctors’ practice) in quiet umfolozi road in Strathmore park. Quiet unless sport was on. Never will anyone forget those two boys running out into the street following ‘95 World cup victory, shouting at the top of their lungs “Yay! Yayyy! Yayyyy!” Life seemed to be simpler, then, as kids grew up camped all night by the lower dam on “Mpati” or went looking for Bushman paintings in endumeni and grabbed fishing rods at unearthly hours to go fishing at the quarry. Many were the days when the only one who caught anything was elmar ,the youngest, who is a born fisherman.

Both are big men now and elmar says, “I remember my high school years best for all the sports and friends. We did not have phones and tablets that the children have today so we spent most of our time together. We lived for our sport. rugby and cricket were played and enjoyed full-out. Together we were all naughty and got good hidings ... we played tok-tokkie[“ring and run”] in the evenings[3] and over the weekends we threw kleilatte in the vlei;[4] plus in those years we could still go anywhere and walk and even camp in the mountains and it was pretty safe...”

1 personal communication with Mr John Abraham: 18 october 2017.2 properAfrikaner boys.3 And all these years I’ve blamed the poor, innocent Shardelow kids – who can’t defend themselves, all the way over there in British colombia in canada! So: it can’t have been them, either, who, year after year, bent the street signs ...?4 players use thin, whippy sticks (latte) to flick lumps of clay (klei) at opponents in a vlei (a marshy area).

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After matriculating in 1997, elmar completed his basic Army training and ended up as a second lieutenant commander of a rooikat, a highly mobile eight-wheeled armoured reconnaissance vehicle mounted with a 76mm cannon. When his close friend Steven Fouché,[1] called him and said, “Let’s go to the uK”, like many other dundee boys of that era, it made perfect sense. he said yes, little knowing what a huge turning-point it would prove in his life. Whilst there he applied to join the Marines and he underwent two years of hard, professional training. only nine of the original 60 who started completed the course. Nobody had told him beforehand, he says, that it was an amphibious unit, “so most of the time we were pap nat [soakingly wet].” Afterwards, it was a further year and a half’s gruelling instruction with 42 commando. his unit was attached to Fleet protection Group in Scotland where they helped protect nuclear submarines. Then it was on to join a new group, the Special Forces Support Group, training with and in support of the SAS in combat situations.

In 2006 the SFSG was deployed for six months together with the SAS to Iraq where they underwent innumerable night missions in Baghdad and in the surrounding areas. “I don’t know how, but none of us was KIA. We had many contact strikes but we did have incredible support from the Americans.” The following year he served in Afghanistan where “there are no rules and every day feels more and more like the ‘Wild West.’ There was a lot of fighting and again we were very happy to lose no one.” From 2009 through 2011 he used his military experience back in Iraq, working for a private security company and again, despite horrific situations “there were no problems while I was there.”

1 Yet another old scholar, who today heads up security for Warner Brothers’ studios in the uK.

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From 2011 until the present date, elmar has alternated between providing security in the Basra area and helping ships avoid piracy in the Indian ocean (an opportunity he gained as a result of his experience with the Marines. “We have accompanied large oil tankers, freight ships, bulk carriers and LNG tankers past the Somali coastline through the Gulf of Aden and on the red Sea to the Suez canal. Ships were attacked in front of me and behind me and there were many problems ... no pirates ever knocked at my door.” And, harking back to the memories of his youth: “of course, my fishing rod is always ready and many a fish has been pulled out of the water ...!”[1]

he sums up his experiences: “I have learned a great deal from all my travels and I can honestly say that with a kind of friendly smile you can get along very well. If you let your lip droop and your shoulders sag, people will notice and become less and less willing to help you. To be positive all the time is not easy. If things go badly and you flop down in a little heap you will not recover.... You make your own luck – life is not free, you have to dive for it! – and if you stay positive and if you surround yourself with positive people who have the same power as you have, together you’ll make life easier for each other.”

elmar and Vlam and scores of other boys – largely drawn from the 1st dundee Scout Troop – trekked to the summit of Talana hill for many sleep-overs under the stars (and, on one night, huddled in “pup” tents as lightning and hard rain lashed about them) in order to help re-build a couple of British forts there. The main fort, 55m long and 48m wide, was completed by British soldiers in August 1900. It took over three years to restore that fort to something approaching its original state. It was very overgrown and most of the walls (about two metres high) had fallen down. Grass was slashed away, bushes were torn out of the masonry, and alien trees in the vicinity were chopped down and rocks “from the enormous to the trifling, have had to be heaved back up on to the bulwarks.”

As has been seen, elmar Myburg is not the only professional soldier we have had in our history. The 1960s were times of great change in Africa, and no small source of concern to the “enclave” of South Africa, with the increasing decolonisation and the granting of independence to countries to the north. The Belgian pull-out of the congo (now, the drc) in 1960 sparked off a bloody civil war with the involvement of mercenaries recruited from around the world and, ultimately, also the united Nations’ forces. prime Minister Moïse Tshombe hired Major Mike hoare to lead a military unit called 5 commando, Armée Nationale Congolaise in Katanga; and hoare bought what he considered to be the best soldiers around; like George Schroeder. “For all round excellence in soldiering, I would have chosen Schroeder as the finest man I met in the congo.”[2] of interest, this George’s father was an old scholar (also called Georg) who leapt, in the high jump, higher than the height of his head!

1 personal communication with elmar Myburg: 11 November 2017.2 hoare 1967: 83 & 248.

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But from shooting back to teaching: dave rowe-rowe became a pal of edgar Torlage when they were on the staff together. edgar was and is a man of considerable talents who became a teacher-farmer-accountant. edgar was born and raised in the utrecht district and he cycled his way daily to Kingsley primary School until standard 6 and then he entered utrecht high School as a boarder. (Was his spell there as a koshuisbrak[1] the reason he only spent one day as a boarder master in dundee high’s boys’ hostel?!) he completed his professional training at durban Technical college and, later, he studied through uNISA.

When Mr and Mrs Burger retired they went to live in the pretty, small Western cape town of porterville, at the foot of the olifants river Mountains. There he died in 1977. he was succeeded by Mr Frans J hugo at the beginning of 1961. As Mr hugo could not leave his former school, Queensburgh Boys’ high, until after the first term the newly-appointed Vice principal, Mr Klingenberg, deputised for him during that time. The school opened with 522 children on the roll “with several children still absent.”

on Mr hugo’s retirement in 1971, Mr p r T Nel, the director of education (and a product of Vryheid high School), penned this gracious accolade for him: “his appointment as head of dundee high School in 1961 was the achievement of an ideal and ambition he had coveted since 1931. After completing his studies at Stellenbosch university [in 1929], he only joined the Natal department of education in the second half of 1930. After a quarter on the staff of durban high School, he accepted service at dundee high School at the beginning of 1931. From the outset, he identified him with the school and the local community. his love and loyalty towards dundee has evolved and over time it has increased. he saw service to dundee as his life’s mission, and he proceeded in this goal with an intrinsic purposefulness and dedication.”[2]

Like Mr Burger, such a focussed man as Mr hugo enjoyed top-class obedience in his school. The errant schoolchild could expect no mercy from his righteous wrath. Mrs dolly osborn was putting her choir through its paces in assembly one day when, half-way through the piece, hugo observed a girl in the hall paying gross inattention. erupTIoN! The music died a hasty death whilst the girl was reprimanded for her lack of cultural appreciation in ringing tones.

he was a no-nonsense man. When a father took his daughter out one evening without permission from the Girls’ hostel to attend the circus he (the father) and she (the daughter) were summarily informed that the girl could stay out of the hostel; she was expelled from it. he wrote in a circular: “A word of warning to those of you [parents] who are genuinely interested in the development of your child i.e. that I have told the staff to send any child out who does not attend in class or who becomes a nuisance and disturbs and this hampers the flow of work in that class.”

1 The traditional, affectionate name for a boarder boy, literally a “hostel mongrel”.2 dundee high School Magazine, 1971: 3.

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Teachers also came under his stern eye: “We have no time to waste – the staff member who does waste time is very stupid or does not know what is expected of the pupils in the very near future. As such high standards of adaptation are demanded of our youth of to-day, the parent and the school must surely supply the essential ‘where-with-all’ to enable the adult of to-morrow to face these demands successfully.” how prophetically true his words have become in our “technological age”, 40+ years later.

Mr hugo loved the School hall and daily during its construction he spent loving hours supervising the foremen, inspecting the site, ensuring that all its workmanship was up to his standards of perfection. Such, too, was his practice during the building of the swimming pool. his booming voice could clearly be heard from one end of the school to the other. A former teacher says that Mr hugo was fanatical that any child going into the swimming pool should first walk through a small bath of disinfectant. one young man one day sanguinely skipped over the “dip” and dived in and, having been observed by the headmaster, he was yelled at: “piet Nel, jou donder [you untranslatable]!” and ordered out of the baths to retrace his steps properly and then to get back into the pool! on Mr hugo’s departure from the school the (very clean) swimming pool was named in his honour.

Yet another head of department (of more recent years) was caught peeping down the front of his teacher as Mr hugo patrolled the passageways. The young man was ordered to Mr hugo’s office, the door was closed, he was given a smack about the head and four of the best... and his name shall remain anonymous! Two other boys were spotted, on a different occasion, “messing about” whilst their teacher was busy at his blackboard. The head barged in, knocked them off their chairs and laid into them, to the frustrated ire of their teacher. Mr J and Mr S, two of dundee’s successful businessmen today are, they say, none the worse for wear from Mr hugo’s assault.

The Mayor of dundee, councillor charles Shaw, enjoyed the friendship of Mr hugo, and couldn’t help “taking the mickey” out of him in his farewell address when he retired. commenting on Mr hugo’s predilection for orderliness, he said, “I would anticipate that were a man from space to land in your School grounds your first demand of him would be, ‘Get off my grass.’” And he added, “Frans, I will miss your coming in to my shop and addressing me as, ‘Ja, jou swernoot” [“Yes, you blighter”]!

But beneath his brusque exterior Mr hugo held a tender heart for staff and learners. he was moved by the death by electrocution of a standard seven boy, d davey, on Friday 4 december 1964 and in his logbook on Monday 18 November 1968 reports a tragic event that had occurred: “It is with deep sorrow that I have to testify that a staff member [named] and a Standard 10 pupil [also named] have suffered an accident on the other side of cambrian hill in [the teacher’s] Volkswagen. A hard blow – we rely on strength from Above.”[1] School was closed at 10:00 for the boy’s funeral at 3:00 that afternoon.

1 Translated from Mr hugo’s Afrikaans.

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on a brighter note, he was touched by the Matrics of ‘64 that brought the staff together for a sit-down dinner that they prepared and served. And on 27 September that year, when dundee high School walked off with all of the trophies at the Northern Natal Inter-School Athletics championship held in Newcastle, Mr hugo wrote, “Messrs reusch & rowe-rowe both earned praise for their good spirit and cooperation. I am exceptionally proud of our school.”

his school hall was “christened” on the nights of 22-24 September 1965 when dolly osborn, dave rowe-rowe and George Snyman (who later progressed to dundee Junior School as its principal) produced the musical “Tulip Time” which audience members talked about with pride.[1] Few of them would have known about Mr hugo’s “cold sweat” as first 600 new chairs and then the full set of hall curtains were delivered and installed just two days before the show!

In that hall is a treasure of note: a magnificent Steinway Grand piano which accompanies assemblies, music lessons, choirs, and so forth. The story of how it came into the possession of the school is interesting. Mrs o M robertson, wife of the late Senator r B robertson, was the first woman on the dundee Town council in 1939. At that time, the civic centre boasted of a small hall in which regular music evenings were held, and so the need for a good piano arose. She approached her husband and he took her to Newcastle to see his old friend Senator Greaves, whom he knew owned a Steinway Grand. Senator Greaves consented to Mrs robertson’s buying the piano for only £95 (ninety-five pounds) on condition that firstly, this piano would never leave dundee, and secondly, it would be used for cultural activities of the community of dundee, and especially for young folk.

And so weekly musical evenings, now with the addition of the Steinway Grand, continued in the then Town hall. during the Second World War, Margaret Baird, a well-known pianist and widow of the late James Logie Baird (inventor of television) toured Natal and gave a concert in dundee. She used that Steinway Grand and the next day, while Mrs robertson was having morning tea with Mrs Baird, the pianist remarked on the piano and wanted to know more about it. It appeared that Margaret Baird also possessed a Steinway Grand, and she assured Mrs robertson that they were definitely the finest instruments in the world.

Sometime later Senator and Mrs robertson returned from a parliamentary session in cape Town and, as usual, they read the Courier newspaper. To their horror they saw an advertisement for the sale of the Steinway by the Town council – anyone could buy it! A new civic building was in the process of being built and during operations there was nowhere to put the Grand piano – hence the advert. Mrs robertson lost no time in contacting the press, the Town council and Mr hugo and he, with financial aid from the education department, was able to buy the piano, just at the time when his beloved new hall was built.

1 Mr Burger’s logbook 25.9.64.

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chris olivier piccione, who left dundee in 1985 to (eventually) become the principal of Queensburgh Boys’ high School in durban, was blessed not only with a talent for music, but he had a fine singing voice. occasionally, the school would enjoy solo items that he presented to the accompaniment of the Steinway in assemblies. Mr hugo had been very proud that chris piccione’s cadet Band had been placed second in the Natal finals in pietermaritzburg. After 1972, when a certain Mr Jan Kooyman took over Newcastle high School’s band (and it’s drill Squad), there was no hope for any other school’s “brass and drums”. As a new teacher in 1981, chris piccione had all the instruments replaced and renewed and drove the band with verve and vigour. “contrary to our expectations,” that year, however, “we came last” in the Northern Natal cadet Band competition, “but we certainly benefitted by the experience and we will provide healthy competition next year”.

his “band boys” were popular regulars at municipal functions and at the annual Agricultural Show and in the centenary Year the band, with two of the muscular Gradidge boys – Mark as drum-major and Trevor as the leopard-robed bass-drummer – lead the high School’s float parade as it wended its way through town. chris’ place was taken by the new science teacher and similarly-talented musician, Mr “Jorrie” Jordaan.

In January 1965 a well-loved teacher joined the ranks of Mr Burger’s staff, Marilyn Squires. A perfectionist like her predecessor, Linda peckham (née Birkenstock, edgar Torlage’s niece), Marilyn brought great pride to home economics. But the school nearly didn’t get her: having grown up and been educated in oudtshoorn, it was a culture shock coming to dundee, and when she was informed that she would be teaching english (and not the subject of her training and expertise), she baulked. She decided to catch the first train home. It took a bit of gentle persuasion from Andy Towert (the english hod) and Mr hugo to turn her around. She remained for 25 years becoming loved and admired until, having first run one of dundee’s first and most elegant and successful B&Bs and also a curio shop at Talana Museum, she headed back down to the cape.

Marilyn was a loyal, industrious teacher and friend – and knew how to stand on her rights. When Maths teacher Gavin Jones, who hadn’t seen her for a while, jokingly asked her once “do you work here?” he received an “earful” in response! her subject is described – surely colloquially? – in hugo’s logbook in 1969 as “Kookkuns & N[aald]werk” (“cooking & Sewing”). At least he got it right, then.

Another teacher of renown in those days was Miss L Maree who in July of 1964 was chosen to represent South Africa in hockey and who, the following year, toured with the Springbok hockey team overseas.

Also joining the staff with Marilyn Squires in January 1965 to teach science was Jan Beukes. “Because my first teaching post after university was at dundee high, I had the honour of teaching with a number of staff members who taught me as a scholar. A unique, sometimes funny and often stressful situation! Which chair in the staff room may you sit on? how close may you come to the fireplace in wintertime?”

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A matric science pupil of Jan Beukes’ in 1969 was Johan Gerhard van Nierop, who completed his BSc, BSc (hons), MSc and his doctorate in chemistry all at “potch”. he was a researcher and a lecturer at the university and a member of the South African chemistry Institute.

head Girl in that year of 1965 was Sandy Mallett, a good sportswoman and one of three girls who passed through the school: Alena, Sandra, and Michelle. They lived at the corner of Victoria Street and cornhill Street and their father, Mr “Bunny” Mallett, was a partner with Mr Gert hanekom of the law firm Acutt & Worthington. “Bunny” and his wife Veronica lived in dundee for more than 60 years, with Veronica working as a local librarian and, later, for the Ned. Sandy married a former english teacher, humphrey Browning and their marriage was blessed with five children, one of whom, Nicola, became head Girl and another, david, was head Boy in his Matric year.

Sandy ran a speech and drama course at the dundee Junior School on two afternoons each week for eight years. It stood her in good stead to co-produce five dramatic shows when returned to teach english at the high School in 1987. She taught english (main language; eNGM) with distinction in her time, leaving at the close of 2007. The final show that she brought to the boards at the school was the challenging “Pride and Prejudice”, based on the witty novel by Jane Austen. Just finalising the cast took a month and the rehearsals took place three times each week for many months; not an easy schedule to maintain as pupils were involved in other academic and sporting and cultural activities.

Also in 1965, in the 1st XV rugby photograph, is a young Arnold (“Arrie”) Günther. he is looking unnaturally reticent in that photo. Years later he says how a friend of his in the Boys’ hostel played a trick on him, offering him some “special shampoo” one night – but, to take full effect, it had to remain in its sudsy state on his head for at least half an hour. It was a reddish-coloured shampoo dye, and there was nothing that poor Arrie could do about it. Such were the wicked tricks the boys played on one another.

After school, Arrie followed his brother pieter (head Boy in 1964) to “Kovsies” (the uoFS) and both were resident in Reitz Kamerwonings [Reitz hostel] where pieter studied towards a BSc (Agriculture) and Arrie obtained a BA (physical education and Geography). At “reitz” the Günthers continued playing their rugby, but there was exceptionally tough competition getting in to the senior team. There were no fewer than ten Springbok rugby players that passed through that hostel! Arrie taught for a year at potchefstroom then, having married elsa Basson, he settled down to teach geography at his alma mater and to become a “legend” as a rugby coach and as Sports coordinator for the school. Many dozens of boys passed through his hands and some achieved greatness; more about these later!

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Mr Burger took long leave in the second half of 1966 and Mr W o W Schroeder acted in his place. With the resignation of Mr rowe-rowe at the start of the third term and also that of Mrs Marais, a bright new mathematician, Mr Nick Lazenby, joined the staff. “Nicky duiwel” was loved for his lack of fear of any person; and for his ability to speak out what was on his mind at any time. he married the daughter of Mr and Mrs p A r (“piet”) Kay, the mayoral couple, and their daughter, Sonja, taught languages and history at the school for some years and was a powerhouse behind an outdoor society before – eventually – moving with her husband into the world of commerce. Mr Kay was an educator too, and Jan Beukes was a pupil in Melmoth primary School where Mr Kay was principal. Whilst she worked at empangeni high School, Mrs Kay was the dearest school secretary one could wish for, ever-willing to help a young teacher with an ever-present smile; so welcoming!

An insert on Karen Lazenby, the Kay’s granddaughter and Nick’s younger daughter: having been head Girl in 1988 and travelled to New Zealand as an exchange student, Karen became project manager in 1998 for “Tuks’” Telemetric education department whilst she completed an Med; and now, with her doctorate in education and an executive MBA from the university of cape Town, she is registrar for Systems and Administration at the university of the Free State, responsible for Student Academic Services, International Affairs and Marketing. She started as a lecturer in 1994 at uFS and changed roles to head up academic staff development and managing institutional research at the university.

Whilst Mr Schroeder was presiding at the school the shocking assassination of dr hendrik Verwoerd took place in parliament. The next day, 7 September 1966, after a brief memorial service, a lengthy three minutes’ silence was observed and “prayers were offered in Afrikaans for the family of the prime Minister and the country and ... [Mr Schroeder] addressed the school in english, to express regrets and to emphasise the seriousness of the tragic event.”

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dundee high School has produced numerous “medicos” over the years but prof. Frans J Maritz was one of the best. Born on 30 January 1949, he was a 1st XV rugby player and dux of the school when he matriculated in 1966. he gained his MBchB from Stellenbosch university in 1973 and he had a practice as a Gp in Wartburg before completing a MMed and gaining his Fcp in 1981. Thereafter he served as a specialist in internal medicine in pietermaritzburg from 1982 through 1990 before moving with his family to the cape. he became a senior specialist at the Tygerberg hospital and head of Internal Medicine at Karl Bremer hospital in Bellville. These were teaching hospitals of Stellenbosch university and he gained a phd (having written very many scientific articles in national and in international medical journals) and he was appointed a professor in the School of Medicine. Tragically, for his family and for a world that so needs such brilliant, caring and productive experts, he died following a protracted illness on 23 June 2005 at the age of just 56.

When Mr hugo returned from long leave he heaped praise on the steady hand with which Mr Schroeder had run the school in his absence. he also welcomed an “industrial arts” teacher that would only leave in december 1984, Mr Michiel (“Giel”) Adendorff, a man whose perfectionism and demand for excellence in his metalwork rooms became legendary. When edgar Torlage purchased school bus after school bus it was “Oom Giel” who lovingly cared for them, became “Minister of Transport” and who shepherded successions of young masters who supplemented their teachers’ salaries by driving “routes” from and to dannhauser early morning and after school each working day and also on sports trips.

“oom Giel” helped immensely in facilitating Kevin Burge’s annual standard nine career guidance “tours”. Kevin used also to rope in his fellow drivers and they would take a full bus-load of learners on ten-day trips to the cape and five-day trips to the reef on excursions. Before his first such trip “down South”, he was warned by a veteran teacher to beware of certain “rough diamonds” amongst the schoolboys that were paid up and ready to travel. “Leave them behind!” she urged. Fortunately he did not ... and when faced with a puncture near Laingsburg who were the boys who dirtied themselves under the vehicle, fixing the “spare” onto the bus? You’ve guessed it.

