Interview with Nicolas Harding – 2003
Nicolas came to St David’s in standard 6 – grade 8 . He and his brother had attended Rosebank Primary
School, originally coming from Belgium. Nicolas’s mother is French and met her Welsh husband in
Belgium. Nicolas recalls being quite apprehensive on his first day with the transition from a small coeducational
environment to a large monastic one. It was a big eye opener and a huge step up for him.
At the grade 8 camp he got to know some of the other boys including Gianluca Tucci, Danilo Giacovazzi,
Ciro De Siena, Anthony Koury, Kyle Biller and Chris Marsay. Nicolas wasn’t particularly good at sport but
enjoyed cricket and still plays at Zoo Lake in 8 a side T20, LMS cricket together with Carl Van Zyl. He
wasn’t in the 1st cricket team, didn’t enjoy rugby and played hockey instead.
Academically Nicolas did well being listed in the top ten a couple of times, was awarded academic ties and
a prize for Business Economics. He participated in the Smile programme but wasn’t involved with any
cultural extra murals.
The teachers he remembers are Mrs Nagy, Miss Nolan, Mrs Shumyn, Mr Buys, Mr Fry, Mr Smith and Mrs
Marais who helped him with Afrikaans which he found very difficult only encountering the language on his
arrival in South Africa.
Of his matric dance he has memories mainly of the after party. On his last day he remembers feeling rather
sad that he wouldn’t be seeing some of the guys again but also happy to be embarking on the next stage of
his life. He joined some of the other boys for a drink at a local pub.
After matriculating with distinction in French (his mother taught both himself and his brother) Nicolas went
on to study for a degree in Mathematics and Finance at Wits University. Six months after graduating he
was employed by Standard Bank to work on the “Calypso System”. From that he gained a good knowledge
of business and is now working on market risk mainly in Africa and has visited Swaziland, Lesotho,
Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Zambia, the DRC, Uganda, Ghana and Mauritius. He enjoys his job, the
economic rationale and involvement with other african countries.
Nicolas loves Africa and the bush visiting the Kruger Park at least once a year. He joined in the 2003
reunion weekend last year and enjoyed meeting up with some of his contemporaries but isn’t really in close
contact with anyone from his year. He is a member of MOBS and is looking forward to a tour of the school
when he returns from an overseas holiday in May.
JLE April 2014

Nigel Sloane Gr 1 1969 to matric 1980
Nigel began his school career in 1969 at St David’s in Mrs Schaafsma’s grade 1 class of 36 boys. He admits
that he was petrified of his teacher as well as the headmistress, Mrs Kempster. Other teachers who Nigel
remembers are Mrs Hildyard in standard 1, Mrs Napier in standard 2, Mrs Geddes in standard 3, Mrs
Barenbrug in standard 4 and finally Mrs Knezovich in standard 5 to complete his prep school teachers.
Nigel enjoyed his prep school years mainly because of the sport which he loved. When he was in grade 2 he
was selected to play for the U/10 cricket team. This was unheard of, a 7/8 year old playing with boys turning
10! One aspect which he did not like was when incense was used as this made him faint. He fondly
remembers Matron Buckley-Jones looking after him when he was not feeling well.
Nigel continued to enjoy his sport in the high school and in matric he was appointed captain of the 1st cricket
team. Here Nigel clashed with Br Timothy, the headmaster, as he asked if the 1st cricket team’s gear could be
blessed as was done for the 1st rugby team. Br Timothy refused. Just before the matric exams Br Timothy
would not allow Nigel to captain or play in the cricket team stating that he should be at home studying for the
exams. Br Timothy finally relented as Mrs Sloane intimated that there might be no tea provided for the match!!
Mrs Sloane as the captain’s mother was in charge of the teas.
Nigel did not enjoy high school as he was continually compared to his older brother, Christopher, who was
academically minded and achieved excellent results. Most of the staff thought that Nigel should follow in his
brother’s footsteps. This has left a lasting impression on Nigel and he is always very conscious of not
comparing the siblings he teaches.
While Mrs Sloane was very active with the catering committee, Mr Sloane sat on the PTA for a number of
years and was very involved in the design and building of the swimming pool as he was an engineer. Nigel
remembers Brs Anthony and Aquinas coming to the house for dinner.
Nigel wrote matric in 1980 and went off to the army. He returned for the prize giving in March 1981 to receive
the cricketer of the year award. Once the army was behind him he went to Rhodes where he achieved a BA
honours and teaching diploma. His first teaching post was at Redhill for one term before leaving for England
where he was head of sport at Downs School near Bristol. On his return to South Africa he decided to try the
corporate world. He worked for Woolworths for a short period but loathed the corporate life and decided to
return to teaching, his first love.
He taught at St David’s from 1994 to 1997. Here he taught Zulu, of which he knew very little, amongst a
variety of subjects. He was promoted to head of department senior primary by Mr Spence in 1996. Nigel was
introduced to his future wife Monica by Pat Milne who also taught at St David’s. Nigel and Monica left for
Uplands Prep where Nigel was deputy head for 7 years from 1998 to 2004.
Nigel then moved to Thomas More College as headmaster of the prep school from 2005 to 2008. In 2009
Nigel took up the post as prep headmaster of St Peter’s Prep with Greg Royce as the rector.
Nigel is still in contact with Brian Muller who lives in Australia and he, Monica and the children are happy living
at Pecanwood primary where Nigel is the current headmaster.
January 2011