A new form of transport for schoolboys was a “buzzbike” (in Afrikaans known colloquially as ‘n bromponie; literally, a buzzing or humming pony!), and they were a target for Mr hugo’s loathing. In July of 1970 he issued the declaration: “orders have been issued to the owners of buzzbikes that none of them will be allowed on school property in the future – they and their friends are a hazard for other pupils and a pest in the grounds.”

In that year, amongst nine newcomers to the Staff (and this was a conservative “turnover” in comparison with other rural schools) was Anthony edward cubbin. “Tony” cubbin became a well-known – albeit interestingly controversial– historian who specialised in the times and politics of KwaZulu and who was for quite some years professor of history at the university of Zululand at Kwadlangezwa. In his years at dundee he was master in charge of sport and he served a number of terms as chairman of the Natal Schools’ Athletics union.

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The photograph of his 1970 1st rugby XV contains some well-known “characters”, such as a massive youngster, Frans Joubert (“A good scrumhalf who meant a lot for the team”; older brother of hannah Venter, an Accountancy teacher in 2017); the douthwaite brothers, Trevor (“a very promising front-ranker”) and John (“an excellent No. 8”); and John Grant (father of the Springbok, peter Grant; “a centre with much promise”).

John douthwaite, wherever he is, adds colour and vitality. he schooled at dundee primary from 1959 through 1965 and at dundee high from 1966 through 1970. Whilst at dhS he was deputy head Boy, he played 1st XV rugby and he captained the 1st XI cricket team. he also met his future wife who was a year behind him at school, colleen ryley. After completing his BA and hed at uNp he taught at Greytown high School from 1977 through 1992 and he was appointed the first principal of a Model “d” school in Newcastle, hope high School. John built up “hope” to be a fine place until he left to go into business with his brother in 1997. however, it wasn’t long (2003, in fact) before he was back in harness and heading St dominic’s in Newcastle – now part of the curro family of schools.

And then there was also in that 1970 team 16 year-old dirk cornelius Froneman. he is described by Tony cubbin as “a good fly half”, but he was an outside centre as a mature player. The Froneman family arrived in the area from the historic Free State town of Winburg in 1970 and dirk entered standard 9 at the high School. he was a born leader as well as being a prodigious sportsman. (one speaks from experience as he – barefooted – galloped past all of the other dads at a dJpS sports day in 1985, leaving everyone else with dusty and blushing faces.) In athletics at school he won the 100m, 200m and 400m sprints. he also was the SA Schools’ 100m hurdles champion in 1971. In his Matric year he was an undisputed choice for the school’s 1st XV, the Natal country districts’’ craven Week Team and also the Natal Schools’ XV. he progressed to the university of the orange Free State and he played on multiple occasions for its 1st team, the Shimlas. he also represented the orange Free State provincial team in the currie cup competition and subsequently gained his Springbok colours. Salomè Kruger, dirk’s future wife, was head Girl in 1972. “I just loved school,” she says. “We cycled to school every day come rain or shine hail or frost. Sport was life and it was something the whole school did, and the teachers who coached us were Good and dedicated. We just had the utmost respect for them. If they said “jump” we jumped! In athletics, Mr [Tony] cubbins and Mr [George] Snyman made us perform to perfection by putting matchboxes on the crossbars of the hurdles. You had to strike them with the heel of your foot. If you didn’t, you went over too high, and boy oh boy...! And you also NeVer just stayed away without a very good reason. Motz and danie Bezuidenhout [who later bought and ran the gracious royal hotel in Victoria Street] were our very enthusiastic swimming and diving coaches. We had a ball with them at 6 o’clock every morning! And Louis Kriel was our tennis coach, and the lovely Lee van heerden coached us in hockey.”

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Salomè continues: “dundee high was The BeST SchooL ArouNd academically and, for sure, sports-wise. We travelled to Vryheid and we hated them! To Ladysmith and we hated them too! And to estcourt, and we hated them.... but they were all our favourites [in opposition] because we got the best out of each other. And don’t forget Sarel cilliers, which was actually called Willie Maree Technical School then; when rugby was on with them, the whole district put in an appearance. We rode on the back of parents’ lorries if we played in Glencoe. In later years we travelled there in style when the school got a bus.”

dirk and Salomè became sweethearts at school and after Matric they both studied at “Kovsies” (uoFS) where she completed a BA and an hed... and they married 1½ hours after dirk had played in a provincial rugby match! After four years of his studies (and sport) dirk did his national service in the Army as a fitness instructor and Salomè taught at JBM hertzog high (now called Bloemfontein high School) for three years. Whilst in “Bloem”, Salomè played hockey for the Free State. Then they moved back to dundee and started farming and running one of the finest B&Bs in the area, Lennox cottage, just off the road to Nquthu. her cooking and their hospitality is highly spoken of. Salomè also was a prized teacher back at her alma mater in dundee teaching commercial subjects.

Young Johan rainsford (who would, as a university student, also be a regular “in the line” for the ‘Free State but also for the Blue Bulls) appears in the 1970 cricket team’s picture; but not yet in the rugby one. his name was still “on the ascendancy”. The following year (1971) he was described as possessing “very safe hands and [having] a good eye for a gap. “That year the school’s captain, “Bokkie” homann (lock), Trevor douthwaite (8th man) and Bennie olivier (fullback) all played for the Natal Schools’ team. The Northern Natal Schools’ team had seven dundee high boys in it! In Johan rainsford’s standard 9 year in 1972 he was Vice-captain of rugby and he played for Northern Natal and the Natal Schools’ side and he was captain of cricket. his good bowling stands out in that year: in six innings for the school he took 40 wickets, of which 25 were clean-bowled. In Matric, he was captain of both the rugby 1st XV and the cricket 1st XI.

When Mr hugo’s tenure as school principal drew to an end he was especially pleased that “Mr W van Niekerk [the inspector] and his spouse have been invited to be the honoured guests on Saturday 5th September at the 50th athletics meeting. A whole group of old-scholars will be present on Saturday and will hold a dinner at the royal hotel in the evening as a farewell to my wife and me, though I will only be out of service [at the year’s end].” Later he wrote, “The day went well and the dinner in the evening with old students was very pleasant.”

Get-togethers as reunions after 10, 20 and even 50 years’ departure from the school (as has happened in october 2017) are a regular occurrence and an indication of the tender memories that old scholars have of their alma mater and of their former teachers who are invited along to share in the celebrations. A feature of these gatherings is the visiting of familiar places, and how interesting it is to see older men craning their necks upwards into the brickwork of the entrance archway at the old Senior Boys’ hostel to make out their initials that they scratched there and to sigh in their old dormitories! “This was our prep room and that was where the juniors made fire for us on winters’ evenings. And here stood the table for our hot tea afterwards.”

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Another event was a sold-out concert in Mr hugo’s hall where the renowned opera tenor Gé Korsten performed on 23 october 1970. L J (Lukas) de Waal, General Manager of the builder’s merchants division of “Johnston & Keith” (the hardware and building concern) organised the event. doubts had been voiced around town as to the viability of bringing such a high-profile star to dundee but, as Mr hugo had to admit, Mr de Waal’s self-confidence was justified.

Mr and Mrs hugo retired to Greytown, but putting public service behind him was not in his making: he almost immediately became a town councillor and he only died there in 1990. his successor was Mr h T (“hermie”) Kriel, in his day “a robust young man ... as a game and tough front-ranker [prop] in rugby scrums, playing for Glenwood old Boys, a gentleman at heart yet as ready to give as he was to take.” These comments were from Mr W o W Schroeder. he was a referee at the time and Mr Kriel was a player.

Mr Kriel hailed – as had Mr Lucien Biebuyck – from Montagu in the “Klein Karoo” and, having trained in education at Stellenbosch university, he taught at Glenwood high School from 1947-1963. Then it was on to hoërskool port Natal where he served as first Vice- and then deputy-principal. he wrote – in Afrikaans or in english – descriptively and well.

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he describes his introduction to our school thus: “It was a memorable experience walking through the front entrance of dundee high School on the morning of Monday, 10 January 1972. compared with newer school buildings, this red-brick edifice is not impressively modern – but it is a building of the most charming character. As I entered the building I found myself in a long corridor which served as a gallery for hundreds of sports photos [that are still, in 2017, there]: it seemed to me to emphasise a long tradition and a doughty past. Walking between rows of old classrooms, I passed graceful Jacaranda trees, verdant shrubs and fine rose bushes – mute but expressive testimony to the aestheticism of my predecessors. I came to a modern swimming pool, and a short while later gazed upon extensive sports fields in a rich setting of pine – and gumtrees, with Impati [eMpathe Mountain] commanding the background. Abundant provision, here, for the needs of any sport-conscious youngster! Finally my wandering brought me to the most modern part of our school complex. I entered the cavernous school hall, where I was confronted by a row of red and white framed portraits on the right-hand wall;[1] portraits of men of worth and dignity, whose labours bore fruit in the rank which our school enjoys today. one by one I perused these portraits, and the feeling grew in me that a precious responsibility had developed upon me; I had become the custodian of a proud tradition.”

1 These photographs of dundee high School’s principals, through the years, now hang in Mr haschke’s office.

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one of his first jobs was – as should be the task of any leader of an academic institution worth his salt – to examine the Matric results of the previous year. They are nationally based normative indicators of how well, really, the school is performing; and Mr Kriel looked at them with mixed feelings: “Uitslae in die gevorderde stroom was baie goed met 2 uit 51 druip, gewone stroom 7 uit 31 druip – dis maar vrot” [“”results in the advanced stream were very good with 2 out of 51 failing, normal stream 7 out of 31 failed - that’s just rotten”].

one of his wisest moves was the installation of a parents’ committee; which could, in the light of “language sensitivities” have been a minefield of controversy in the running of the school between Afrikaans- and english-speaking people. The meeting that was held to choose the committee was held (typically) in a positive atmosphere and five men (including the chairperson, Lukas de Waal, and the always-stable, always-equanimous Town clerk, Jimmy Adams) and three ladies, including the self-sacrificing future Mayor, Mrs Luba catterall, were elected. Mrs catterall knew the school well and her association with it had been a long and happy one. She was a former teacher and noted, “It was to take up an appointment as a teacher at the high School that I came to dundee [in 1949]”. In the privacy of his logbook, Kriel breathed a sigh of relief: “Ek was, & bly, dankbaar dat sake goed verloop het want ek het ‘n baie sterk suspisie gehad dat daar voorafgeknoei is” [“I was, & remain, thankful, that things went well because I had a very strong suspicion of prior skulduggery taking place.”]

Mr Kriel therefore took up the reins at dundee high to improve its academics, but he also oversaw the greatest expansion in the school’s history: the K Block of classrooms, the L Block, the N Block and the swimming pool changing rooms went up, as well as the putting together of the sports complex on our main playing fields. This last-mentioned project was probably edgar Torlage’s greatest single contribution to dundee high School.

Inspired by a suggestion made by a couple of younger staff members in the 1970s, edgar came alive to an idea that was to change his life for the next five years, for until the running track, pavilion and sports grounds were completed he took hardly a day of holiday, taught himself surveying, became an expert amateur civil engineer and exercised his powers of persuasion on innumerable organisations and persons to effect his plans. he spent many, many hours checking run-off, slope and camber on the track; the drainage problem that caused a quagmire in certain parts of the grounds was solved by an intricate and lengthy system of piping, French drains and the dumping of many farmers’ loads of rubble into a two-metre deep trench running about the entire track; and he gave the School a day to remember when explosives experts attempted to blow up the pavilion that Mr Jennings had so lovingly erected in 1955.

The assembled School, situated at a safe distance, beheld the grandstands, suitably (as was thought) charged up and detonated, disappear in a vast cloud of dust and smoke... and to reappear once more as solid as ever! Nonplussed, the experts charged up again... and again... and then set their gangs of labourers to work, chipping away at Jennings’ solid, unmoved masterpiece with jackhammers.

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obviously, such fine facilities cost a small fortune and here again edgar Torlage was the “man for the task.” As Mr Kriel said, “We had no idea of the cost of this venture when we set out – things just mounted up and up!” Mr Torlage had, however, negotiated a bussing contract for the school that resulted in dundee high acquiring four large school busses, a kombi and a bakkie, and it was these, together with the generous donation of time, money, materials and expertise from friends and old Scholars that carried the very expensive venture! No wonder that edgar and his head, “Oom Hermie” Kriel, became friends and Mr Kriel said of him, “Any school with him in it is a happy school. he is my right-hand man!” Mr Kriel’s entry in his logbook on 12 February 1971 shows his delight in the delivery of that first bus (that, although long sold to a dannhauser company, still trundles about quite happily): “A special occasion when the big Mercedes Benz’s keys were handed over to me by Mr. L. de Waal. The bus costs r14,000 - has 83 seats. I thanked the parents’ committee warmly and sent the students home at noon.” The School’s “Minister of Finance”, edgar Torlage, took early retirement in 1990 to enter the world of formal accountancy in 1990, joining his son (and former School prefect, coenraad Torlage Bcom, cA {SA}) in his firm of Greenhough Mchardy & Jones. Mr Kriel took delivery of the second Mercedes bus on 5 April 1974. Two more buses were to follow!

If ever there was a “right-hand woman” for the school, it was the clear-thinking Mrs Fransie Joubert, a matriarch in dundee and the mother of Frans, Leandert and hannah (now, a high School educator, Mrs Venter). Fransie had a business brain and when she became chairperson of the School’s Advisory committee in 1978, everyone knew that the progress being witnessed in the school was going to be, with her encouragement, speeded up. And she was behind the sports fields’ project and the purchase of buses every step of the way.

Joining Mr Kriel as his deputy headmaster was Mr J B Smuts and, when Mr Kriel was obliged to take “long leave” in the third quarter of his first year in office in 1971, Mr Smuts stood in the breach for him. And who should come calling for a day but the Administrator of Natal, Mr Wynand havemann, and his wife, the director of education, Mr p r T Nel, the provincial Secretary, Mr Slatter and his wife, the Mp for the area, Mr van Lingen, the director of hospital Services, dr W Botha, and assorted other dignitaries.

Three of the boys in Mr Kriel’s first rugby team in 1971, c homann, B olivier and T douthwaite – who represented Northern Natal at that year’s craven Week tournament in Kimberley were selected to play in the Natal Schools’ team. one of the selectors told yet another dundee high boy that he was the best flanker at the tournament and that his turn would come the following year, when he was older; which it never did. The selector was no longer on the Natal panel.

In June of 1972 a special honour came the way of dundee high when a standard 9 pupil, carol-Anne roderick, daughter of Ken and eunice roderick, entered and won the semi-finals of the Jan hofmeyr Memorial Speech contest held in pietermaritzburg. Inaugurated at the behest of Alan paton and held every year from 1951, the Speech contest has become a regular part of the Natal educational scene as, over the years, hundreds of young people have been encouraged to think and speak publicly about important social and political issues.

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It became a tradition at the high School for contestants from Northern Natal schools to gather in the dundee Municipal Library of an evening and for an adult to address the audience briefly about Jan hofmeyr’s life, work and ideals. Then, before a panel of adjudicators (that, for years, included former english teacher – in 1973 and 1974 – and current lawyer, humphrey Browning), the young speakers could choose for their “prepared speech” from a topic on a list that included at least one relating to Jan hofmeyr himself, requiring knowledge of his ideals and their application in present circumstances. Thus hofmeyr’s contribution to South African society has been helped to be kept alive. For years, too, the prize (donated by Alan paton) alternated between a landscape painting by J h pierneef and a “still life” by Alexis preller[1] (which, in 1988, because of their value, were sold to the Tatham Art Gallery in pietermaritzburg. The school from which the winning contestant comes nowadays gets to hang a framed print of one of the originals in its premises!). And, on 10 August 1972, carol-Anne was that winner. For a girl from a country school this was big news.

1 The “pierneef”, painted in 1951, is “untitled”, a 505 x 700mm signed oil on canvas; the “preller”, painted also in 1951, is “Still Life”, also a 505 x 700mm signed oil on canvas (personal communication: Mr Brendan Bell, director of the Tatham Art Gallery ).

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The school was overjoyed and it was no surprise that carol-Anne was selected to be a rotary exchange student in America after her Matric year. Tragedy occurred during her stay there, as a car in which she was being driven slid in wintery conditions and carol-Anne was fatally injured. “carol-Anne was such an amazing all-rounder,” a close friend said. “her ashes were brought back to dundee and we were all devastated.” In her memory, every Speech day a carol-Anne Broderick Memorial Trophy is awarded to the student who is adjudged the best public speaker in the school. her father, Ken, a local rotarian and businessman, courageously adjudicated debating contests in years to come.

In November of that year, the Afrikaans scholars also “came to the party”, as the school team that had been entered in the rapport inter-school debating competition was declared the winner of the Northern Natal “leg”. In 1975, eric Baasch also acquitted himself well in the “Jan hofmeyr”, being eliminated only in the Natal finals held in pietermaritzburg. Secretary of the debating club (which was well supported) was the blonde Ingrid Klingenberg, who is now a member of staff at uelzen primary School and wife of Kevin van Staden, principal of Sarel cilliers high School. In 1980 the talented Janet Thole was just “pipped” in the finals of the “Jan hofmeyr”.

dramatic productions have traditionally been well supported by pupils volunteering to take part and by the town in coming to watch, and greater success has been achieved over the years by putting on operettas (even, for some years, whole Gilbert and Sullivan performances) and formal plays (such as George Bernard Shaw’s Arms and the Man) also more impromptu, “home-made” (and sometimes, home-written) shows that deny scholars the discipline that comes from many weeks of careful practice, uplifting acting and word-perfect diction. In 1977, for example, Mrs Gill de Bruin and newcomer Mrs Sherlee Wade (admittedly, with a BA in Speech & drama) put on three playlets, Anybody, The Mechanical Man and that macabre old favourite, The Monkey’s Paw.

That was the english department’s well-received contribution to culture (and to the actors’ waistlines: Sherlee produced about 90 meals during production). Then it was the Afrikaans department’s turn and it put on ‘n Drama-aand with small “one-acts” by e A Venter and by Mikro and readings of poetry set to music. A young man with a fine voice who took the lead was that year’s head Boy (and a Natal Youth choir member), Siegfried haschke. (Siegfried is today Senior Manager for the uMzinyathi region for the KwaZulu-Natal department of Agriculture, Maths teacher Ingrid haschke’s husband and headmaster Mr rudi haschke’s older brother.)

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It was the musical Oliver! in 1978, another Shirlee Wade production, and taking the part of “Fagin” (the “villainous old man who trains and uses young boys as thieves”) was a talented young actor and singer (he had been a pupil at the drakensberg Boys’ choir School), Jürgen hellberg. Jürgen progressed to study formally at the Technikon pretoria School of performing arts and, he says amusingly, “being fluent in english, German (my mother tongue) and Afrikaans, and able to speak a bit of isiZulu and being able to master accents, has kept me in work for over 35 years.” As an actor and part time singer he does mainly character work but he is comfortable in comedy or straight roles. To date, Jürgen has over 300 professional productions to his credit, and he has also been a scriptwriter for such TV series as High Rollers, Egoli, and Scandal.

Oliver! was restaged in 1991 with an interesting combination of pupils and staff in the cast that worked. The dedicated trio of Sherlee Wade, Annette Wohlberg and Zonja Smit had deputy headmaster Jan de Villiers “played a striking Fagin, portraying him as both bully and coward”; Karen Strydom, playing Nancy, and chris Fitzpatrick (since, a world champion bodybuilder) who played Bill Sykes. “They were unequivocally superb [and] the demanding role of oliver Twist was played by Andrew Jones (now, deputy principal of Bridge house School in Franschoek in the cape), and “he looked the part and added a note of innocence to the role.” The deceptive Artful dodger was Luis Goncalves; Angela Fulton was a “dizzy Mrs corney”; Terence corrigan played a “sensitive” Mr Brownlow; and the current principal, rudi haschke (like his brother, a Natal Schools’ choir member), was Mr Bumble. The “backroom boys (and girl)” are sometimes forgotten, and yet without the craft of Mr “Barrie” Smit, Nicholette cross and Keith Buntting (now a teacher in New Zealand) the lighting and sound would not have been “well orchestrated” from set to set.

Another ambitious show they staged was rodgers and hammerstein’s Oklahoma! in 1982. The idea to produce it had come to Sherlee on a trip to London where she enjoyed it at the famous old Vic. “It seemed the ideal production for a school production and the script seemed so simple! As we made our way back to our hotel through a bracing winter’s night, I had practically picked most of the cast. That was the easiest and the most romantic part of the decision! once we had got down to the serious business of rehearsals I realised that it wasn’t such a simple show after all! Fortunately, I had my reliable friend and ally, Mrs Irene hobden as co-producer and when I felt down and despairing she was there to encourage and inspire me anew. It is not easy, when you live in dundee, South Africa, to master a good Yankee accent, but the cast did wonders and took valuable advice and guidance from our American exchange student, rick Qualliontine. The strains of ‘oh what a beautiful morning’ drifted through the school for four solid months; there was a sudden enthusiasm for square dancing and a never-ending stream of keen singers to join the merry band of cowboys and cowgirls from Oklahoma!” The show, as one can imagine, was a great success and is engraved upon the happy memories of all who were privileged to see its performances.

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Sherlee and a team of other staff members put on another musical, The King and I in 1987 and justly, the lead actors, conrad hennig and Belinda Ware were presented with honours awards afterwards. “conrad captured the imagination and more, the sympathy of his audience”, playing his role as the king of Siam. “he had identified himself with the authority and eastern subtlety in the months of rehearsal, and now ... [after the last night] ... he was a matriculant again, preparing for that show of life, his final examinations.” And as for Belinda who played the part of Anna Leonowens the governess, who is beloved by the children and who eventually wins the heart of the king, “more than one who attended murmured, ‘Is she really only just in Standard Seven?’”

Various games have seen popularity over the years, but none more so than the perennial favourite, chess. Garry Kasparov once said that it “helps you to concentrate, improve your logic. It teaches you to play by the rules and take responsibility for your actions, how to problem solve in an uncertain environment.”[1] Which must be the reason that a certain Geography teacher would draw the blinds of his classroom, once in a while, put his finger to his lips to “shush” the class, and take on the best player at the back of his room? Some of the better players, over the years, have been Andrew Smith, Kuno Stielau and Frank MacKenzie. of interest is the fact that these were bright boys: dr Andrew Smith (who was awarded a bursary for his doctorate as one of the ten top commerce students during his Masters course at uN) lectured in economics at the university of Stellenbosch, Kuno Stielau progressed far in his field and dr Frank McKenzie is not only an expert in pasture science but also a karate (sixth dan) and general fitness expert. Today, he is an Australian national karate referee and runs his own gymnasium in Warrnambool, on the coast of Victoria.

In an interesting ceremony on 19 August 1972 the school paid tribute to two of dundee’s prominent citizens, father and son: “The inter-house athletics meeting took place where the guest speaker was dr hosking [then, the deputy director of education] while Mrs. hosking [the former Jean Mackay, and also an old scholar] handed out the trophies. on this occasion, the hosking Sports Fields were named after his honour Senator hosking, father of [dr hosking], and the plaque at the entrance of the fields was unveiled.”

present at the staff meeting at the commencement of 1973 school year were thirteen new staff members, including Mr Michael John (“Mike”) Lötter, who had taught at Glenwood high School, and who was installed as the incoming deputy principal. A former pupil says of him, “I had the privilege of being taught english by Mike ... for three years from 1968-1970. he instilled a huge love for the english language and literature in me.” Like Mike’s brother, david (for many years a Maths teacher at durban high School) who was a regular newsreader on the radio, Mike Lötter organised and presented the SABc programme Setbook Scene. Another “old boy”, rodney Leak, remembered that he indeed was a “great teacher and fair rugby coach.”

1 https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/garry_kasparov

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one of dr Lötter’s favourite passages is this, from Gray’s famous “elegy Written in a country churchyard”. It reveals his love of bringing out the best in all pupils (and his soft spot for those who are not necessarily born with the proverbial solver spoon in their mouths):

“Full many a gem of purest ray sereneThe dark unfathom’d caves of ocean bear:Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,And waste its sweetness on the desert air.”

If ever there was a man who looked out for the underdog, and who tried by all his might to uplift those around him, it was he. paul haupt, who taught at dundee high in the early 1980s, wrote about him, “he had a huge personality; a fine gentleman I remember him to have been.” having served for a good many years on the Natal Teachers’ Society (a forerunner of today’s NApToSA), Mike became its president and he served on the Federal council of Teachers’ Associations of South Africa for four years, vigorously promoting the improvement of the lot of the “ordinary” teacher.

Whilst on dundee high School’s staff he found love with Miss caroli Minnaar, a pert Afrikaans teacher, and their marriage – on 29 december 1973 – was blessed with four gifted children. Three of them became highly qualified lawyers, Wendy, derek (“ricky”) and Michael John; and Braam, the fourth, became an IT “wiz” in Australia.

Mike Lötter was always an avid reader. he became an expert on anything russian, especially on his pet person of loathing, Josef Stalin. on retirement from the education department he even chartered a plane to fly him from St petersburg to Solovki special camp in Siberia to see the “mother of gulag prisons”.[1] The following year he endured a tumultuous, turbulent trip in a converted russian trawler to visit Antarctica. Which topics have nothing to do with his appointment as Acting principal of dundee high whilst Mr Kriel took long leave in 1977. Mike was strict but scrupulously fair in his time in charge of the school. one renowned father made an appointment with him just to shake his hand for having punished the father’s son as he deserved! A noteworthy comment (that, today, he feigns surprise at reading) from his weekly report was, “Theft has raised its satanic head in the school once more...”

Mike Lötter went from dundee to head office in pietermaritzburg where he was Inspector (today, Subject Advisor) for english as Second Language, touring the province, co-authoring a set of text books, featuring often on the radio as a “consultant” ... and completing his phd in education through the university of pretoria! Then he was back to dundee to become district Inspector; then to Ladysmith as a director of education for the Thukela district in 1993; then back to dundee, from where he executed his duties as a chief director from 1997 until 2005. In this last phase, he was occasionally called upon to act as Superintendent-General of the KZNde. Another name that should have been engraved on the plaque in the high School’s directors’ courtyard? Today he is retired and living with caroli in dundee. he takes the keenest interest in current affairs ... and in russian history.

1 Solzhenitsyn 1975: 72.

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Another two “legends” of this period were Mrs daléne rainsford and Ms elza heine. A university- qualified social worker by the age of 19, “Tant dal” [Auntie dal] was a School counsellor from whom one learned much. A dictum of hers was to get to know the families and the family histories of each pupil; and thereby understanding the background to their challenges. It was a most enjoyable “learning curve” working alongside her for five years and experiencing her wisdom in the classroom as she made lessons appropriate and teachable for her pupils; her professionalism as she administered psychometric tests (IQ tests; senior and junior aptitude tests; interest inventories throughout the school and offered career guidance; and her compassion with young people and their families in grief, loss, inability in a situation – and in success. how could one forget the moving letter that she wrote to a prominent dundee businessman whose daughter, in her first year out of school, had died in a car accident in durban? Tannie dal addressed the school at her last assembly in 1990 and actually thanked staff and student body for her retirement: “You are now giving me the time to pray for each one of you properly, full-time.”

“Tant dal” rainsford had three boys pass through dundee high as scholars, bright boys who were passionate about their sport. one, Johan, played for the orange Free State provincial XV whilst a student at “Kovsies” (the uoFS), then for the “Blue Bulls” (the Northern Transvaal) rugby XV and, having returned to teach at his old school for some years, he is currently lecturing at the university of Johannesburg. When Mrs rainsford retired in 1990 she was replaced by another trained social worker, a woman of great empathy and emotional intelligence, elmarie Wichmann. It was elmarie who helped carry forward psychological help for children who had been emotionally wounded and intervened on their behalf (as became her former profession) when needed.

elza heine taught faithfully and well from her Biology lab from 1973 until January 2014. A “farm girl” from Weenen, elza was also a steunpilaar in the NG Kerk of dundee, serving for many years as an “ouderling (elder) and being a spiritual mother to the schools ACSV (Afrikaanse Christelike Studente Vereniging – Afrikaans christian Students’ Association) groups. A devoted christian, she also fostered a number of young people and she demonstrated sisterly affection towards her fellow staff members. Also in charge of First Aid at the school, many is the icepack that she administered to a bruised leg, arm, head, back ... (It was standard practice – unless more drastic steps were required – for all sports injuries.) on her retirement she moved back to her roots in Weenen for a well-deserved rest. And more farming.

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The first school athletics championships at which elza did service was in February 1973, where the 110 and the 400 metres’ under-19 boys’ hurdles records were comprehensively broken by 18 year-old Johan (“Wankie”) Joubert. he comes from a family of good athletes, “Sportbloed loop sommer dik in sy are” [“Sporting blood runs deep in his veins”]: his father, Mr “Joep” Joubert, was a useful member of the Maties 1st team rugby team; his brother, Albrecht, competed against the West German athletics team; and they were related to the 100m world record-holder, danie Joubert. “Wankie” was coached by Mr ronnie Laubscher, a high School teacher, and he produced blistering gold medal times for the 110 and the 300 metres’ races at the SA Junior championships on 30 and 31 March 1973 –breaking national records. he improved his record in the 300 hurdles from the school’s Sports day to the SA championships by a whole second, from 37.9 to 36.9 seconds, and he also picked up a “gold” in the 110m hurdles. A few days later he was placed 5th in the 400m hurdles event at the international SA Games held in pretoria. hardly surprisingly, he was Athletics captain for two years, in 1972 and in 1973.

Two others of Mr Laubscher’s “stable” in the early ‘70s were Lorna dedekind (now Böhmer) and Walda Freese, both of whom received Natal Schools’ colours for athletics. In 1979 it was again an outstanding year for dundee athletics – is it a cyclical thing, or does having other good competitors spur on the rest of the team? – with no fewer than seven pupils (cecil phillips, Keith Smit, Jaco Meyer, paul Fouché, Sandra hayes, Martie Ferreira and Sandra rademeyer) being selected for the Natal Schools’ team that competed in ermelo and three of these representing the Natal Junior team at the SA championships that were held that year in Stellenbosch. Keith was already the holder of the Natal record for boys’ under-16 300m hurdles. cecil was placed fifth in the 1 500m hurdles and Sandra was placed eighth in the girls’ under-16 long jump. hardly surprising then that at the high School athletics’ Sports day in 1979, 23 new records were set (of which 13 were new items) and that dundee high School trumped the other seven Northern Natal schools’ teams. Newcomer hoërskool pionier from Vryheid came closest with 255 points as opposed to dundee’s 277. As the teacher in charge of athletics, Mr danie Lodewyck, wrote, unpoetically but truly, “To achieve success is blood, sweat and tears, but victory over yourself is sweet.”

The following year, 1980, dundee high School had four representatives, as gold medallists from the Natal Schools’ championships, that took part in the SA Junior championships: Keith Smit (110m hurdles and 400m hurdles – in which he was the Natal record-holder), Sandra hayes (80m and 200m hurdles), hannah Joubert (discus) and George Slabbert (800m). George became the first high School athlete since Tokkie peters to take the 800m time to a mere one minute 58.3 seconds and Sandra won a ‘bronze” at the SA champs. In 1981 there were no fewer than nine high School members in the Natal Schools’ squad: Keith Smit, Neville Liebenberg, paul Fouché, henk Booysen (who diverted his attention from being a possible Natal diver to concentrate on his athletics), Sandra hayes (who was the girls’ captain), hannah Joubert, Sharon Fincham, Michelle Lottering and Marinda Snyman and four of these, Neville, Keith, henk and Sandra were selected for the Natal Junior team to take part in the SA Junior championships. In March 1982, Sandra broke the Natal long jump record (5,69m) at the Inter-provincial championships and henk was also first, in the boys’ under-19 high jump.

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peter Grant was rugby 1st XV captain from 1975 to 1976 and cricket 1st XI captain from 1974-1976. In a rugby game against Vryheid high School he kicked 18 of 22 points scored. In 1978 he and another high School old boy, eric Murray, both played for the Natal under-20 rugby team. And in 1980 it was another great year for sport as Mickey dames was also selected as a member of the South African country Schools’ cricket XI. cricket has always been a favourite sport at the school and it would be difficult to say who enjoyed the games more, the players or coaches ... or the cherished scorers over the years such as Brenda commons, cindy Scott, Liesl le roux, Leanne herman (daughter of Gwen) and Jo-Anne Gradidge. Arrie Günther’s nephew, chris craven, who went on to play for the senior Free State XI and county cricket in england, played for the SA country districts’ Schools’ side in 1986 and also in 1987 (when the team toured to england), and colin cawcutt captained the SA country districts’ under-15 XI.In 1988 chris had the privilege of once again being a part of the SA country districts’ side, and he was also the first schoolboy selected for the Northern Natal senior side and also played for the Natal country districts’ XI. he was also a national shottist, and a really remarkable sportsman.

But there was more: ria de Waal, eben van rauenstein, Wendy Stratford, Lauren holtzhausen and Frank Bouwer swam for Natal; Trevor Vernes dived for the province, hester van Niekerk ran in the Natal cross-country team; and peet rademeyer and Johan von Solms were (to the great happiness and delight of “Oom Giel” Adendorff!) Natal shottists; and darryl Jennings had the honour of selection for a SA country districts Schools’ rugby XV that played in a curtain-raiser for a match featuring the touring British Bulldogs team.

under the leadership of erich Landsberg, Kevin Burge and hannah Venter and with dedicated coaching from such parents as Jaap Nortjé, Karl hellberg, Joe de Wet, Jimmy and hillary crookes (and their oldest daughter debbie, when she was still in town), oliver and Marion rogers, Marie de Waal and Natalie holtzhausen, the mid-to-late ‘80s and early ‘90s saw a golden era in dundee high School swimming. It was extraordinary for any other school to claim any trophy at our Northern Natal championships! The names of such excellent swimmers as Yvonne Blake, her sister Tracey; Ilse and her brother eben von rauenstein (still probably the town’s best swimmer – although “advanced in years”!); the crookes girls (debbie, Nickie and Sandee);Brett and cade Simpson; daryn holmes; charlene, Gavin and duane rogers; danny and Janine de Wet; rudi and Jaco Nortjé; roy Maclachlan; Anneké erasmus; the holtzhausen girls, Lauren and Susan-Lee; the Menges, heinrich and Ludwig; ria de Waal; Wendy Stratford; charles Kotzé; Victor hellberg; Andrew and Stephen McKenzie; david randall; Janine Joubert; Gareth Jones; Francois Theron; James and Jodi Mitchell; James Taylor (now a world-class surfer); Justin Krause; charissa Meitjies; Janine Mordaunt; Janine Moore; Stephen Fouché; carmen Francis ... with what a galaxy of stars we were blessed!

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The 1985 swimming year was exceptional: Sandee crookes was invited to the Natal Top Ten Group Gala on 26 January and, because of her excellent times, to the SA Top Ten Gala on 30 March, great honours. In the Inter-house Gala on 7 February she was awarded the Junior Victrix Ludorum because she had won and helped win (in relay races) seven events. Yvonne Blake and rudi Nortjé (he and young brother Jaco had the most elegant freestyle strokes!) each helped win – or individually won – six items. rudi lowered the boys’ under-16 100m freestyle record by an incredible 5.3 seconds to 0:58.37 seconds! “In fact, each time Sandee, Yvonne or rudi took to the water the School records tumbled.”

In 1986 the school gala, with 41 events, would have no fewer than 26 new names for records inscribed in the programme. In 1987 there were another 21 new records. The school’s Swimming captain, tall rudi Nortjé, won his fifth Victor Ludorum trophy in five years at school. Three swimmers, rudi, Yvonne and Sandee were invited to participate in the SA Swimming championships in durban. on 11 February 1987, out of 32 events on the programme of the Northern Natal Inter-Schools’ relay Gala (a now-extinct species), dundee high Schools’ teams came either first or second in 28 events. There was a complete mastery of the waters and all four of the records broken were by dundee’s swimmers. After the Northern Natal “individuals’” gala, no fewer than 12 dundonians were included in the Natal country districts’ swimming team.

Stephen McKenzie (now a highly-respected and successful dairy farmer, head Boy in 1989 and married to Marlene Stoltz, head Girl in 1991), a lanky kid, was, in fact, possibly the greatest discovery on that inter-house gala day in 1986. he lowered the old boys’ under-14 breaststroke record by almost eight seconds over a mere 100 metres. In fact, Stephen had the unique distinction of improving a school record at every school gala in which he took part since he was in Standard two! In his Matric year Stephen had the honour of captaining the Natal country districts’ Swimming Team, which included Anneké erasmus, charles Kotzé, Victor hellberg and Jaco Nortjé.

In 1985 Yvonne and rudi swam for the Natal Schools’ team and they, and Lauren, Francois, Stephen and Sandee swam in the Natal country districts’ team. In 1986, Yvonne Blake swam breaststroke in the SA Schools’ team and in the following year in February she was a creditable third in the Midmar Mile. She was placed third, too, on 21 March 1987 in the under-19 girls’ breaststroke in the SA high Schools ‘championships in pretoria. After school, rudi Nortjé entered his military training and, when he wasn’t loading Air Force planes he was swimming for Northern Transvaal and doing well in the SA Senior championships.

To give greater competition to our swimmers, galas were arranged with empangeni high School (which doubled as an excursion to the beach and as a reward for hard work), hillcrest high School, St catherine’s convent (empangeni) and with King david School (Johannesburg).

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Tennis has long been a favourite sport and one associates it with coaches such as Annette Wohlberg, ros Schroeder and, of course, Sean Topper. Sean was passionately involved in anything he tackled, from work to play, and he “gave it his all.” once, he was so incensed at some perceived injustice by a senior official that he told him, “Stop!! Stop talking! If you don’t stop talking I’ll turn your glasses [spectacles] into contact lenses!” And the person ceased his protestations, and Sean marched his way away, door slamming behind him. But Sean could drive his players, too, and the talents of such tennis players such as Nicola Browning (head Girl in 1995) and her brother, david (head Boy in 1999; now both in the medical profession) were honed by him. As a standard 6 pupil in 1991, Nicola was the No. 1 player for juniors and for seniors girls and then she was ranked second in Natal at the under-14 level. The top boys’ player that year was rudi Froneman, nephew of rugby Springbok, dirk.

Netball is reckoned to be the most popular game in South Africa amongst women and girls and this is no exception at dundee high. For years the girls were blessed with having Mrs Linda eicker and Mrs elsabé habig as their coaches. elsabé was not only one of the most caring and good teachers in the classroom but she was also an active player in the “Afrikaans version”, korfbal, that has been described as “a marriage between netball and basketball”, so she was ideal for the task of coaching. She also later managed swimming and it, too, surged ahead. The school was poorer by far with her leaving mid-year 2007 after 21 years in dundee to teach in a city school in pretoria.

Looking at the rugby 1st XV photograph for 1991, one notices four provincial rugby players – two veterans and two in waiting: headmaster des Krantz (Northern Transvaal) and Johan rainsford (oFS & Blue Bulls), and Johan (“Tank”) hendriks (who played for the “Bulls” and also for Griquas) and, of course, André Snyman (Blue Bulls).

André also featured prominently in athletics in 1991, where he crushed five records for under-17 boys at the annual Inter-house Meeting: the 100m and 200m and 400m sprints, the long jump and the triple-jump. one could guess that he would be a great sprinter. Who will forget his famous try at Twickenham in 1997 when, with england leading 11-7, he received the ball on the halfway line, and feinted and dummied past the entire english defence and cantered through to dot down the ball under the posts? That year dundee had a turbo-charged, record-breaking 4 x 100m relay team in André Snyman, roelof le roux, Tommie Nel and charles Lloyd and Berhardt Krantz (des Krantz’s son) also broke the Natal record for boys’ under-15 discus – twice – in 1991. chris Slabbert andGustav McMaster (hammer throw) and André Snyman (in the long jump) were invited to take part in the SA Junior Athletics championships. chris was placed third; Gustav, fourth; and André (whilst breaking the Natal record) was placed seventh.

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certain sports have always been “traditional” at dundee high, but from time to time (depending on who is available for coaching?) new sports have been introduced. And some survive. As with many things in life, activities need a “champion” to encourage others to join in, and on the school level that can be a teacher with a keen interest and a passion for something, a parent or a member of the community, or a dynamic young person. (The down side of this is that when such a champion moves on – or loses interest – the activity invariably grinds to a halt.)

In March of 1974 one such newcomer received ready and enthusiastic as a new official sport introduced was wrestling. Apparently “there [was] great interest amongst the boys for this” and on two afternoons each week a parent, Mr polglase, “a national wrestling coach” gave the boys a workout. From the 80s, however, wrestling has been an extramural sport, coached by old scholar Stephen Brown through his Northern Natal rhino Wrestling club, and club members have achieved well at provincial and at national level. In June of 2016 edrich Nortjé took part in the Africa championships in Algeria as a member of the SA cadet Team and, having won a “silver” there, he progressed to the World championships that were held in Georgia in August where he gained a 12th placing.

cross-country running saw a “high” in 1980 and in 1981 when the slender young hester van Niekerk was part of the Natal Schools’ team. For some years in the 80s and early 90s it became quite an easy sport to coach as the manager set off his charges outside the Tatham Street gates and strolled out half an hour later to welcome them back. Sandy Weinert (née Jones), who was a prefect in 1988, capped her Matric year with selection also to the Natal Schools’ cross-country team, and in the Inter-house Athletics day, she won all six of her races and broke a record too.

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Basketball, possibly inspired by the American players who combine such casual craft with superb athleticism, had its day in 1985 (and for a few years afterwards), coached by Mr Gavin Jones and Mr ”cliffie” Ferreira. Boys leapt, crouched and clung on to the hoops at the Boys’ hostel court, but inter-school competition was unfortunately limited. Volleyball was declared an official sport in 1990 and it was still played as enthusiastically as ever in 1999. A game requiring considerable energy (with its dig-set-spike routines) it has become, rather, an occasional activity.

An unofficial sport that has had its afficionados over the years is horse riding, especially when there was stabling at the bottom of the old Show Grounds... In 1974, having ridden gymkhana – a demandingly precise and complicated discipline for horse and rider – for a mere four years, Adelaide Adams was awarded her Springbok colours. Adelaide excelled in gymkhana, jumping and in dressage against local and international competition. Frans Koch, captain of athletics in 1975, was a useful cross-country horse rider, and he was for many years the scourge of thieves as part of the SApS Stock Theft unit. In 1985 the school had no fewer than three gymkhana riders: M Labuschagne (who captained the B team), r Labuschagne and Naas Snyman (who captained the A team). In 1992 Monique heesen was graded a “B division” show jumper (with her horse) and chantal Mordaunt (when not swimming) was given a “c division” grading.

Golf has also seen its ups and downs; its ups being when Leon van Wyk, who was very fond of the game, promoted it in the school. In the 1970s, clive Montague, who (we are told) became keen on golf after looking on the local course for lost balls. After joining the dundee Golf club he went from strength to strength, winning both the individual and the partners’ competitions with Jess Verster. In a tragic accident, clive’s life was cut short in 1976, and a trophy in his memory was presented to the school for the Junior Golfer of the Year.

In 1979 the school team, consisting of 15 year-old John Mackay, A ponton, h Kriel and G Trusler, was placed second in the Natal Schools’ Team championships at Beachwood in durban. In 1980 John, who was a scratch player, won the Zululand Junior championship and the Kutch denby Tournament and represented the Natal Junior Golf team in the inter-provincials. In 1981, in his Matric year, John was captain of the Natal Schools’ team, was a member of the combined Natal and orange Free State under-23 side and was a Junior Springbok in a tournament in South-West Africa. John was possibly headed for a professional career. he went on to Natal university but two years into his Bcom studies his father died and he decided to take over the family frozen food business in dundee. eight years later, in 1990, he sold the business to the cold chain and he continued in the food sector, working for IcS Foods, SA Breweries and premier Foods. In 2017 he is Sales director of the paint manufacturer, plascon. his favourite tool in his hands? – still a golf club!

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John was the object of great speculation in August of 1981 in a fund-raising project “which must have served as the topic of conversation in probably every household at one or other time during this period”. he had to ride a Yamaha Mr 50 at precisely 20 km/h around and around the athletics track. he did so and “the little motorbike circulated seemingly endlessly under the watchful eyes of judges and keenly interested spectators alike. To the amazement of most present the machine chugged, coughed and spluttered to a halt after covering almost precisely 12 km and 500m! But now the judges were faced with a dilemma: it was discovered that 34 entrants had estimated that the “buzzbike” would cover 12½ km on that amount of fuel – an amazing 50 km/l.” They resorted to a draw from a hat and the winner of the bike was a Mr d h holzhausen from Benoni.

Golf enjoyed an up-swing in the mid-80s with players such as devon McAlpine (who, when he had left school, was captain of the dundee Golf club), Marc Bradbury (who captained the school team for two years and who is now a stalwart of Buffalo coal), Marc’s brother, Grant and Neil holm. All four boys achieved single handicap figures: devon, 4; Marc, 4; Grant, 8; and Neil, 6.

The school has also put together squash teams – but competitions have been at district and at inter-provincial level and this fast game played with an accurate eye and a good set of knees needs courts (expensive things); and the nearest courts to the school are those at the dundee Golf club.

Angling has also had its moments and the Gradidge family from hattingspruit were outstanding, with a father who had his national colours. In 1983 Trevor gained his Natal and his Junior Springbok colours for fishing. In 1988 he was presented with a gold award for bravery by the NSrI for having saved three men from drowning after a ski-boat accident. In 1992 hennie cronjé was a member of the Natal team for freshwater angling for a second year running and, having come sixth in the national championships, he too was awarded his Junior Springbok colours. Science teacher Johan Strydom grumbled that he was “just one of the luckiest individuals in the country” but hennie protested that a great deal of skill went into knowing just where to catch the ‘big one’, what sort of bait was necessary for each type of fish, the timing of the right strike, and having plenty of patience. Johan was observed asking for bait recipes and hot tips on how to catch the one that, until then, had always gotten away from him.

In 2015 Brandon halforty who, since he was a little chap (he’s a big boy now) had been fishing wherever he could, was selected for the senior proteas fishing team that beat Namibia and Zimbabwe in an international “meet” held in Namibia. The drought conditions caused by “el Niño”, first in 1983 and then, even more severely in 2015-2017, have not made this sport an easy one to pursue. “This challenged the learners to try new tactics and baits and to cast further,” said coach Mrs A Swart. however in 2015, another two pupils, ruben Kenchenten represented the KZN under-19 team and chanté Groenewald the under-19 “Jonge Dames” teams in inter-provincial competitions. An old scholar, Japie Kleinhans (Matric in 1984), was awarded his national colours for deep-sea fishing, joining Nick Nel (Matric in 1986) who was part of the South African deep-sea team from 2013 to 2015.

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Spring-board diving was popular, trained by such teachers as Messrs “Thos” Viljoen and “Nols” reynecke, and pupils such as Michael Vernes and brothers Trevor (who dived for Natal in 1981 at the SA Junior diving championships) and donovan (who gained a fourth place at the “SA”s in 1983), henk Booysen (Natal under-19 boys’ champion in 1983), Ian McLachlan and the page brothers (Jeremy and Tim), excelled for Northern Natal, as did cynthia Soden, but with the removal of the diving boards from the school pool area came the demise of this sport. It also left a deep, dark and difficult void in the bath for the Kreepy-Krawly to clean effectively.

Tim page (who, like Jeremy, now teaches in New Zealand) was also selected to play for the Natal country districts’ men’s hockey team in 1989. cynthia hall née Soden was, until recently, driving mind-bogglingly massive articulated trucks in a coal mining town called Singleton in New South Wales, Australia. Nols reynecke was himself a pretty good gymnast in his youth and in his farewell to his accounting classes each year he would walk with great ease up and down the classroom – on his hands. In 1992 the petite and elastic rozanne du plessis was placed first in a Natal inter-schools gymnastics competition for floor and vault and at the Natal championships she was placed twelfth, with an average score of 8.

underwater diving is a sport that promotes scuba diving techniques in swimming pools as a spectator sport. In 1977, pieter Zwanepoel, who had been a member of the high Schooland Northern Natal swimming teams in 1960, was awarded his Springbok colours for underwater diving. pieter was a member of the SAuu squad that toured england and Luxembourg in September of that year, after which he participated in the World championships in Switzerland. In england he reached first place and when it came to the world championships he was placed 7th.

Without bias, one can say that since Mr haschke and Mrs hannelie Arndt have become such avid bowlers, the high School also sports a lawn bowls team. community members such as Mr Lukas Meyer and Mr dougie Slabbert have helped coach the team and in 2016 cebelihle Kubheka, Tian Wang, Lizwi Khumalo and philasande Mdletshe represented the KZN country districts team “with pride and honour” in the SA under-19 Bowls’ Tournament held in Bloemfontein.

Maybe because of emphasis on military matters as South Africa defended itself within and without its borders, cadets and rifle shooting regained their importance as school activities. Mr Giel Adendorff was proud in 1974 to announce that one of his juniors, A collett, was joint winner (with a Glenwood pupil) of the Natal Junior championship Trophy. In 1983, Van Zyl conradie led the school’s Shooting Team to first place in Natal where he was also declared the best shottist. At the National Shooting competition held in Bloemfontein in october he was the third best shot. This earned a special letter of congratulation to the school from Brigadier N Anderson, officer in command: Natal command, for the hard work that had brought our musketry to such a high standard. Van Zyl became head Boy in 1984 and today he is a successful businessman in dundee.

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In 1984, a relative of the great dr danie craven, “W T” craven from Babanango, scored 250 out of a possible 250 points in the Natal cadets’ shooting competition and he went on to finish with the third best score in South Africa, 396 out of 400. he thus qualified for the South African cadet team that competed against a Springbok team of the Small rifle Association competition, where “nationals” beat the “juniors” by just 15 points! In 1988, Francois Theron was placed third in Natal in the provincial championships. Incredibly, judging from these performances, probably the most successful shottist in the school’s history is Wolfaardt claassen, in 1996 and in 1997. More of him later!

Indications that cadet training was covert preparation for more serious conflict situations can be read into the report of 1984: “The cadets have done training in terrorism, the r1 rifle, methods of stalking, saluting and demonstrations of respect, and map work this year. We intend that the girls will undergo training in emergency-, radio- and communications-procedures as well as shooting next year.”

From August 1966 to March 1990 a vicious war was fought by the South African Army on the borders of South West Africa (now called Namibia), Zambia and Angola, the Border War. Young people were sent to defend and even invade neighbouring countries in an attempt to protect the “bulwark” of “friendly nations” around South Africa. Whilst it has been described as “a largely asymmetric conflict”, it was a war; and fighters died and both there and back at home there was much “collateral damage” and grief.

Such was the case with the shocking news that 19 year-old 2nd Lt. daryl Quentin Brandon had been killed early in January 1976. “Brandy” and his mates had spent many hours at their forward base in central Angola. They were part of the SAdF’s mop-up operations after “operation Savannah” and its withdrawal from Angola. The boys chatted about klaaring out[1] and what lay ahead of them in “civvy life.” daryl said that everything was ready for him to go and study at the Maritzburg campus of the Natal university. on 2 January, the day that he was supposed to leave for home, his group was sent out on one more assignment. he was not happy but, typically of men in uniform, he obeyed the instruction.

he was in command of a 5 SAI platoon approaching the town of cela from the north. Advised that cuban troops occupied the koppies (or dimples, as they called them) ahead of them, he led his patrol on foot towards them, camping overnight in rainy weather. early in the morning of 3 January he left corporal Vincent rawlings and the remainder of the platoon in their temporary base at the foot of the hill whilst he led a section on a recce[2] patrol. he led his section up a footpath to the crest of the hill and climbed onto a large flat rock, but he was immediately shot. Without realising it, they had walked into an ambush. Brought back to the Forward Surgical hospital at celaunder heavy enemy machine-gun fire, daryl succumbed to his wounds later in that day.

1 Klaaring out: demobilisation2 recce: reconnaissance patrol.

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And on 28 January in 1982, William robert dawson who, with his brother had been a boarder in the Senior Boys’ hostel, was one of two 5 SAI riflemen attached to 54 Battalion who were killed in action. Born on 13 February 1961, the son of Mr and Mrs h W dawson of ezulwini, Swaziland, robert was just short of his 21st birthday. on patrol with their unit he and Alexander (“Alex”) Forbes (aged 19) encountered a force of SWApo/pLAN insurgents crossing the so-called “cut line” in northern ovamboland. during a fire-fight both boys were mortally wounded.

A dignified memorial to these two old scholars was unveiled close to the School hall by the director of education, dr Gerald hosking Mc, on Friday 9 November 1984.

The dundee Lantern proudly reported that Gert Swart, who had completed his Matric in 1974, was a member of the small and elite seaborne special forces regiment, 4 reconnaissance commando, that operated in Angola and Mozambique.

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In such times, people hold on tightly to their patriotism and what for them is long-lasting. A standard 8A1 pupil, M Venter, wrote the following poem:

Impathi, Indumeni omring ons dorp[Impathi, Indumeni surround our town]

Swart doringbome hier en daar[Black thorn trees here and there]

Rykdom van steenkool en swart minerale[Wealth of coal and black minerals]

Dis of ons elke dag die skoonheid[It’s as if we experience every day]

Van hierdie bergwêreld ervaar –[the beauty of this mountain world –]

En hier het ons ‘n skool gebou[And here we built a school]

Die Hoërskool Dundee met sy grootheid en tradisie[dundee high School with its greatness and tradition]

Al swerf ons vér die wêreld in,[even if we roam far in the world,]

‘n brokkie van ons hart bly hier.[A piece of our heart stays here.]

Strenuis Ardua ons bly getrou –[Strenuis Ardua, we remain faithful –]

Ons sal jou naam in ere hou.[We will honour your name.]

Tersia Adendorff, an old scholar studying at “potch”, also did her bit for the war. In 1982 she was selected from a large number of applicants for the university’s chamber choir that spent a week entertaining the “men on the border”.

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In 1975, “At the request of our senior girls, it has been suggested that they should also take part in basic drill and other military duties. The senior girls may also voluntarily join the local commando unit provided that they first become trained members of the red cross Society. After this they will receive instruction in other military activities at the commandos.” No doubt where it was felt the girls’ skills and duties lay, and 57 joined up. Senior boys were also welcomed into the dundee-Glencoe commando and many joined up, twelve accompanied unit members on their veld instruction course during the April holidays.

In 1964 Bob dylan sang “The times they are a-changin’”; but only in June 1975 did the fledgling SABc catch up with the times and broadcast TV” test programmes” ... “with a view to research to determine how pupils will be influenced by the setting up of television.” In hindsight: they would never be the same again. Meanwhile NApAc regularly put on drama, opera, music, ballet performances of good quality that were a welcome relief for pupils and teachers from the tedium of classes; and a breath of culture blowing into the country air.

In 1973 the dundee high School Academic dux was one christodoulos Maniatis. chris graduated from Wits with a BSc in electrical engineering cum laude, and, having been awarded a de Beers Group Scholarship, in 1977 he proceeded to harvard university, where he was awarded an MBA in 1980. For the following eleven years he was employed in the uSA in management positions with several large corporations before relocating to Greece. he lives in Glyfada in Athens where he is chief financial officer of a group of Greek pharmaceutical companies.

hockey, played by the girls and the boys has been for many years a fast-moving game in which dundee teams, blessed with some dedicated coaches like Mrs r Kritzinger and Messrs peter Abraham, Barry percival and Johan Strydom, have done pretty well. The boys’ side also traditionally took to the rugby field as the 5th XV (the “Fiery Fifth”), and in 1983 they thumped all four of their opposing sides, having a combined total of 137 in their favour – and 3 against. But with good sportsmen such as the McLachlan brothers, the towering eben von rauenstein, Larry and danny da Silva, Billy Strachan, Terry and K Louw, W Luttig and Marc le roux (also head Boy in 1984), what could one expect?

dundee town has been blessed with having some outstanding female hockey players such as South African Women’s XI Nan roos (who also holds national colours for bowls!) and Bev hesom and our girls have benefitted from their skills. engela Botha (head Girl and, later, Bev’s sister-in-law) and the crookes sisters, Nicky (deputy head Girl) and Sandee, represented Northern Natal in the SA School Girls’ hockey Tournament in east London in 1984 and engela was chosen to represent the SA School Girls’ team to play in cape Town. In 1987 and in 1988 Sandee was invited to play in the SA Schools’ hockey trials. The 1991 had some good players in it, such as Michelle craven (“W T” and chris’ sister) and chantal Gardner and the girls had some outstanding coaches in rita Muller (later, Mrs Sean Topper) and, again, Nan and Bev.

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Beverley hesom was head Girl in 1975 and captain of the girls’ hockey team. She trained as a teacher of commercial subjects at the durban Technical college and during her time there she was chosen for two years in a row to play for the SA colleges’ hockey side. In 1978 she was captain of the team. Bev returned home to teach at her old school and married Thys Botha (junior) who was also an old scholar, and they subsequently emigrated to live and work in Australia. Interestingly, in 1975, her cousin Brian hesom was hockey captain and head Boy. Brian was also officer in command of the dundee-Glencoe commando and his son, Gregg also has had a distinguished sporting career.

Gregg was Sportsman of the Year in 1996, his Matric year, and he played provincial hockey for Northerns from 1998 through 2001. For seven years he was coach of the Northerns senior ladies’ team and, for three years, the Northerns under-16A girls’ team. his term as provincial coach ended in 2016 when his team won the national final against KZN coastals 8-0. Gregg was also assistant coach to the SA under-18 girls’ XI that won the Africa Qualifying Tournament to the Youth olympic Games in 2014. In addition, he was assistant coach to the SA under-21 ladies’ team and he took them to the Junior World cup in 2009 in Boston, uSA, in 2016. For the last five years Gregg has been director of hockey at the prestigious hoërskool Waterkloof in pretoria but in 2018, he brought his bride back to the dundee area where he is now involved in agriculture.

captain of rugby in 1979 was Johan Wassermann. Now prof. Wassermann from the department of humanities education with the university of pretoria, an historian and history educator, he lectures history education to Bed and pGce students and supervises students at Masters and phd level. his current research interests include teaching controversial issues in school history, history textbooks, youth and history education and the experiences of “minorities and the minoritised in colonial Natal”. his wife, the former Anette Wohlberg, was also a pupil at dundee high and she returned to teach history at dhS and she and Johan were lecturers at “Dokkies”, the durban Teachers’ Training college.

The following year, 1980, a tall young man – the oldest of Mr edgar Torlage’s four children, rudolph – matriculated at dundee high. Whereas ordinary folks are content to handle hundreds and thousands of rands each month, these days rudolph is dissatisfied with billions of rands. having studied at the university of Stellenbosch and uNISA and qualified as a chartered Accountant, he joined ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA; then known as IScor) as an internal auditor in 1990. AMSA is the largest steel producer on the African continent. With 10 000 employees and an annual turnover in excess of r35 billion, AMSA has a capacity to produce 6.5 million tons of steel each year at its Vanderbijlpark, Newcastle, pretoria and Saldanha plants. rudolph occupied various managerial positions in the company and in September 2010 he was appointed as executive director and cFo, and in 2013 he became the company’s head of Strategy and Special projects focusing on the development and rollout of the company’s strategy including mergers and acquisitions. he has massive pecuniary responsibilities in his hands!

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A new member of staff in January 1980, teaching “history, Music and economics” was the irrepressible Miss p N (“pam”) McFadden. pam was renowned at the high School for not merely breathing life into stuffy history syllabi with her recounting of stories and legends and producing historical plays but she had her pupils demonstrate Zulu battle tactics in the classroom. She also believed in teaching history “out there where it happened” if at all possible. her teaching career was too short, but in 1983 when she took over the moribund dundee Museum, she joined forces with a fellow history enthusiast, Mrs Sheila henderson, and together they created the Talana Museum. It is a name that rings around the world wherever museums are spoken about, the most visited institution of its sort in the country. The 100-hectare stretch of land around the base of Talana hill has the pioneer houses of the founding Smith family and there are always new and interesting exhibitions. pam found her métier and her passion that has delighted tens of thousands of visitors to “Talana” and she has popularised the story of the endumeni area.

At the school in the early ‘80s were Fraser (“Bingo”) Small and his brother, chris, were “ongelooflik stout” [unbelievably naughty; but these were not the exact words employed by a former fellow pupil]. Bingo still maintains that pam McFadden was “the best teacher ever.” Both he and chris served in the “Special Services” in the defence Force, the supremely tough soldiers fighting on the South-West African [Namibian] and Angolan borders. Afterwards, chris farmed and Bingo was at a rABco printing works in dundee and they learned to paddle on the umzinyathi river. Both turned their hands to guiding for the Gehrens’ lodge that was setting up a white-water rafting outfit, Isibindi river explorers. “Most of my weekends were taken up by either guiding raft trips or participating in canoe races, duzis, Fish river, Berg river, etc.” And after hours they and their friends “often spoke about paddling the Nile but civil war and apartheid prevented this from happening.”

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come 1994 and democracy in South Africa, they piled an “inflatable” into a well-used bakkie and drove the 4 500+ km from dundee to Jinja in uganda. They were so impressed that they set up Nalubale rafting uganda[1] that attracts extreme sports people from around the world. “Twenty years later and I am still here,” he says, “and the thought of failing or the risks involved have never occurred to me. Maybe being a bit reckless has helped to pursue dreams that seem out of reach at the time of inception.”

A good friend, 28 year-old hendri coetzee, arrived to do some guiding on the Nile with “a huge appetite for adventure.” rafting the length of the Nile popped up in casual conversation every now and then; but with the newcomer as the “driver”, the dream gradually became a reality. on exploratory trips they learned to plunge their boats straight through huge rapids and to plummet down tumultuous waterfalls – incredibly dangerous – with the protection of plastic decks, drysuits, helmets and paddles. “You learned very soon how to read a clear line before the put-in, then how to swerve and carve the whitewater, avoiding holes, trying not to be rag-dolled by the flow. You learned too how to deal with the wildlife, deadly crocodiles and hippos, that lay submerged in wait where the water flattened out”[2]

Bingo tells how “after an unsuccessful first attempt to raft the Murchison Falls section of the Nile, approximately 12 km in, one of our rafts was attacked by a crocodile, destroying it [the boat] in the process.” What he doesn’t say is that he, hendri and their companions beat off an attacking crocodile – a primordial brute that can reach between five to six metres in length and weigh more than 730 kilogrammes – with helmets and paddles as it reared over them, so close that they could even see the plaque on its teeth. Afterwards, hendri had the madness to turn to the others and yell, “how f***ing cool was that?!”[3]

Temporarily deterred, it took most of 2003 to put a team together to “conquer” the Nile: hendri, Bingo and pete Meredith (“one of the best big water oar boaters in the world”) from South Africa; Brits Jon dahl (who had crossed Africa by waterways in an expedition that took a year and, vitally, had mechanical skills) and Thomas Leth Madsen (the team’s “get-it-done” man); and New Zealander Natalie Mccomb. put together, they, had walked, driven and paddled through most of the continent.[4] Starting their trip on Saturday 17 January 2004 they found the leg through southern uganda the easiest. It is also one of the richest sources of African wildlife, with gigantic crocodiles, hippopotami and elephants being commonplace. The Northern part presented a different form of wild life: there was “quite a bit of rebel activity, and to pass through these parts, we would row non-stop, day and night. physically demanding, the fatigue was evident on all of us.” It is still a very dangerous area with widespread human rights violations perpetrated by such factions as the Lord’s resistance Army.[5]

1 http://www.nalubalerafting.com/.2 http://www.economist.com/node/17797148.3 http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/nile-crocodile/.4 http://www.news24.com/Africa/Features/South-Africans-join-Nile-team-20040112.5 dowden (2008: 1).

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“entering Sudan was a complete unknown except for the knowledge that we had the blessings of some guys saying, it’s okay, you can pass through, we have communicated to our commanders not to harass you.” With the military and war experience of some of the team, “this really doesn’t put your mind at ease; you can feel the tension right away. Sudan is a wild country, with people of different tribes, incredibly hardy, gunfire every night, incredibly hospitable families to outright thugs who wouldn’t hesitate to take a life if the urge arose. Fortunately,” Bingo says calmly, “there was a temporary cease fire in Southern Sudan when we passed through – but the day we left this area, all hell broke loose – but we were through. Good timing!”

Bingo was drinking in a feast of experiences such as he had never before encountered. “We met kings, had cows slaughtered as offering on our behalf... my most memorable experience was getting through the Sudd, apparently the biggest marsh or wetland on the planet and endless papyrus.[1] (Its size varies from between 30 000+ to 130 000+ square kilometres – an area the size of england!) We spent eight days and nights on the rafts without seeing land through narrow channels and 10- foot high reeds. The size of this swamp is hard to comprehend. To our surprise, we came around a corner one afternoon and there was this old guy with his family in the middle of the swamp on a manmade tiny island. he was escaping the war and had been living here for more than two years harvesting fish for his family and any extra [fish] he would sun-dry and barter to the barge which passed through once every six months – if he was lucky. he was full of wisdom and a staunch christian. his family broke into a hymn at sunset, in harmony. I have never heard such a coming together of voices as pure as this in my entire life. I often wonder what became of them.”

The team continued northwards from there to Khartoum where they were carried by a huge barge which traded to and fro and they slept on the upper deck under the stars. Bingo fell in love with the architecture of eons passing by along the banks. “You can feel the ancient history of this place!”

They paddled the rafts past rosetta and into the Med [on 21 May] at last.” After 4½ months they eventually swam in sea. It was a feeling of being so alive!

“Something like this starts as a dream,” he writes, “but the experiences and memories far exceed what the dream was. From experiencing all the diversity, the madness, dysentery, time in Arab jails, hospitality, good soldiers and bad soldiers, being stuck in the Nubian desert on a broken train, clear night skies beyond imagination, finding human remains, appreciating a bed, people that give you faith in humanity... It changes you in such positive ways.”

hendri coetzee’s life changed too. he moved permanently to uganda and, in the spirit of adventurers and explorers down the years, he made a habit of pushing his fear to the limits. during a perilous descent of the Lukuga river in the drc he was seized and pulled under by a massive crocodile – and never seen again. his last blog, where he explored why he went head first into danger concluded that in doing so “[he] would never live a better day...”[2] Which is probably what Lawrence Munro, head Boy in 1994 might also say. his story in a while.

1 [http://www.amusingplanet.com/2012/08/the-impenetrable-wetland-of-sudd-in.html].2 http://greatwhiteexplorer.blogspot.co.za/2010/11/feelings-do-they-make-you-soft.html.

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history-wise, 1980 was quite a year for the high School. The new sports fields were inaugurated by Advocate danie Joubert, the new school buildings were handed over by dr Gerald hosking, director of education, the school flag was used for the first time and the School Song was composed with lyrics by S herselman (the Afrikaans version) and B phillips (the english version) and melody by the music inspector, hein de Villiers:

DUNDEE HIGH SCHOOL SONG

1. In the shadows of M’PatiStands the school of which we’re proud

Dundee High where we prosper, thus we sing out loud.

2. As the spirit and intellect by learning are inspired

‘tis STRENUIS ARDUA CEDUNT with which we are afired.

3. It’s in serving high idealsof our earnest Christian Folk we best can serve our country with our promise and hope.

In the tough years of “isolation” for South Africa such patriotism was encouraged. The local republic Festival celebrations were held on Tuesday 26 May 1981 and at 8:45 a.m., in brilliant sunshine, the town’s school children were assembled at the civic Buildings and led by local horse riders carrying a banner to the high School fields. Two local ministers, rev. clark and ds “Daan” dekker, opened the proceedings with a reading from the Scriptures and with prayers and the Mayor, councillor Joubero cilliers, addressed the crowd. The solemn unfurling of the flag was carried out by the head Boy and head Girl, Graham Trusler and hannah Joubert (now, Mrs Venter, on the staff).

The post of deputy principal was filled in 1981 by Mr des Krantz who had moved up from hoërskool port Natal. The popular Mr hans Klinger had acted in the role and in 1984 he was promoted to fill the position at empangeni high School. Mr Krantz was to become principal after Mr Kriel in 1985. In 1982, Mr Krantz having taken up the headship of pioneer hoërskool in Vryheid, Mr L F B (“Lampies”) cornelius, who came through from Vryheid, was appointed “deputy” in Mr Krantz’s place.

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“Lampies” acknowledged that the first time he sang the school song in assembly, he recognised what an honour it was for him to “uphold the high standards set at this school.” he arrived in the third quarter to take up his post and in the interim the ever-unflappable Mr erich Landsberg “acted” for him. At the end of 1983 Mr cornelius was bidding farewell as he returned to hoërskool port Natal, from which he had matriculated 23 years before, as principal. Mr Kriel was sad to see him go. “I must say that I, the rest of the staff, the pupils and the parent community will remember him as one of the most energetic, most enthusiastic, but also one of the most lovable teachers we have had here.”

Some young people took “the gap” in this time to take off to the uK for a year or two, living by the seat of their pants and discovering, as elmar Myburg laughs, “how difficult it is to be an adult!” A by-the-way story is that on a school trip to cape Town in 1984 a Matric girl was seen to be in tears. “Are you all right?” she was worriedly asked. “Yes, thank you,” she smiled with watery eyes. “It’s just the first time I’ve been in a lift.”

Three “service organisations” in town provided valuable opportunities for pupils from home and abroad to become “exchange students”, such an important window for our “country bumpkins” to experience something of the wider world. As a 1995 exchange student, ramiro Avila, said, “This [opportunity for wonderful experiences] helps you to mature, broadens your mind and makes you realise how beautiful the world really is.” here is an indication of who of dundee’s students have had the opportunity to travel and to learn and who have visited with us:

DUNDEE HIGH SCHOOLROTARY EXCHANGE STUDENTS

ROTARY EXCHANGE STUDENTS

FROM OVERSEASYEAR NAME DESTINATION NAME ORIGIN1966 Ishbel henderson uSA1967 paddy Ann Smith uSA1967 Marie Jean osbourne uSA1967 Shirley Stafford-Meyer uSA1968 Giesele Bunger uSA1968 estelle emmett uSA1969 Margie Woest Australia1969 helena Koch uSA1969 Kathy Burger uSA1969 Phillipe Boulle uSA1970 Anna Smuts uSA1970 Jane Smith uSA1971 robyn durham uSA1972 Lynette Kane uSA1972 Mark Johnson uSA1973 Meridy-Leigh elliott uSA

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ROTARY EXCHANGE STUDENTS

FROM OVERSEASYEAR NAME DESTINATION NAME ORIGIN1973 Susan Mary durham New Zealand1973 Susan Joy danielson uSA1974 carol-Ann roderick uSA1974 Susan dunn uSA1975 henry dicks uSA1976 Beverley hesom uSA1977 Jolene Waldeck Australia1978 rosalee dedekind uSA1979 desima Beukes Australia1979 Meryl Bear uSA1979 Austin clarke uSA1980 helen palm uSA1980 Fiona White uSA1980 Fiona campbell uSA1981 robin hayes Australia eyrun Kjetland Norway1981 Janet Thole uSA Matthew Vere Arkansas, uSA1982 Tracy Milne canada rick Qualliontine New York, uSA1982 Graham Trusler uSA

1983 Pieter Kriel New Zealand Jasper Funck rommershausen, West Germany

1984 Nicolé (“Nicky”) commons

Northern Idaho, uSA cathy deasey

Molong, New South Wales,

Australia1985 hilda cason uSA Katrina Carey Australia1986 Leanne campbell california, uSA1986 Andrea Lampen uSA

1987 helen Wade Wisconsin, uSA Sean Neary“near San

Francisco”, california, uSA

1987 Vena Amaidas uSA

1988 Lisa Vermaak renmark,South Australia

1989 Karen Lazenby San Francisco, california, uSA cindy Bruntjen Alberta, canada

1990 Audrey heesakkers Australia1990 Lynton Shardelow Australia1991 dieter Kassier Argentina1991 renette rheeder uSA

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ROTARY EXCHANGE STUDENTSFROM OVERSEAS

YEAR NAME DESTINATION NAME ORIGIN

1992 Terence corrigan Münster, Germany

Kimberlee Johnson oregon, uSA

1992 Agata czjakowski Sacramento, california

1993 david hitchinson uSA

1994 Yvonne Buntting uSA Marcelo Garcia Buenos Aires, Argentina

1995 Tracey osborne uSA ramiro Avila cordoba, Argentina

1996 delia pretorius Turkey

2002 Tarryn McMillan el campo, Texas, uSA Susan delaforce Brisbane,

Australia2003 Fred Fraile corrèze, France

2006 carmen Nuss hanover, Germany

raquele (“Kelly”) Pessin Brazil

2007 Stuart ponton helsinki, Finland Sandra hinter Sacheseln, Switzerland

2007 J G du plessis pattaya, Thailand

2008phawat

(“Angpao”) Prassithisuphaporn

Mahasarakham, Thailand

2009 Sarah honiball uSA2010 carmen Thöle Germany pedro carvalho Brazil

2011 danie du plessis Brazil Celene Kubala Queensland, Australia

2014 CatherineWillis-Smith Germany

2017 Christopher cumming Belgium

LION’S YOUTH EXCHANGE PROGRAMME

YEAR NAME DESTINATION1984 Shann Abraham Italy, Switzerland & West Germany1984 Annél Bruyns Italy, Switzerland & West Germany1992 Corinne Pieterse Italy, Switzerland & Germany

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ROUND TABLE EXCHANGE PROGRAMME

YEAR NAME DESTINATION1992 Michelle hellberg Germany1992 Berndt Wichmann Germany1994 Liesel Müller Germany

The mid-1980s saw the steady intervention of technology in our lives and in the life of the school. edgar Torlage was proud that at the end of 1993 dundee high School was one of the few Natal schools to have its end-of-year reports printed off (on large reams of perforated paper) via a bulky computer. Some teachers took themselves in their holidays upstairs in the Boswell’s Building where a business offered classes on how to work with the new-fangled “MS-doS”. It might have had the sole benefit of stripping away the “spookiness” from working with keyboard and screen – a “jockey-stick” or a “mouse” was a couple of years, yet, away – and of providing confidence to work with them. The fact that at a click of a clumsy finger everything that one had been working on disappeared was frustrating – not like the good old remington typewriters where Tippex was the answer to a false move.

Schoolboys such as Johan Stoltz (who became an engineer working with the railways) earned some useful pocket money building, repairing and giving home-help with computers. By 1985 two progressive parents, Keith Wishart (Ian’s father; Matric in 1996) and Sonia Moore offered after-hours familiarisation classes to pupils in a new “computer Science club”. Then it was said that dundee high was “one of the few schools, if not the only school in Natal, where the pupils have this opportunity.” Since those early days of IT, “knowledge has increased and men run to and fro”. Nothing – well, almost nothing – is done without it, today.

But back to 1982; a momentous year for dundee as a town, as it fêted its centenary, and, as head Girl Megan Levine pointed out, “the link between the high School and the town [was] unmistakeable... the histories of the two are inextricably bound together, creating a steady foundation for the student.”

It was in that year that an ScA (Students’ christian Association) team consisting of ruth Levine, Andrew Smith, Marc le roux, dieter oschadleus, Jackie Smith and Jane Levine entered the Bible Quiz competition, a hotly-contested (albeit in a joyful atmosphere) competition – and surprised themselves by being placed first in Natal. “The team,” wrote Mrs Maureen Kriel (the headmaster’s wife and school librarian), “not only learned large portions of scripture, but they were personally enriched in their knowledge of God.” In 1984 the dundee high ScA team again won the Natal finals.

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An aspect of the ACSV movement that proved most useful to many Standard 10 pupils was the annual “Skoolverlaterskamp” (School Leavers’ camp) held annually at Winklespruit under the auspices of the NG Kerk of Natal. The skolliekamp combined sensible advice on what to expect from one’s studies and working life with enriching Bible studies and great fun on the beach. Smaller numbers of english-speakers used to gain from the similarly valuable (yet secular) rotary Youth Leadership courses held at such venues as port Shepstone high School.

prefects’ camps have been run since the late 70s, originally by the Junior Rapportryers movement and coordinated by Mr “c A” Froneman. For some years they included Glencoe high school prefects. A well-balanced programme of leadership training, problem-solving and discussions on what constituted a good prefect were interwoven with relaxation, games and eating at the beautifully-situated Lutheran youth camp at elandskraal.

But the dundee high School community has always known how to laugh, and the annual vrugtefees (fruit festival) is a good example of that. In 1987, a float-building competition was held on the last day of the first term. It proved so successful that the prefects and the Standard 10s were given the task of coming up with an even better idea for 1988. They dreamt up suikerkaskenades that included sack racing, tug-of-war, wheelbarrow racing, three-legged racing and a slip & slide. even teachers participated in this slide, a soapy, plastic-covered incline next to the sports fields, helped enthusiastically by excited hordes of pupils! It was a wonderful, hilarious day and the perfect start to the easter holidays.

1983 was the beloved Mr Kriel’s 60th birthday year and on Monday morning 12 September a most memorable assembly took place in the School hall to honour him. An enormous cake shaped like the school’s badge, replete with candles, was baked and sliced up and devoured; he was presented with a special book on proteas signed by every matriculant of that year; and an enormous card with the facade of the “Lucy Meakin” hall as its shape and theme was given to him. Inside was to be found the signature of every pupil in the school as well as a clever adaptation of the School Song, to honour Mr Kriel as man and leader of our school written in beautiful italics by dedré cronjé. he said that it was a heart-warming gesture which he would treasure for the rest of his life but, at the same time, his speech was the most difficult that he had ever had to make.

Mr Kriel’s final year as headmaster in 1984 coincided with the official centenary celebrations of dundee high School. With the added vigour of his energetic and talented deputy, Mr erich Landsberg, an extensive programme aimed at giving the frontage of the school a face-lift was initiated. The Lucy Meakin Memorial Library was renovated and repainted to serve as a museum depicting the progress of education in our community over the years. Two huge trees which previously dominated and obstructed the view of the school’s frontage were felled and the lower branches of the jacarandas cut off. The unsightly fence was removed and was to be replaced by metal railings. But the pièce de résistance was the erection of the magnificent sand-stone gates originally erected on the coniston property originally belonging to the Talbot family and donated to the School by Mr and Mrs Frans coetzee. With dated plaques they serve both as a memorial of the centenary and as an impressive entrance leading to the old main building.

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Another monstrosity to fall to the demolisher’s hammer – Mr erich Landberg’s term – was the incongruous “sheep kraal” courtyard that had been attached to the 50 year-old Staff room when renovations and additions to the school were undertaken from 1977-1980. The whole area in front of the old red-brick school building was landscaped, grassed and paved and a lovely garden established by expert gardeners led by the incomparable Mrs di poustie. Thanks to Mr Torlage’s sister-in-law, Mrs Johanna Joubert of Wakkerstroom, a unique and attractive rockery and fountain replaced the huge acacia elata which had dominated the area between the “new” School hall and the “Lucy Meakin”. Thus the whole façade facing Tatham Street underwent repainting and general renovations and this created an impressive and unique appearance.

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The back entrance to the school also experienced a rather drastic face-lift as the huge gum trees previously lining oxborrow Street were felled to allow for the levelling and grassing of the area which previously lay barren and exposed due to the enormous absorption of all surface water by these towering giants. They were replaced by indigenous species, and a lane of trees was planted on either side of the coronation Street extension which forms the back entrance of our school.

The tree-felling was welcomed on another level, for the dundee area experienced a terrible drought in 1983 where all of the local dams dried up and, before a much-needed pipeline could be laid to ferry water from the Buffalo river to town, water was brought in by railway tankers and mines were pumped out. This last measure provided employment for re-enamelling companies as they repaired bathtubs stripped of their coatings by the acidic mine water! rain fell on christmas day, and the mayor councillor dave Ware called the town together for a thanksgiving service on the lawns in front of the Municipal Buildings in late January of 1984. All the schools attended – and joined in the rejoicing. Now the Jo-Jo tanks that had been placed on every street for people to exchange plastic coupons to fill containers (carried on prams, even) with potable water could be removed.

The actual centenary celebrations were held from 17-20 May 1984. Mr erich Landsberg called it the “merry month of May... with all of the uplifting emotions and experiences once again closing our ranks by evoking greater pride in and involvement from those who had been associated with the school over the decades...” The celebrations included a wide range of activities such as the staging of the happy musical, The Boyfriend, a street procession and float parade, a braai for all old scholars, a sports programme and arena show, a formal dinner to form the climax and a thanksgiving service at the school on the Sunday morning.

The Courier newspaper described the colourful float procession with such themes as Old and New Transport to School and Noisy Scholars as a “fanfare” to open the celebrations. The reporter said, “We had the lovely and poignant sight of 100 pigeons simultaneously released and in full flight gathering, circling, speeding off into the next 100 years.” The (short-lived newspaper), the Dundee and District Focus agreed: “What a Show!” The Courier man (himself an old scholar and former Star motoring editor, harvey Thomas) worked himself into something of a lather, describing the “lovely-luscious-leggy-lithe drum majorettes” but calmed down to admire the “colourful physical activity of many scholars giving mass gymnastic displays” and the SA police dog shows in “an atmosphere that was jovial and genuine.”

That was the Friday; there was still Saturday with sport that included rugby, netball and hockey. There were more gymnastic displays, skydiving and a march-past of old scholars “from as far back as 1930”. The Courier continued: “What a happy, long procession of many, many scholars of the past and the present, grouped in decades. Just a few dignified representatives from the years 1900-1920 with the groups getting bigger and bigger right up to the boisterous, bouncing, swinging and singing group of the eighties.” The centenary celebrations “can without doubt be described as the most successful major happening that dundee has participated in for the last 25 years or more.”

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deputy principal erich Landsberg, without doubt the architect and executor of this success, felt that to his mind the celebrations had been an “unqualified success ... a truly memorable occasion for us all – we are incalculably grateful to the parents and the people of dundee for their overwhelming generosity and co-operation”, and the Courier praised the coordinators of the weekend richly: “There was never a dull moment and it can be said without reservations that at no time during those three days could any evidence be found of poor organisation or faulty execution.” harvey Thomas concluded, “A most praiseworthy effort and one that confirms the words of those who rightly laud the worthiness of this school.” All agreed that “razzmatazz” was not the order of this wonderful event, but that rather nostalgia had won the day.

Keeping an interested eye on things was the chairman of the School Advisory committee, hannes van Niekerk, yet another old scholar. In fact, he matriculated in the same year as dennis Gehren, 1952. In his final year he was awarded full school colours for rugby, he was a school prefect and in the Inter-house Athletics Meeting he won the 440-yards race in an impressive 55,6 seconds. Asked to have his photograph taken for the centenary Magazine, hannes donned a tie (but no jacket) for a top-only “shot’ with his customary shorts and rolled-down shorts below. The “pic” was taken; he was happy; he stripped off the offending tie; and off he drove. It was as the (anonymous) editor of the Magazine went to wind on the camera that he realised that ... oh my! ... there had been no film inserted. Mr Van Niekerk returned with a “Jou b....!” (“You [unmentionable]!”) and the photograph that now appears was (properly) taken. hannes van Niekerk died on 21 January 2018 and he is buried near his old farm, “Rusplaas”, just outside dundee.

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The Kriels retired back to his home town of Montagu and it was with “heart-sore” sadness that the school community learned of his death there on 22 december 2007.

piet Struweg, who had come to the school in 1976 from empangeni high and joined the Management Team, was an outstanding teacher. having been a senior Matric physical Science examiner in KwaZulu-Natal, piet went on to become an examiner at national level. he too left the school at the end of 1984 to become “deputy” of Greytown high School (and, in the absence of the principal, he acted in his place for the first quarter of 1985) and then, temporarily resigning from the department, he went into business in dundee. he and a friend bought a sign-writing company on Karel Landman Street from a couple who had also taught at dundee high for years, danie and Motz Bezuidenhout.

danie and Motz’s daughter, Tanja, also taught (too briefly – she was well-loved) at the school for 18 months until July 2004 before she helped her parents run their royal hotel. Then Tanja and her husband Noel Gehren (dennis and Jenny’s son) emigrated to live in Adelaide, Australia. It would have been wonderful to report that Tanja’s brother, Kristian (“Kris”), one of the world’s “most notable and exciting keyboard artists, equally at home on the fortepiano, harpsichord, and modern piano” and nominated on a number of occasions for a Grammy Award, was a high School product. he wasn’t. he was born in dundee in 1979 but he was schooled in Australia whilst danie and Motz lived there.

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The arrival of a new headmaster in 1985 was a change of pace. The energetic and youthful Mr d r (“des”) Krantz was installed with a clever, witty, industrious new deputy, Mr J G (“Jan”) de Villiers. Mr erich Landsberg had left at the tail-end of 1984 to become principal of the extra-curricular Music School in pietermaritzburg and from there he progressed to become a chief planner in the education department. Many on the staff missed his solid grasp of “what was going on” in the school, in relationships in the school, in the town, and his sense of sympathetic caring. The roles of headmaster and deputy should be complementary, and many is the school principal who has turned his eyes heaven ward to offer thanks for an industrious, practical, reliable and “filling-in-the-gaps” second in charge! In this regard, at dundee often must such prayers have been sent!

des Krantz was a Noord-Nataller (“Northern Nataler”), born and bred. he grew up in Ladysmith, went to school there, played rugby for the Northern Natal schools’ XV and he met the love of his life, helène (née van Niekerk), when she was in standard six and he was in standard eight. des graduated from Tukkies with a BSc (majoring in Maths and chemistry) and with an hde and completed an honours in Mathematics in 1981. Whilst in pretoria he played rugby for the university and for the Northern Transvaal under-20 team.

his teaching career commenced at hoërskool port Natal in durban in 1965 and by 1968 he was already a Senior Assistant (today’s equivalent of an hod). That, in those days, was rapid promotion. In 1972 he was appointed as an examiner for the Joint Matriculation Board, which was followed by similar tasks for the Ned and, later, for its successor, the KZNde. For 31 continuous years he was chairman of the Mathematics examining panel – which must be a record in itself; and certainly a singular honour.

Whilst at “port Natal”, for 13 years he coached its first rugby team, was invited to be a Natal Schools’ selector (the first Afrikaans-speaker so honoured) and he managed the Natal Schools’ rugby team to craven Week for two years. he qualified as a provincial referee and “blew the whistle” at currie cup B matches from 1981 through 1992. For the first eight years of his being principal at dundee high, the first rugby team was unbeaten, and in the latter phase of his tenure dundee high was always the top achieving school in the region in the matriculation exams.

he wanted the high School to complement the town: “We are part of the community ... and it is our duty to contribute to our community. That is why I am aiming for the school to become the pride of all the residents of dundee through its academic, cultural and sport achievements.... [so] I would like to involve more pupils in the various activities offered. each student, I believe, must fully use his or her God-given talents. Some of us may have received less gifts than others; but this is not to say that the school does not need your help. The school needs all pupils’ co-operation and active participation, because then the school will really LIVe.”

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The joy-filled head Boy of 1985, Mark Gradidge, echoed such a spirit of caring when, in his farewell address, he paid tribute not just to teachers and fellow-pupils but, especially, to the “ground staff”, headed by the veritable Mr Gideon horn: “A special word of thanks to oom [uncle] Gideon and his staff who take care of the cleanliness of our school building and grounds. They do the hardest work and get the least honour.” And as advice for the fellow-pupils he was leaving behind at the end of that year, Mark wrote, “It has taken 101 years of headmasters, teachers, prefects, pupils and parents to bring dundee high School to its present standard. You have only five years to participate in its activities, so I urge you to continue to build for the future.”

That year the Superintendent of the Boys’ hostel complimented his staff and boarder masters and hostel prefects, headed up that year by “the indefatigable head Boy, Brian eloff... Brian was one of many hostel boys who did well at sport. Indeed, as we claim to be the ‘backbone of the School’, many a team would collapse without the hostel’s loyal support. Brian represented the president’s Invitation Team in inter-provincial athletics; W T craven and Janus Wessels also shot for Natal [395 out of a possible 400 points]; Abraham Botes and Naas Snyman represented Northern Natal in its craven Week rugby squad; Terry Louw received his second Northern Natal hockey cap; and Werner von Brakel and George Maritz performed well in Northern Natal cross-country running, Alistair Farrington had the unique achievement of being selected to be the first winner of the robert dawson Floating Trophy, as the Most Improved rugby player of 1985, but possibly our most notable achievement was Naas Snyman’s selection as captain of the Natal ‘A’ Gymkhana team; and he stands a good chance of receiving his Springbok colours in december. 22 of our boarders received colours awards in acknowledgement of their excellence.” This report is repeated here in recognition of the part that koshuisbrakke have played over all the years in the success of the school.

retiring in 1985 from the Boys’ hostel was a most remarkable lady, Mrs Violet pillay, after 45 years’ faithful service. She joined as its seamstress on 15 September 1939. “how many items can I mend in average day?” she was asked. “Well, supposing they’re not bed covers (they take up so much time, you know), I should think easily two to three dozen things.”[1] With a bit of rapid calculation, at 30 articles for 49 weeks a year for 45 years ... that’s well over 66 000 pieces of clothing that were placed back in useful service again, with her careful handiwork barely displayed within. Mrs pillay’s faithfulness was recognised with the presentation to her of a special award of a citation and a gold badge by the Administrator of Natal, Mr radclyffe cadman.

The editorial of the 1964 School Magazine says, “Looking at the history of our school, we conclude that remarkable achievements have only been in the distant past; but not so. Take the past twenty years or thirty years, and just in the annals of dundee high School rugby there have emerged some excellent players; which is often credit to such coaches as Johan rainsford and Arrie Günther. These include Wayne Munn, André Snyman and Sean everitt.

1 personal interview with Mrs pillay: october 1984.

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Whilst still a junior at dundee high, Wayne Munn left for Maritzburg college, where “visibility” is sometimes better. There, he represented KZN Schools in the craven Week teams of 1993 and 1994, and as a student at “Maties” he played for its rugby Sevens team and got his chance to play for the nation’s pride, the “BlitzBokke” (the South African Springboks Sevens team) in 1999.

Wayne just missed playing in the “Sevens” with well-known Sharks player Shaun payne, who also has a “dundee connection”, because he married Michelle hellberg (same class as international bodybuilder chris Fitzpatrick, standard 6 through Matric) whose brother, Victor, was head Boy in 1990 Shaun played for the SA Air Force under-21 side during his National Service, was a member of the “Sevens” squad in ‘95, ‘97 and ‘98, he won 80+ caps the Sharks (playing in two currie cup finals and in one Super 10 final and in one Super 12 final). he became – after having been a vital member of their team – coach to the Irish team Munster and now the paynes are resident in cape Town. Michelle’s parents, are Karl (senior partner of hSK Simpson, the surveying firm) and Sonya.

Another prodigy was Andries hendrik (André) Snyman, who also became head Boy in 1992. he went on to study at Technikon pretoria[1] where, against considerable odds, he was selected as an inside centre for the (then) dominant Blue Bulls rugby side. he played for the “Bulls” from 1995-1999 and then joined the Sharks XV from 2000-2003. he made his Springbok debut in 1996 against the All Blacks in durban and thereafter he played in 38 tests before hanging up his international boots in June 2006 after the Scotland test.

1 Now called Tshwane university of Technology.

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André also represented the South African Sevens team at the 1997 rugby World cup in hong Kong, where they lost to Fiji in the final 24-21. From 2003, until he retired from playing in 2007, he played for the english club Leeds Tykes and the French side, uSA perpignan. That wasn’t the end, however, because having moved to the uS in 2011 to help coach the Glendale raptors, in 2012 and 2013 he represented the uSA at the rugby World classics Tournament in Bermuda! he has also been used as a defensive specialist for the uSA Sevens team and he was named coach of the pacific rugby premiership by This Is American Rugby for the second year running in 2015.

on the switch from being a player to becoming a coach, André said, “It’s a challenge to coach the players beyond the ‘now’ of the game but instead looking at four or five phases ahead. It is the coaching of reading the game (defence, attack the opposition) that is key.” And asked what his fondest playing moments were, he responded, “It will have to be my Springbok debut, being part of the 1998 tour side which dismantled the French in the closing game of their stadium. Winning that Tri Nations was also special and the 1998 currie cup win with the Bulls. What does stick out was the try I scored in 1997 against england [at Twickenham; regarded by experts as one of the finest tries ever scored].” he summed up his rugby philosophy with: “run hard, play hard and enjoy the game…. I want to see the guys reach the highest level. They must develop, read the game and take all their opportunities. The game must be enjoyed and players must always look to remain humble.”[1]

And then there was the jovial yet highly decisive Sean everitt of the Matric class of 1985. Since 2008 Sean has been the highly-rated back-line coach of the KZN Sharks rugby team, and has achieved much since his days of running out on to the field at dundee high.

1 chanakira, 2015

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Arrie Günther bursts with pride when he remembers his 1st rugby XV in 1992: “The first team was once again, for the third consecutive year, unbeaten in Northern Natal. They played brilliant rugby throughout the year and not less than seven of these boys represented North Natal at the craven Week this year” – roelof le roux (the captain), André Snyman, chappie Swart, christopher Fitzpatrick, “Sampie” hendriks, Johan Jacobs and Steven herman.

Indeed, three of the most likeable boys (BIG boys!) that have passed through the doors of dundee high School have been the hendricks brothers, Johan (“Tank”), Samuel (“Sampie”) and John West (“Wesley”). Tank had a wonderful rugby career, one that started with his acquisition of his name. “one of the older kids at the primary school, Frikkie Laas, gave it to me. I was 10m from the try line when I took 3 of the opposition school’s players with over the line.” he claims that what little speed he has in himself was credit to Mr Lazenby’s whistle (that had a leather “strap”).

After Matric Tank studied at Glen Agricultural college and played in its 1st XV; then he propped down for Western Transvaal; then for the famous London side, harlequins; then for Natal; then for the Leopards; then he joined the “prisons” (the department of correctional Services); and then he was invited to play for a russian team, Krasny Yar Krasnoyarsk rugby club in, of all places, Siberia. This he did for one season, a double honour because Krasnoyarsk is reckoned to be the home of russian rugby and also because some good players from other countries have played for the team. Former Blue Bulls centre coenraad Breytenbach and Leopards player Werner pieterse played alongside Tank there. And it was whilst they were there that some of the most bizarre occurrences took place on an international rugby field.[1]

on Saturday 2 March 2002 the paitchadze National Stadium in Tbilisi was full as 65000 watched Georgia draw 12-12 with russia. “The game was a top-of-the-table encounter in the european Nations cup, the second-tier “Six Nations” competition for europe’s emerging rugby nations...., but the russians, coached by the former Springbok James Stofberg, played Breytenbach, pieterse, “Bloues” Volschenk and Tank, albeit as substitutes during the ferociously-fought game. The Georgian union appealed the eligibility of the South Africans donning russian jerseys; and so did the Spanish union when similar goings-on saw them lose (by one point!) in a World cup qualification match. It didn’t help matters when Werner pieterse scored three times in the match against the Netherlands team. The russians (and our boys) were then expelled from the tournament. The incredibly likeable “Tank” (who, in fact, had become naturalised as a russian citizen) went on to play ten times with the russian jersey on his back, for the North-West Falcons in South Africa and lastly for Grenoble and Monteux in France. Today, married to Lezil (née eicker) and with a young family, he farms near Swartwater in Limpopo.

1 Gallagher, 2002: 43.

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Sampie, too, had a different rugby career, firstly by representing two different South African rugby unions: the Northern Transvaal and the eastern Transvaal under-21 and also their under-23 teams. he also played for the eastern Transvaal Sables and for a third union when joined up with the durban side, harlequins and then a fourth union, the potchefstroom-based North-West Leopards. It was love at last as he played 92 games for them at Vodacom and at currie cup level. In 2000, Sampie and Tank played together for the Leopards, he as a “loosie” and Tank as tight head prop, even in a match on 13 June against the visiting england team. The english scraped home on that occasion 52-22. In addition to all this, Sampie propped for the SA combined Forces, a team representing the best players from the defence Forces, SApS and the correctional Services.

In 1992, when he was in Matric, chris Fitzpatrick was a very promising rugby scrum-half. Johan rainsford, his coach at under-14 level, saw at least provincial colours for him. But chris didn’t make it. It was his country that he represented, on multiple occasions, in ecuador, Brazil (on two occasions), Morocco, Azerbaijan and in Bahrain – and in the sport of bodybuilding.

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chris has won the IFBB South African championships and he has numerous titles to honour his hard exercise regime. This sort of success comes, sometimes, at a price: two years ago he tore his rotator cuff and snapped a bicep, so recovery to perfect fitness is taking time. And that is just what he has, now, to develop his numerous businesses: a bakery, a pharmaceutical company, a range of clothing and a chain of health stores. he has an entrepreneur’s eye, which took him also into starting companies that cater for those who share his lifestyle: SSN [Scientific Sports Nutrition], Muscle Junkie and Supashape. he was also the high School’s entrant in the Jan hofmeyr Speech contest, a School prefect and a good swimmer. chris is today happily married to robynne in durban and they have two ever-growing sons.

Sport was on the rise at the high School, for sure; but it is in retrospect that one recognises what an academic leader des Krantz was. he had the ability to take personally if a pupil was not achieving to the best of his or her ability. In a staff meeting once, for example, he said how mortified he had been to see a schoolboy walking home down Victoria the previous evening with his shirt hanging out in the front: “he was from my school!”

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A good student himself, Mr Krantz reiterated that “Students must realise that, with their academic achievements, they have to compete with many with the same goals. employment opportunities go to top achievers in the open market... Schools have always encouraged students to achieve according to the best of their ability. Not enough notice was taken of this, maybe because employment was more readily available in the past... Searching for improved standards, we must stop blaming others for lack of achievement. We must ask ourselves: how hard am I working to achieve my goals? ... however small the task set, do it to the best of your ability.” In des Krantz’s time it was a rare occurrence for any matriculant to fail his end-year examinations.

A spirit of uncertainty in the political spectrum was reflected in the staffroom and, in 1988, in the reports of both the headmaster, des Krantz, and Mr Karl hellberg, chairman of the School committee, who commented on “education in our country [is] experiencing a crisis period. With the authority’s coffers having been depleted, the newspapers have been full of the resignations of teachers. This has resulted in some schools having staff turnovers of up to 30% this year.” At the close of 1988 only four teachers moved on from dundee high. one of these was hod Mr Nick Lazenby who, trying to get his farm off the Greytown road going, commented, “I’m swopping two-legged sheep for four-legged ones”. As predicted by many, he returned to the classroom.

There was heightened awareness of dangers posed in dundee and in its rural surrounds at that time by faceless “enemies”, and the dundee-Glencoe commando beefed up its numbers by officially calling up (mainly white) males into part-time uniform in “operation Buttermilk”. The commando did serve a useful purpose in that its participants felt that they were playing a positive role in safeguarding the community and by supporting the police services in protecting key assets such as electricity stations and municipal buildings, by patrolling and checking on the alertness of farms, and by undergoing readiness exercises themselves, such as training in the military thinking at that time and in the handling of firearms.

Those masters driving on the dannhauser-Glencoe-dundee routes had occasionally commando members in uniform with r1 or r5 rifles stationed front and back of their buses and teachers would “dress up” to patrol the hostels at night with firearms when “intelligence” warned of possible attacks on such vulnerable targets and to assist with road blocks (against, particularly, the movement of firearms via Swaziland from Mozambique) until as late as 1993. during some holidays they travelled in Army bakkies to check-up on rural farms even beyond Vryheid, sleeping on a police cell floor in Glückstad.

In 1988 everyone in the school was startled to hear a “bomb” explode and the sound of shattering glass. It was a full-scale practice session with an emergency evacuation of staff and pupils to the cricket fields, police dogs searching for more “bombs” through the classrooms, the school’s First Aid girls also bandaging “wounded” victims and Boy Scouts acting as able stretcher-bearers.

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paul haupt and Kevin Burge organised a debate in 1990 on behalf of the english-speakers’ NTS. dr Mike Lötter was in the chair, keeping a firm (and amused) grip on things and, probably because of his sweep of political knowledge (both national and within the department), the questions and answers flowed smoothly and without rancour. This debate had a confident spokesman for the ruling National party justifying its education policies up against the democratic party’s spokesman (and english-speaker) who had been a deputy principal in durban North. The night was enjoyable and inconclusive, the Nationalist, with the undercover “rulers” of South African politics, the Broederbond, controlling also the quite Afrikaans Biggarsberg zone and the high schools that fell within it, having a sympathetic audience.

A second debate in 1993 was more difficult to put together, in a number of ways. With the unbanning of “liberation movements” and the promise of democratic elections, there was discussion as to which of two parties would “rule” South Africa: the IFp or the ANc. Such was the ignorance of the times. In fact, the ANc was supreme in the national polls of 1994 and the IFp won power in KwaZulu-Natal. A coin was flipped to see who would invite whom to come, and paul haupt got to call the IFp in ulundi. Immediately the party promised a competent speaker – and they delivered, on the night – the future Mec for education, Faith Gasa. It took thirteen visits to the ANc offices (situated then above the present ABSA Bank in Victoria Street) to persuade the ANc comrades to bring in their representative; but when they did, he was (in every sense) a “heavyweight”, Mr Thami Mseleku, from 2001 the director-General of the national department of education.

For the attendees on debate night, no matter what their political persuasion or past convictions, it was a drawing back of the curtains in revelation of how different things were going to be. This proved challenging but necessary for those who had become used to “how it must be” in the Natal education department. When, in 1996 the 116 000-strong pupil component of the Ned was absorbed into the 1.3 million-strong KZNdec, it launched a process of enormous change and rapid rethinking of education theories, policies and practices and, despite many former Ned teachers saying, on becoming acquainted with the paradigmically different “oBe” system, “It’s how we’ve always taught”; it wasn’t; and change went on for years afterwards; and adjustments to thinking.

one of the last occasions for commando members to perform duties was on the night before South Africa’s momentous election on 27 April 1994, to guard polling stations. Weather-wise, it was a cool and long night. Those guarding out at rorke’s drift got to share the evening with the famous writer of The Washing of the Spears, about the Zulu people, 69 year-old Mr donald Morris.

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If ever there was a time to pray a prayer such as this, it was then:

God our refuge and strengthYou have bound us together in a common life:

Help us, in the midst of our conflictsTo confront one another without hatred or bitterness

To listen for your voice amid competing claimsAnd to work together with mutual forbearance and respect;

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.[1]

Mr des Krantz summed his feelings thus: “on contemplating the future, I believe that our personal lives, as well as the future of our school, are in the hands of God, who in his love and mercy protects us all. If we go forward with this belief we cannot be pessimistic, but will continue to labour so as to provide the best for our pupils, who so richly deserve it.”

one could sense political change in the early 1990s and in anticipation of (some sort of) democracy, in 1991 the government required white schools to select one of four school “Models”, A, B, c, or d, for themselves. From 1 August 1992, like 96% of all other “white” schools dundee high chose to become a “Model c” school. Kobie Brancken, the GB chairman, said that it was “a totally new game on an uneven playing field. Suddenly parents are required to play a leading role in an area where, before, we were seen only as spectators. Without much practice or preparation we are required to be experts in fields such as finance, planning, legal aspects, decision making, etc.” It was an historic step and the school moved forward with a sense of excitement to becoming a semi-private institution. The newly-elected Governing Body was faced with helping run a school with decreased funding coming in from the state yet with greatly increased autonomy. “It is true that our financial commitment will be far greater. on the other hand we will have a greater say in the management of the school and the opportunity to become meaningfully involved in our children’s education.”

Quite a few parents who could afford it sent their children to private schools in the KZN Midlands and even “government” schools in pietermaritzburg and in Bloemfontein. certainly, academic and sporting opportunities were good in such schools – at a cost – but there is a risk that in a boarding school one’s child may adapt to the “lowest common denominator” of mores in the dormitory.

Schools are expected to provide far more than the standard “3 rs” as education. The time spent in a school uniform should be usefully occupied warning young people against drug and alcohol abuse and sexual mishaps, perfecting driving skills and how to be the perfect pedestrian, about dangerous diseases such as cholera and hIV & AIdS, how to better care for the environment, how to select one’s career and where to train for it ... and these respects, the extra-curricular activities of the high School, over the years and adjusting to the political climates, have striven. Today, a lot depends on the Life orientation section of the new curriculum.

1 church of the province of Southern Africa, 1991. An Anglican prayer Book 1989. 5th ed. London: collins Liturgical Press.

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“First Aid”, for example, that was originally a girls-only activity for a couple of hours at the end of each Friday where “the emphasis is on practicality; on meeting emergency situations that are relevant to us where they hurt. More often than not, this is on the sports field – so [the First Aiders] give assistance beside the rugby, hockey and netball fields, on the athletics track and at the swimming bath. Saturday morning rugby provides more than its fair share of experience: grazes, knocks, concussions, broken arms, collarbones, fingers, a hip out of joint, bad bleeds, slices requiring stitches...” “Those who stand and wait” with bandages (and of course ice-packs) were suddenly noticed and needed when a “hero was fallen” and the referee anxiously beckoned to them with crossed arms. The First Aid training sessions also included action in the pool, learning about life-saving and resuscitation. It emphasised the importance of helping skills in real-life situations an in home safety. The sessions on how to aid a person having an epileptic fit, and the speedy help given to a standard eight boy who had gone into diabetic coma was, thanks to the dunmed doctors, able to save his life.

Just like in 1988, another “emergency” situation was acted out with the school’s help in 1992. When dundee went for a renewal of its “A-rating”, the Municipality asked for assistance – and for 53 accident victims. The Courier newspaper described the high School’s contribution, when a full-scale exercise was held in full view of the public. As ambulances and emergency vehicles, police cars and traffic vehicles wailed and hundreds of helpers scurried back and forth (would that it were so simple in real life), the team went into action... and the pupil First Aiders were a part of the valuable report-back session afterwards.

Another two activities that do not often get the recognition that they should (but are culturally so enriching) are membership of the Natal Youth choir and membership of the now-defunct Natal prestige Band. In 1992, Wouter habig (elsabé’s older son, and in 2001 a member of the SA colleges’ cricket XI), Mike collyer and Amily hsu joined the Natal Youth choir, and the German trio of Berndt Wichmann (elmarie’s son), Nico Schroeder and Andrew Jones were joined in the prestige Band by a lone Boer, Geo Steyn. The following year the Band was part of the durban Tattoo and Andrew and Nico toured with it in March to hong Kong and Taiwan. Towards the end of Andrew’s standard 9 year in 1994 he was asked to play the “Last post” at a wreath-laying ceremony at Talana Museum. A good, clear, unwavering trumpeter, he was afterwards complimented by one who should know: a brigadier who was the British Military Attaché to South Africa.

head Boy in 1994 was Lawrence Munro. his father, Kevin, taught english for twelve years at the high School and left to become principal of uelzen primary School. After a few years there he was appointed as an english Advisor (the new name for “subject inspector”) for the Amajuba district, based in Newcastle. Lawrence was always an outdoor boy, rising in the ranks of Scouting and, with his great friend, “Vlam” Myburg (no prizes for guessing the Gaelic colour of his hair!), who became a professional hunter. After school Lawrence studied Nature conservation at pretoria Technikon. Whilst serving with ezemvelo KZN Wildlife (the new name for the Natal parks Board), he conducted many Wilderness Trails, guiding hundreds of people through the game parks of Zululand.

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For some years Lawrence headed the anti-poaching unit in hluhluwe-iMfolozi park there, a life fraught with danger and death threats and confrontations with poachers. he then said: “I feel like I’m constantly at war.” he married another dundee high School scholar, Kerrin Werner. Late one day, he was checking on a water pump in the White umfolozi river and he was seized by a crocodile concealed in a mud pool. his rifle was out of his reach but he lashed at the beast with his thick boots – and it fastened on his other leg. his yells of rage brought the delicately-built (and pregnant) Kerrin running and, incredibly, she helped drag Lawrence to safety. “I knew if I ended up in the water,” he said, “I would die.” A fellow ranger heard Kerrin arranging for emergency help and he phoned ahead to richards Bay and Lawrence underwent surgery for a torn tendon and other deep lacerations in his legs. Afterwards, between work and recuperation, he not only completed a Masters degree from uKZN that investigated gaining community involvement and support for anti-poaching but he gained his private pilot’s licence. he helped set up ZAp-Wing, a small group of pilots that patrols hluhluwe-iMfolozi and neighbouring private reserves.[1]

In 2015 Lawrence and Kerrin moved with their two children to Malawi and he was appointed field operations manager for African parks for the 500 Elephants project. he became friends with prince harry, who described Lawrence as a great team-mate and “one of the best.”[2] It was in July 2017 that Lawrence experienced yet another fearful experience when an adult female black rhino charged a group of visitors he was guiding in the Liwonde National park. Lawrence and a fellow ranger, Maxwell Mulenga, stepped directly into the animal’s path, intending to divert it away from his companions; whilst Maxwell escaped unharmed but Lawrence was horrifically injured.

The rifle that he held up in front of him shattered and he was flung into the air by the rhino and he landed face down in the dirt, blood pouring out of a gash in his leg and thigh as far as his hip. An emergency compress was applied to his wound as a colleague radioed for help and he was carried to the nearest path. A helicopter was scrambled so that he could be airlifted to South Africa, but within weeks he was back at work, doing what he loves, in Malawi.

A teacher who was an inspiration to Lawrence and to many others, with his passion for nature conservation, was Johan Strydom, hod of Science. A tragedy that rattled the school occurred early in 1993 when suddenly he died. A mere 34 years of age, Johan had so much to offer. he had dedicated himself to education both inside and outside the classroom and, as has been seen, he was a driving force behind the Bird Sanctuary project. A plaque there was erected in his memory of this extraordinary and personable man who was so sorely missed by all who knew him. his quips in the staffroom that equalled the dry humour of Gavin Jones had a certain language teacher continually on his toes. Yet he was kind and, exceptionally in this modern world, he sought to uplift those around him. he was succeeded in his laboratory by another “old boy” of the school, Mr rüdiger (“rudi”) haschke.[3]

1 carnie 2017: 5.2 daily Mail: Mail online 2017.3 personal communication with Mr haschke on Friday 13 october 2017.

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At the end of 1993, three experienced educators left: Jan de Villiers, after eight years of having been the deputy principal, excited to become head of Greytown high School; Kevin Burge, who had himself been a principal in durban before coming to dundee became head of the dundee environmental education centre; and Kevin Munro, who went on to uelzen primary. And then there was a lady who had started in 1971 who retired- doreen Newman. In her quiet, methodical, efficient way organised the “admin” of the school to make it a model for other institutions. She had an extraordinary memory for obscure things, especially telephone numbers. (Scarcely wonder that two of her grandsons did so well in their working life with numbers: Brett Simpson is an actuary in cape Town and his brother cade is a well-qualified charted accountant living – at the moment – in Australia.)

doreen’s husband, Trevor, was the bane of the Municipal council as head of the ratepayers’ Association, demanding ever better service for dundee’s citizens. he was also, in his older years, a champion hurdler, holding South African veterans’ records in the 100m, 200m and 300m events. The secret of his success, he said, was “working very, very hard” in practice. Some of the high School’s athletes were fortunate to be trained by him and he made sure that they “worked very, very hard “too.

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Chapter 8 - The High School Enters “The Democratic Age

CHAPTER 8 - THE HIGH SCHOOL ENTERS “THE DEMOCRATIC AGE”

In late June 1967 a fire so fierce burned eMpathe Mountain that one observer said the hill “looked like a volcano”, it glowed so. And up with the scorching heat went what was left of the Alden Lloyd Nature reserve: hundreds of dassies[1] that had swarmed over its rocks were gone forever (and with their going, the two resident pairs of black eagles that are evident in Barry percival’s painting went), and the springbok, impala, reedbuck, zebra and even small groups of springbok that had grazed there...

eMpathe is not the same place today as it was thirty years ago; but it is beautiful in a different way. Aloes still bloom abundantly on its cliffside slopes in wintertime; the wild bottlebrush rings the top 10-15 metres of the summit; indigenous flowers carpet the lower slopes away from the black wattle and conifers that the Municipality is cutting back; increasing numbers of papierbasbome[2] are sprouting and feeding nitrogen back into the veldt; impala have come back; mountain reedbuck are occasionally seen, squealing as they high-trot away; and dundonians come more often to picnic on the summit (younger ones, unfortunately, with their spray cans to daub their names) and to admire the view...

27 April is celebrated by South Africans every year as “Freedom day”, when its first non-racial democratic elections took place in 1994. In the preceding long two years of tension-ridden negotiations between 1991 and 1992, “liberation organisations” had been unbanned, political prisoners had been released, exiles had returned and an interim new constitution had been drafted. If ever there was a time when some imagined that the country would conflagrate with political violence (and there were inter-party incidents and threats in places), it was then.

1 hyraxes, sometimes called “rock rabbits”.2 Afrikaans for “paper bark trees”, acacia sieberana.

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Yet election day took place in a peaceful and festive atmosphere. Most patriots revelled in being called (as Archbishop Tutu called South Africans) of being the “rainbow Nation” and they looked forward optimistically to a new democratic dispensation for all in the country. Approaching 25 years later, South Africa is not the same place today as it was then; but it is beautiful in a different way. There are still nagging racial sensitivities and allegations of mass corruption and underhand dealings; and some still grasp the privileges of the “colonial era”; yet friendships and cooperation in the workplace, in social gatherings and in the streets take place.

For a school such as dundee high, with its seemingly ingrained christian, Western ethos, this has been a period – even after so long – of adjustment and, slowly, growth. Many are the teachers (from different schools) who say, “Things are not you remember them to be”, implying that standards have slipped. Yet, even as South Africa escaped a “fiery furnace”, dundee high School, a typical rural school, has too; and it is a different and more colourful and interesting place to learn and to teach.

Interestingly, not a word of “Freedom day” or what it represented appears in the School Magazine of 1994; but in the 1995 magazine the headmaster writes that in facing the education demands of a new political dispensation “the staff, supported by our Governing Body, have decided to maintain the traditional academic standards of this school. Naturally this has placed enormous pressure on the teachers but their positive approach has largely succeeded in the achievement of the challenging goals set. despite the insecurity that goes hand in hand with change, the staff has excelled in their task and we are grateful to be able to look back on a successful year in the history of the school.” he concludes his remarks (in a magazine where, for example, the choir had “faces of colour” in its body of 47 members) with: “deep understanding and compassion are necessary to reach each child who is also, due to the current changes in our country, unsure about the future.” The 2017 magazine in some contrast portrays a school body that is fresh-thinking, less conforming yet respectful, and more compassionate with all individuals (both staff members and students).

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Mention was made above of rabeen Lutchman. having matriculated from the high School with six distinctions in 2000, he graduated MBchB in 2005 from uFS as Best Final Year Student in both Family Medicine and in psychiatry. After a two-year internship at Kalophong hospital near Tshwane, he is currently a multiply-qualified paediatrician in Stellenbosch in the cape. Also in rabeen’s year (and dux in 2000), was Jannie Arndt (hod hannelie’s son), who also studied towards an MBchB at uFS. during his two-year internship that he served in Bloemfontein, he was team doctor for the university’s 1st rugby XV, the “Shimlas”, and in May 2016 he qualified with a MMed specialising in orthopaedic surgery.

despite some older teachers having left in the post-democracy years, there were plenty more on the staff with experience to also take the school forward in sports and in cultural activities. It sounds so easy, to be a sports coach or the trainer for a debating team, but it’s a set of skills that takes a person years to pick up and to sharpen, often in contact with other managers’ techniques. Barrie Smith was one who came to the fore in athletics and rugby. In his first year in charge of athletics in 1994 he had some proven athletes with him, and one, Juan Badenhorst, who had won a “silver” in the 100m sprint at the Natal Schools’ championships, went on to compete in the SA Athletics championships.

Sean Topper was active in the boys’ hockey, he assisted his future wife, rita Muller, with the girls’ hockey as well, and he also coached tennis. “old faithfuls” such as Arrie Günther loved his rugby and cricket and even today he can recite the names and pedigrees of the players that passed through his hands, such as Nick Vlok who played in the Nuffield Week tournament for the SA country districts team in 1994.

Annette Wohlberg, who had guided history as a teacher, passed on critical analytical skills to the debating team. one of her former pupils, Terence corrigan (Matric in 1991) graduated summa cum laude (i.e. with an average grade of over 90% in all of his subjects) in his initial (BA) degree with three majors, one of which was German.

part of the more colourful landscape that was becoming evident at the school in 1995 were unofficial activities such as astronomy (Francois Groenewald was one of five finalists in the national “Sterre 2000” quiz run by the ATKV); badminton (Yvette Barnard was placed third in South Africa at the SA championships); Toastmasters (cordula Winkler – now a reconstructive surgeon in cape Town – won the Northern KZN round); the Natal Youth orchestra (head Boy and dux in 1999, david Browning, was first violinist); Natal Junior Fishing team (André Steyn and Morné Visser – appropriately named – were chosen to compete in various competitions); Lifesaving (ronèl Wolmarans and ronèl Botha were selected for the NN Seniors’ team and Gavin rogers and Shaun Murphy were in the Nippers squad); volleyball (Bradley robson played for Northern KZN); Typing olympiad (five girls did well but Marina human had a score of 95-100% accuracy at 42 wpm); bowls (Mrs Shirley Steedman, doyenne of the school office, became – eventually – president of the Natal country districts Bowling Association. It was her voice that, twice each day, would be broadcast throughout the school with, “pay attention for the following announcements ...”). And then there was the annual Mr and Miss dhS competitions. Ah! The “new South Africa”!

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Noteworthy in the official sports were the swimmers Justin Mellis and Tonie Joubert. At the SA Schools’ Gala, Justin broke the record for the 100m backstroke and for the 100m medley relay and, together with Tonie (as part of the NKZN team), he broke the record for the 4 x 100m freestyle relay. It was a time of individual stars in the pool, as opposed to collective brilliance, as was apparent in the ‘80s. In 2003, esthé habig, coached by her mother, elsabie, qualified to swim in the SA Junior prestige Gala as well as the SA Junior open Gala.

Soccer made a come-back as an official sport (for boys) in 1998 with Arrie Günther as coach. he continued also with his “first love”, chess, until his retirement as well as managing cricket and rugby. Springbok rugby 7s player Wayne Munn said of him, “he’s a classic!” In 2003 Arrie saw two more of his boys represent Natal Schools’ cricket: Izak van Zyl in the under-19 squad and Mfudo Khumalo (who captained the school’s junior XI) in the under-15s. In 2008, one of his best chess players, Lethu Zulu, was awarded a silver medal and placed 13th in the country at the SA Schools chess championships.

probably the finest shot dundee has produced (which is quite an achievement!) is Wolfaardt claassen. As the South African under-21, under-18 and cadet champion, he participated in the South African Large-calibre Shooting championships and thereafter he was selected to compete for the South African proteas team against shottists from Kenya, Malaysia, Zimbabwe, the uSA, Britain and an international Magpies team (invited from around the world). he won that competition with a score of 147 points out of a possible 150. As a member of a twelve-man cadet team to take part in the english cadet championships in england in July, he competed against 800 other cadets from around the world. In 1996, he was placed seventh in the competition. Wolfaardt is the third generation of his family representing South Africa in this sport. Today, he is resident in Kazakhstan helping run an Internet-based schooling programme to accelerate skills in the country.

Indeed, learners from dundee high School travel far and wide and engage in a fascinating variety of occupations. The 12 eK (named for its teacher, Miss L Klopper) of 1999 (the year in which no major computer crashes were reported, year-end) is listed here as an example of some of our scholars’ mobility:

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SURNAME NAME WHERE NOW? WHAT DOING?

Bond dean Newcastle, KZN Manager: Wimpy restaurant

Browning david Vancouver, canada General practitioner

Burge Calvin dublin, Ireland commercial Manager: Google

Burger Angelique russelton,Western Australia chartered Accountant

davey Sean douglas, Isle of Man IT: Gaming IndustryFederici Flavio London

hesom Lauren South Africa Food & Beverage Manager: Bounce

Jonker Terence Fleet, uK project Manager: dimension data

Kelbrick Nicholas pietermaritzburg McBean's Implement Co.

Khan Mohommed Newcastle Manager: Builders' Warehouse

Millar Tracey London (Married to Flavio)

Milne Iain pietermaritzburg, South Africa.

Mechanical design engineer: clifford Welding Systems

o'Grady Nicola London, uK Social Work Volunteerrawlins Jane Northern Scotland occupational Therapist

Schwellnus Theodore cape Town, Wp EntrepreneurSmith Helene durban, KZN PhotographerTalbot dean

Trichardt Nicholas centurion, Gauteng Systems Support: digidata

Walton Shannon Ballito, KZN Salesperson: International company

A new slant on an older activity was elsabé habig’s introduction of a “seepkissie-aand” [soapbox evening] for the back-and-forth of debate through the medium of Afrikaans (as a second- or third-language). In 2000, Maria Meli, Zahira Ameen, Shaheen ebrahim and rabeen Lutchman took on a Ladysmith high team. That same year claude catlett won the Stoffel Nienaber Redenaars-kompetisie, a debating contest for second- and third-language speakers sponsored by the rapportryers of Natal. For Afrikaans first-language pupils there were debating competitions such as the “e G Jansen” and the “ATKV” and in these, Allen devereux was the “guiding light’. In 2001 Trudie retief and hilda cronjé (whose father and uncle, Braam and chuffie were both at the school) won the KZN section of this prestigious competition. The theme that year? – “Aan die einde van die reënboog – ‘n pot vol vigs!” [“At the end of the rainbow - a pot of AIdS!”]

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After school, the petite hilda cronjé studied drama, musical theatre and various genres of dance at the Waterfront Theatre School from 2003 to 2006 and she appeared in children’s theatre, drama, industrial theatre and corporate theatre, in television drama and in films. But it was (the New York Times called it) “the blistering adaptation of Strindberg’s ‘Miss Julie’, Mies Julie, [that] won stellar reviews for its lead actors, hilda cronje and Bongile Mantsai.” Set on a farm in the Klein Karoo in 2012, Julie (hilda) is the daughter of the white farmer and John (Bongile) is a black labourer there, “and what happens between them on Freedom day changes their lives.”

on the spiritual side, a joint Afrikaans and english christian group calling itself Jeug vir christus/Youth for christ 2000 was formed and administered by Mrs hannelie raffenberg and it held a leadership and adventure weekend at elandslaagte. From 2001, the ever faithful (and faith-filled) Misses elza heine and heidi Jones (now, heidi Weinert) carried this group forward into the future with the generic name “dhS Youth Group” and under their leading many young people were led to a deeper “walk” with God. A visit to the dundee crisis centre, for example, showed the pupils “how God’s great love inspires ordinary people to do the extraordinary, in helping and loving needy children.” camps to Winkelspruit brought learners and teachers to “mountain high” spiritual experiences. The christian “spine” of many schools was, however, challenged in 2016 with the forbidding of overt religious bias in, especially, “government” schools.

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This was not the only change in a changing time. With shifts of priorities in schools further afield in some sports and cultural activities were perceived to be low on schools’ “priorities list.” It would appear that some schools coming to compete did not possess the grounds and facilities of institutions such as dundee high. piet Nel, the long-time athletics manager, reported frustratedly that “2000 will be remembered as a year in which little took place in the field of athletics. Since 1994, Sarel cilliers and dundee high Schools have organised the regional athletics meetings. It has become time for other schools in our region to host this important gathering. unfortunately, no school was prepared to fulfil this role so a district team has been compiled by representatives of the schools without any competition on the athletics tracks.” This presented a situation, however, of only the “Model c” schools taking part in competitions: “There is a possibility of a friendly meeting between the old traditional schools in northern Natal.”

differences occurred in addition with the recognition of yet more peripheral sports: pieter Lemmer (a second-generation dhS boy, whose father Willie is an experienced runner), Shane (now a respected medical doctor with dunmed) and deagan hillier all completed the duzi canoe Marathon; pieter also represented the SA country districts under-19 squash team and Walter du plessis the SA cd under-16 squash team; Kobus Fourie was placed fifth in the SA Junior championships in Greco-roman wrestling; and again those big Matric girls slaughtered the Grade 11 girls in the annual “Meisies Rugby” match. In 2001 Kobus Fourie securing a silver (second place) when he represented KZN at the SA championships and gained his national colours.

In 2003 Mark holliday came third at the All-Africa Games Triathlon held in Namibia. In the duzi canoe Marathon, deagan hillier partnered this time with henco Nienaber; and Jaco van Zyl was awarded his Natal colours for road cycling. Mountain biking became increasingly popular also. Martial arts have for long been an important source of fitness and discipline for many dundee young people with classes having been held in the “Junior primary” (now ethangeni) School hall and at the old Show Grounds, and Wayne Fulton represented Northern Natal in karate back in 1985. In 2001, George de Jager was an active karateka, achieving his black belt (shodan). he was selected for the SA JKA-karate team in 1996 and in 2008 Trisha rajkumar represented South Africa in a karate contest held in Scotland.

In many parts of KwaZulu-Natal ballroom and Latin-American dancing has become very popular indeed, so in 2002 it was pleasing to see dundee high’s own dance club, coached by Mrs Mcineka, performing well against “opposition” from ulundi, empangeni and even Qwa Qwa.

Two older staffers who left in 2001 were Messrs Leonard Mtshali and charles Lloyd. Leonard, an excellent, dignified, highly principled oupa [grandfather], had served the school from 1962: 39 years. his organisation of the Biology Lab would be missed. It was with deep sadness that the school learned of his death within a very short time, on 1 February 2002. his friend of many years, elza heine, organised for his widow to receive a special presentation from the staff in his memory. charles Lloyd, a deputy principal, also retired; he to his B&B at hattingspruit, “charlMari”, and, later, to live in the eastern cape.

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In 2002 the petite Mrs hannelie de Lange, the choir mistress, had this touching poem written about her by Linda Schütz:

With the voice of a nightingale, the music never sounds stale.Put a conductor’s stick in her hand, and the choir wins awards for “Best Band”.

With so much to do, and places to be, she hardly has time for a cup of tea;when the inspector came to call, she watched her son make the wickets fall!

Even though she does all this stuff, with all our hearts we still LOVE.”

headmaster des Krantz became increasingly unwell in 2002 and, at the age of 60, he decided to take early retirement from the department. his Senior deputy, Mr Jacobus Abraham (“Kobus”) Bester, stepped in to manage the school and Mr piet Nel acted as deputy principal. After some years des and helène Krantz relocated to be nearer to their children in Bloemfontein and, sadly he died on 13 January 2014.

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Moving into the new millennium and hastening to keep up with change, political, social, technological, is never easy for a school that is trying to “reach for the stars yet keep its feet on the ground.” how must teachers prepare children for the new world – which may be lived thousands of kilometres from South Africa? To what extent is conversation in a classroom “freedom of expression” – or plain backchat (or vulgar)? What are appropriate hair styles for young people today? Is facial hair permissible? Is the older type of musicals out of date for a modern school to put on? The choir – must it “sing gospel” and “Zulu songs” as well as traditional european pieces? For teachers who were Baby Boomers these were challenging times requiring wise leadership, and here Mr J A (“Kobus) Bester came to the fore.

Kobus Bester became the acting principal in May 2003 and he was confirmed in the post as from January 2004. Born at hennenman, a small town in the Free State in 1959, Kobus wrote matric at Vryheid high School and went on to Tuks to obtain a BA (ed) in 1981. Whilst there he represented its under-19 rugby team and played for the varsity’s second badminton team. he also played cricket, volley ball and squash for the well-known olienhout hostel. dundee high was his first posting, in 1982, and he was promoted to being an hod in 1989, deputy principal in 1993, and Senior deputy principal in 1994. A good teacher who “pushed” his pupils, Kobus achieved excellent results from them, and he became provincial examiner for economics hG from 1995 until 1998, then moderator for both economics hG and SG from 1999 until 2004. Now resident in the cape, he writes that “I think dhS is a school of excellence and has always performed very well on the academic, sport and cultural fields. I hope that the motto, Strenuis Ardua cedunt, will motivate the learners to always work hard, as it really will be rewarded.”[1]

The love of sport continued at this time at the high School and the School’s Governing Body (SGB). led by savvy businessman rob Burn, elected to ease the load of the teachers by employing a full-time “sport coordinator”, Juandré Bester (no relation to the headmaster). he had “a lot of experience in coaching cricket, rugby and athletics and he [was] also going to get our school gym going after it [had] been upgraded.” The passionate preoccupation of many South African schools with sports results is something that is little understood in a lot of British schools, that concentrate rather on their core function of providing the best academic atmosphere in preparing their charges for the “real world”; and they often leave anything outside the provision of a gymnasium for “pT” classes to the local clubs and even to the municipality that has its own facilities for activities such as martial arts and modern dancing.

It was pleasing to see cultural things being smiled upon more readily, and in Kobus Bester’s first year at the helm his own daughter, Nické (head Girl and dux in 2004, and now a medical practitioner), came second in KZN in the “Young communicators’ Awards Speech contest” for english second-language pupils and eleventh in South Africa in the Afrikaans Main Language olympiad. (It has sometimes been said that pupils at dundee high School have in the past had an unfair advantage, when it comes to speaking in english or in Afrikaans, because both languages are, or were, spoken so freely about the school.)

1 personal communication with Mr J A Bester: 27 November 2017.

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An english teacher in 2008, Laverne Layland, encouraged pupils to take up oratory with the words, “According to most studies, the number one fear of most people is public speaking. Number two is death! This, then, is an extreme ‘sport’ and I challenge you to conquer the fear.” Since her appointment to the school, Mrs Vemula Sewmangal (hod in charge of Languages) has become a driving force in competitions such as the rotary public Speaking, the emahlahleni english orators’ Speech contest and the Speech & drama Festival. In 2017 Vuyo Ngobese and philasande Mdletshe (a member of the school’s bowls team) came second in South Africa in the National Schools’ MooT court competition – with arguments presented before the bench of the constitutional court. They were awarded bursaries to study law by a prominent legal firm and in 2018 they will represent the country in the International competition to be held in The hague, Netherlands.

Also in 2008, a Grade 8 learner, Kobus dannhauser, came third in KZN in the World Knowledge olympiad, a competition to test the general knowledge of learners and to encourage them to expand it by reading newspapers; five pupils were selected for the Northern KZN Youth choir (of which S’ne Masondo was girls’ leader and Wandile Ntuli was the deputy leader for the boys); heidi dannhauser and Marike Lauwrens reached the KZN finals of the ATKV debating competition; the environmental quiz team at last trounced the supremos from hermannsburg high School to take the finals of the KZN WeSSA quiz and, indeed, be placed a noteworthy fourth place in South Africa; and S’ne Mbatha and S’ne Ndlovu were awarded bronze medals in the provincial Science expo and represented KZN in the national finals. And probably most importantly – because it involves a broader spectrum of students – for the fifth consecutive year dundee high School had no failures in its Matric results and it was the top-performing academic school in the district. (dundee high went on to have seven years in a row with no failures.)

2004 saw the departure of Jean Mcritchie, one of the “characters” of the high School, over the years, a person who was a good teacher and a great encourager to colleague and pupil alike. She was also, as one of her colleagues pointed out, because of her no-nonsense temperament, “A good person to politely scratch open a bee-hive”! She joined the district headquarters of the education department, working until her retirement in its examinations Section.

In 2006 learners compiled a list of some of the of their teachers’ sayings; all of which sound, with variations on the colloquialisms, like sayings of teachers at the school over the years. Some of them are: “come, come, come!”; “you’re walking on thin ice”; “punctuality won’t be on your testimonial”; “Toe, toe, darlings, come inside”; “class, I’m just going to make a phone call”; “I remember just this one time”; “I’m so proud of you!”; “don’t come back to my class unless you’ve had a haircut”; “Sarcasm? What’s sarcasm?”; “Ag pleeez, people, time is running out”; “homework is for home”; “It’s debatable”; “Spot the worry in my eye”; “Jy soek vir moeilikheid” [“You’re looking for trouble”]; “Let’s start the day on a positive note, people”; “You have to try, grade 12s, you have to try”; “Accounting is like a horse; if you don’t respect it, it will throw you off”; “When last did you get a hiding?”; “If you have a problem, come talk to me”; “O, Vader!” [oh, Father!”]; “people of the South, send it!”

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The government of the day was keen to have its vision and philosophy of education that suited its values of social change (like any government) engrained in the day-to-day schooling of every learner. The government vacillated, however, on how to achieve these end-goals and each in-coming national minister of education had his or her ideas that (imperatively) had to be carried out (but yesterday). Which led to innumerable INSeTs (in-service courses) and principals’ meetings (addressed by departmental officials who themselves were uncertain, oftentimes, of the courses to be taken) and a load of “admin” under which all teachers staggered. how many times have retired educators been told by their still-serving colleagues, “Things aren’t how they were when you were in the classroom”? New-fangled “learning areas” or subjects re-named; subjects amalgamated; and subjects peppered the new curriculum for the FeT phase and “our staff and learners had to get used to subjects like engineering Graphics and design, computer Application Technology, consumer Studies, Life Sciences, Information Technology, etc.” wrote Kobus Bester at the end of 2007. “We also introduced Mechanical Technology, which is a combination of FITT, MeTA and Motor Mechanics.”[1]

Who also would be that “tall tree that catches the most wind” (as des Krantz once said), the principal of a high school, who had to cope with not only the curricular issues, but personality challenges (of both older and younger members of his school), and administrative dilemmas (admission policies and keeping the school financially afloat and even pressing forwards? Kobus Bester was blessed to have good people on his Governing Body and such a person, who joined in 2007, was local lawyer Waldo Thöle. Waldo, a former World president of the round Table service association, is an experienced chairperson. his calm, organised manner invites matters to proceed smoothly and for the wisest decisions to be made. Just the sort that Kobus Bester needed to help take the school further into its next era.

Grade 9 camps became the norm, usually held in the drakensberg and they were valuable for learners and teachers to grow together, year by year. run in the manner of the “outward Bound” courses of old they promoted “thinking on one’s feet” and helping to develop leadership skills. The youngsters were given tasks to complete that required reasoning, cooperation and selflessness. prefects’ camps, too, became learning and bonding times (as, often, such opportunities are, moving away from “home comforts”) and occasions for focussing on the vision, roles and tasks in the year ahead.

A weekend activity that gained in popularity was hiking, organised by old scholar and current teacher, hannelie raffenberg, in the Berg and in the mountains and on veld walks closer to home. It became an annual event to enjoy a three-day walk in the drakensberg, starting at the Monk’s cowl Forestry Station and walking across to champagne castle and to those incredible Bushman paintings at Injasuti. The group carried everything they needed with them and slept in caves both nights. “The camaraderie, the fun and conversation, the swimming in ice-cold pools and rivers and the experience of raw nature was indescribable,” hannelie said. reg pearse would echo with a hearty “hear! hear!”

1 Fitting and Machining Theory, Metal Work and – you’ve guessed it! – Motor Mechanics.

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Kobus Bester was the right man for the job of keeping dundee high School steady, but on 1 June 2008 after a 26½-year stint of serving at the school he transferred to become headmaster of punt high School in Mossel Bay. A quandary presented itself, in that piet Nel, Kobus’ deputy, after 28 years’ service had moved as well, to Wembley college, an independent school situated in Greytown in the Midlands. The SGB moved wisely, appointing Mr rüdiger (“rudi”) haschke, an existing hod, as acting principal and another scientist, Mrs Shirley Smuts, as his acting deputy. other members of rudi’s management team had years’ worth of experience: Brenda davey, Allen devereux, hedwig Mulhatton, ros Schroeder and Barrie Smit.

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It was unfortunate that Mr Arrie Günther had to leave that team at the commencement of the year for health reasons. he, in fact, retired at the end of 2008, having served 31 years at the school with great pride and passion. Arrie might have had his explosive side when he felt that there was indiscipline, but he had (and has) a very soft heart for the sorrows of others. As Morgan Naicker, (laboratory assistant for 28 years) said of him, “Whenever a dark cloud was hovering over my head [and it was occasionally the requirement of a loan], Mr Günther’s friendly breath blew it away.” Arrie still plays chess and he still follows his boys on the fields of sports and he was missed by his old colleagues, Florrie (Ms elza heine), Rooimier (red Ant, Mrs Karen van Zyl), MacGyver (Mr Barrie Smit), Spyker (Nail, Mr Johan Nortjé), Wolf (Mr Allen devereux), Lillie (Mrs Lil Jones) and Raffies (Mrs hannelie raffenberg).

There were numerous other “comings and goings” on the staff in 2008 but level heads in management kept the school functioning well and normally. Amongst the “leavers” were Mr Nols reynecke, after 31 years’ teaching of commercial subjects (24 of them at dundee high and seven at “Sarel cilliers”), who “called it a day” and retired, and the english department – that in the past had had had too many available teachers – was suddenly in a fix with the departure, too, of the lovable Ms heidi Jones (an old scholar who left, after nine years’ Godly service, to be married to another old scholar, craig McMaster, a Master carpenter, in Newcastle) and Mrs Martha Mitchell (who emigrated with her old scholar husband, James, to New Zealand). Brenda davey, a pedagogue of whom the word “excellent” cannot be unwisely employed, was stretched; and she had already embarked upon her doctoral studies. In the office, too, Mrs elsie Stoltz, one of the sharp-witted (they had to be) and on-the-ball secretaries – who had seen her own children, hendrik, Marlene (head Girl in 1991), Lizel and dirk pass through the high School – also, after 21 years, departed.

In June of 2009 Mr rudi haschke was confirmed in his position as principal by the department and Shirley Smuts as his deputy, but on Friday 29 August, everyone was shaken by the sudden death of the hod for english, Mrs Brenda davey. Another “old hand” gone. Brenda had started her teaching career at Newcastle high in 1979 and when her husband, peter, moved to dundee the following year, she joined the high School’s staff. She taught english (as a second language; eNGS), became examiner and later, Moderator for the provincial Matric examinations.

As the chairman of the SGB, Waldo Thöle, reported, “despite pressures and huge amounts of stress on our educators and other staff members, they continued with their duties with minimal interruption to the activities at the school.” In addition to these crises, a national strike of civil servants was held and groups picketed outside the school gates, but inside work carried on as normal. Waldo commended the staff for its “commitment, professionalism and dedication during [such a] difficult period. “It is in such times that one recognises the professionalism in a teacher corps, and how new “heads” rise up to take on the responsibility of running a complex organism of a school.

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rudi haschke is the first old scholar of dundee high School to have ascended to the principalship. deputy head Boy in 1979, rudi is of (true) German background and speaks his home language, Afrikaans and english fluently. during his school days he, being of a sturdy build, enjoyed playing rugby “up the ranks” from under-14A (as a lock), through under-15A (also as a lock) to 1st XV (where he found his niche as a prop from standard 8 through Matric). he was an enthusiastic bass in the school choir and in the Natal Youth choir. had playing the trombone been a school activity, he would have starred (as he does in his church brass band).

Blessed with an exceptional scientific brain, it is no surprise that he was inspired at school by piet Struweg – and by the precise and thoughtful (and fellow-German) erich Landsberg; and that he should gain a BSc (majoring in physics and chemistry) and to follow it up with an hde (specialising in Mathematics and physical Sciences) at the university of Natal in pietermaritzburg. he spent 1985 and 1986 in “browns” at the Army’s Infantry School in oudtshoorn and as an ops officer[1] in South West Africa Territorial Forces in Windhoek before he klaar’d out and taught for a year in Newcastle at Ferrum high School. Then he came home in 1988 to teach hundreds of young dundonians the mysteries of science.

rudi, like Thos Viljoen, Kevin Burge, Barry percival, Gavin Jones, Nols reynecke and charles Lloyd, got up early every weekday morning to travel out to dannhauser in the little red Mazda 323 to drive the school bus routes to school, and after school back again (about five hours a day) and again over the weekends for sports trips ... to supplement their teachers’ salaries! The discussions in that car ranged far and wide from national politics (the mid- to late 80s and early ‘90s were unsettling times, not knowing which way the political pendulum would swing) to staffroom politics to comparing notes on pupils to ... (as men will, from to time) garbage!

Which cannot be said for an area where, with talented teachers, dundee high has often done well: debating and public speaking. 2010 might well have been the year for World cup Soccer fever (with memorials at the entrance to every town; some of which lasted the year); but it was a memorable year when Allen devereux’s E G Jansen Redenaarskompetisie [e G Jansen Speech competition] team of Adrien Viljoen and Jané Janse van rensburg won the KZN Finals. They brought home with them the impressive trophy, a bust of ernest George Jansen. In passing, it would have been gratifying to write that the great man, the second-last Governor-General of the union of South Africa (from 1950 to 1959), had himself come home. he was born on the farm “Strathearn” (along the Greytown road, before helpmekaar, later owned by clive Buntting) on 7 August 1881 ... but he attended school elsewhere.

Another award that graced the school was – at last – the hard-fought National WeSSA Wildlife Quiz trophy; an outstanding achievement. coached by the chairman of the Biggarsberg Branch of WeSSA, paul Garner and Graham peddie, the team of detlef Bunge, Ntobeko Xulu, Nishta Soni and Gerald Bunge trained intensively at school and, to improve the members’ skills and knowledge, at Spioenkop Natal reserve.

1 An “ops officer” is a commissioned officers helping coordinate military operations from a control centre.

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And then on Saturday and Sunday, 13 and 14 February 20, an extraordinary feat was performed by hannah Venter’s daughter, Ané. every year, since about 1984, the high School has bussed swimmers to take part in the Midmar Mile. A reasonably good time – way ahead of the thousands of other swimmers – would be between 30-35 minutes for the mile. Ané was chosen to be part of the 8-Mile club, swimming all four events on the Saturday and all four events on the Sunday. In other words, as soon as the “8-Milers” have swum a mile, they pile into bakkies and are raced around to the start to do their next mile; and so on. She completed all eight miles successfully, each one in under 32 minutes and with an average time of almost 29 minutes. That’s good swimming!

Girls’ cricket became a standard sport (but with few games), as did girls’ soccer; and “multisport”, that involves triathlon and “extreme sports” events and even some things called the “Mudman” competition, the “Bundu Bash”, the Greytown Firetower run and the Michaelis challenge made an appearance. In 2016, Anica Mostert represented KZN at under-19 level in the SA Junior Jukskei championships held in Kroonstad in the Free State and she is also a qualified judge in this “indigenous sport”.

culturally, there is a poetry club, “to develop the creative ability of learners” and Ms J. chitsulo reported in 2011 that “some did this by presenting their own poems in a group while others expressed themselves through music and rapping.” It paid to be poetic: Karabo Mlenzana was awarded r4 000 for the club by winning a competition sponsored by the endumeni Municipality.

Since Mrs chitsulu’s departure, Mrs Lindiwe Madondo has been encouraging her young poets (who are quite a force) to “showcase their God-given talents.”

The mundane “old sports” continued to flourish, and in the best traditions of dundee high School, it was in athletics where the pupils shone the brightest: Sunelle von Molendorff gained a seventh place in the SA Schools’ championships and Simoné Groenewald also gained a seventh place in the 100m hurdles for under-16 girls. In netball, Senamile Makhoba and Ntobeko Mncube were selected for the KZN Netball team. With old scholar (and Biology teacher) Mr Kyle Kelbrick coaching the 1st XV rugby from 2011, “the boys were ready for a tough season of 15 man rugby.” he also stepped into the breach, coaching Sevens rugby and 1st XI cricket. T20 cricket was an innovation that sped up and increased the enjoyment – wham! bam! – of the game throughout the province and Jonathan Benjamin was part of the KwaZulu-Natal T20 squad in 2012. Mr daniel Lippke was the right man to take boys’ soccer forward with his pushing of the boys to play intelligent football. he also, in 2015, had the teams integrated further with local South African Football Association (SAFA) structures and thus participating in local tournaments.

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Two high School girls, Nadia van Zyl and carla pretorius were sponsored by eScoM to take their Science expo entry to the international science fair in New York where they were each awarded a bronze medal. In 2014, Wandile Khumalo had the distinction of being awarded a gold medal in the “Genius olympiad” held in New York for his eScoM Science expo project. representing South Africa, he was one of 450 entrants from 40 different countries, and his achievement recognised him as being in the top 10% of the young scientists present. he said that Mrs Irene haschke had “endlessly read and corrected his work for three years”; that Mr Johan Nortjé had assisted with the design of the “unique safety device”; and Mr odendaal helped construct a model stove to test his invention. Team effort paying great dividends.

At the start of 2012 a stalwart of the management team, deputy principal Mrs Shirley Smuts transferred to teach in Vryheid. Miss emma honiball wrote of her that “Learners valued her as a passionate and dedicated teacher, always willing to go the extra mile for her learners and help them discover the fun and excitement of Science.” She was “caring, compassionate and empathetic to the problems of others, but also sought to do what was right, fair and in the best interests of the school.” Indeed, she would be missed. She had been a steenpillaar at the High School for 16 years.

Mr Allen devereux filled Shirley Smuts’ position as deputy principal from 2010, and he and rudi haschke are a complementary team, communicating readily with one another, something that promotes cohesion and progress immeasurably in the school.

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Being on a staff of varying abilities and personalities is sometimes like playing a game of rugby. The scrum toil for the ball, the scrummie heaves it out to the three-quarters, and (if all goes according to plan) the winger – the “glory boy” scores over the line. (If things do not going according to plan, the scrum comes to the rescue once more.) There are a number of teachers who faithfully perform essential tasks and encourage their colleagues and the pupils who need “bucking up”. And sometimes these teachers will receive recognition only in heaven, one day!

In a year of numerous changes in the teacher corps (always rattling to a class), four experienced educators, two of them hods, left at the end of 2013: Mrs Lil Jones, after 26 years of teaching secretarial skills; Miss elza heine, after 41 years in the Biology lab; Miss hendrina davie after seven years of Maths teaching; and Mrs hedwig Mulhatton (who was taught, at estcourt high, by reg pearse), after 24 years.

Another good player was Miss emma honiball who produced a noteworthy stage production, the Lion King. It was a show that succeeded. It was also an indication of the value of disciplined practice and the life-long skills that it can imbue. emma commented: “As auditions, call backs and rehearsals flew by, I began to realise the incredible and unique privilege I had of seeing ordinary school kids become something extraordinary on stage. I cannot even describe how intense it was to see the transformation of a script-bound cast slowly learn their lines, develop their characters, bravely expose themselves to much laughter and possible failure and then put their heart and soul into every performance. As I sat in the back row, lights dimmed, the intro music building up and watched these amazing kids bring the Lion King to life, a lump formed in my throat, goose bumps chilled my spine and my heart throbbed with the pride of a surrogate mother. each person in the cast, from the main characters to the extra waving masks and feathers in the background, to the invisible yet essential backstage crew, each person played a crucial role in making the play the huge success it was.”

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one educator in today’s dundee high School staff who also plays all over the field and who deserves a loud cheer is Mrs chantel carter, who teaches Art. It was she who designed and created the backdrops and masks for the Lion King; she who coached the Multisport team; who ran the comrades Marathon and (every year) swam the Midmar Mile; and who became a spiritual inspiration for the whole school. An old scholar herself, she is a prime example of the high School’s new “breed” of teachers.

or those who look after the always-popular, 60-strong School choir. Mrs Anèl Bruyns (who was herself at the school) has been helped by yet another old scholar, Mr John Mulhatton jnr. (hedwig’s son; a pupil from 1993 to 1997). he has the ability to play complicated pieces at the piano or keyboard ... and to look around and even conduct a conversation whilst he plays. his “day job” is “being a jack of all trades” (his words) in the office of AFT Feedlot in dundee. Mr S Sokhela, too, has introduced alternative music into the repertoire of the School choir.

As well as the standard School choir, Mrs Lindiwe Madondo coaches a Gospel choir of up to 45 members. She reported in 2016 that as some of this choir’s numbers were performed through the medium of isiZulu, “with traditional, slow and unique movements... [it] shows that music is really for the ears and one can enjoy it and feel the rhythm without having to understand the meaning.”

A nice story about another new activity in the “new millennium” is that of BMX riding that has become increasingly popular. It is promoted by former Springbok rider, Grant dekker. his BMX track has had several homes: at his house in head Smith, then on Tandy Street, adjacent to the Tennis club (where a leaking sewerage pipe put an alimentary end to that idea) and, more recently, behind the old Lions club house on excelsior road. There, they have straying cows that flatten the fences and damage the “jumps” to contend with. As for Grant, he likes nothing more than “taking kids off the streets”, giving them a BMX bike and seeing any potential. he calls their venue the “one More club” – meaning, that there will be one more kid usefully occupied. he says that “We have a group of youngsters who came down every weekend from Glencoe and then there is my group of five or six lads.” one of his lads is his own son, Justin, who represented South Africa in colombia at the 2016 BMX World championships and in the 2017 World championships held in rock hill, uSA. Justin has set his sights on representing South Africa in the 2020 olympics.

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“Standard sports” still progress well and it is delightful to see high School youngsters, exposed to competing with the best and succeeding. Jan-Frederik van Zyl has continually broken javelin records during his time at dundee high School and he achieved a fourth place in the SA championships when, as a 15 year-old, he competed in the under-17 age group. At the National Netball Tournament, Simangaye Nkwanyana was chosen as one of the top twenty players in the country. In 2017, almost 80 learners represented the umzinyathi district (or at a higher level) in the various sorts of sports offered at the school. In 2017 the head Boy, dylan Maré, represented KZN country districts’ under-19 rugby as its captain. Apart from a slew of other awards that he was handed at the Annual prize Giving, and five “subject prizes”, and he was dux runner-up. (head Girl Mercia papazaharias was dux.) dylan was also granted a full bursary to study at the university of pretoria and he is contracted to play rugby with the Blue Bulls rugby union.

In recent years, the school staff has settled down under rudi haschke and Allen devereux. As rudi rightly says, “I have been privileged to lead an excellent, well-motivated and experienced team.” on his staff in 2017, of 37 educators, no fewer than 16 were old scholars. They were blessed, too, to have enthusiastic and talented members of the community, such as long-time SGB chairman, david Jacobs, and Treasurer oscar Wichmann, helping them “behind the scenes.” At the end of 2017, ros Schroeder, an hod, took early retirement at the end of that year, after 28 years of Maths teaching.

education in dundee that started with the educators of a protest movement, the Great Trek, proceeded through British colonialism and Afrikaner nationalism, then entered the great change-phase known to South Africa, the age of democracy, has weathered opinions and wars and political turmoil; and,as has been seen in these pages that recount but some of the stories of our scholars, still dundee high School provides teaching and learning of great value for its citizens, the country and, indeed, far corners of the world.

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A HISTORY OF DUNDEE HIGH SCHOOL