Interview with Norman Lazarus 1944 - 1952
Norman’s parents lived in the Free State so he was sent as a boarder to St David’s in 1944 in
grade 2. Mrs Litson was his first teacher.The boarders had very little to do with the day scholars
except when they were given sandwiches which supplemented the boarding school food. When
Norman started at St David’s the war was still on and he can remember listening to the
announcement of the death of general Pienaar on the wireless with his family.
When he arrived at the school in 1944, the school was still in its infancy. The bus ran as far as
Rosebank and the school was in the ‘country’ surrounded by small holdings. The Polliack Estate
was situated to the West. South of the school the field was in two tiers and at the Northern
boundary was a farm and the rumor went around the that the lady who owned the farm would
bequeath it to the school (this was partly true as the school bought the farm at a good price in
the 1960’s).
Norman did not enjoy his school days as he likened the school to an aloe – the nearer you got
the more you were pricked. The school was run by brothers – that word usually means loving
and within a family- the brothers showed no love for the boys and were punitive in the
punishment. There were 4 dormitories- A to D. There were very strict rules – talking after lights
out and untidy lockers- were very serious offences. Prefects were in charge and they were very
cruel. They had to write home every Sunday and were allowed to listen to LM radio, to the hit
parade – he can remember Frankie Laine being at the top of the charts.
The boarders showered in the evening.There were only 2 baths.They were woken at 6am and
the Catholics went to mass. While he was at St David’s there were mostly Catholics with 2 or 3
Jewish children of which he was one. While the Catholics went to mass the non Catholics had
study period. Breakfast after mass was in the present college library where they sat at round
tables of 6. There was no shortage of food but the helpings were small and the meals were
rotated so you knew what you were having each week. Sago pudding was often served.
There were 2 breaks in the school day where they played hopscotch, marbles and bok-bok.
There was an infirmary and he enjoyed his time there when he had chicken pox as it was a very
caring place. Sport was compulsory and he played hockey, soccer, cricket and rugby – at this
stage there were no tennis courts. He played for the 1st fifteen in rugby and the team travelled
down to Durban by train to play against St Henry’s. The train journey was eventful and the boys
suffered defeat the next day after a sleepless night!
Punishment was metered out before dinner in front of the whole school. You had the whole day
to think about the impending punishment and the caning took place in front of everyone.
Norman’s experience was that the longer one was at school the less you were punished
because you became more adept. Boys were expelled for talking to girls over the fence and for
stealing fruit from the nearby orchards.
The brothers decided that the boys should learn how to dance and a dancing instructor from
Arthur Murray Studios came to school. They were taught without partners so, when in the end
girls from Parktown Convent (accompanied by the nuns) were selected to be their partners it
proved to be very unsuccessful as the boys just weren’t used to the girls and they didn’t know
what to say to each other!
The brothers took the boys to the nearest cinema on the corner of Tyrwhitt Ave and Jan Smuts.
The boys walked in a crocodile.This, however, did not last long as shopkeepers, who had fruit
displayed on the pavements, complained that there was no fruit left once the boys had walked
past!
Norman was a day scholar in his matric year (1952). He got into trouble because the bus route
ended in Dunkeld and he and another boy accepted a lift from a motorist. The brothers got to
hear of this and it was said that they had brought the school into disrepute for ‘hitch hiking’. His
merit badge was taken away but this was reinstated after the brothers asked his fellow pupils to
vote on whether his badge should be handed back to him.
Norman did not find the teachers to be caring but in some cases quite eccentric. Mr Hoare
taught the non Catholics Scripture and he was always teaching them about George Elliott. He
also made them learn the psalms off by heart. The cleverest boys were always made to sit in
the front and the less bright ones at the back.
On obtaining a first class matric, Norman studied medicine at the University of the
Witwatersrand where he joined up with his school friend Peter Leigh, son of the school doctor.
Norman left South Africa for America after Sharpville and Peter emigrated to Australia.
Interview: Monday 1 February 2010

Interview with Patrick Quarmby – 1971
Patrick joined St David’s in 1961, standard 2 and rode to school every day from Craighall Park . His first
teacher was Mrs Michael who was a lovely person and was especially kind to the new boys. Mrs Scaafsma
was also teaching at the time. There was the notorious trio of Mrs Janusch, Kempster and Kenesovitch. If
you survived them you could survive anything, they were good teachers but fierce. Patrick recalled that Mrs
Janusch had a pekinese dog as a pet and the boys had to take it for walks and on one occasion, when it
was attacked by another dog, its eyes literally popped out. Mrs Janusch used a strap to reprimand the boys
and they were terrified of her.
The brothers had a significant influence on the boys. Brother Anthony was headmaster and Br Andrew
(Drac) was a great character and passionate about sport, Br Bosco (Mario), Br Aidan – the bursar, Br
Michael, Br Sean and Br Bernard who took all the rugby photos, were on the staff. The boys used to swoon
over Mrs Heyns /Rudiger and Miss Hartmann. Other lay teachers he remembers are Mrs Pruiss, Peter
Greenaway – Maths, was a good friend to the boys, Mr Kalifi – Add Maths, Mrs Richardson and Mr Done –
Latin. Some of the teachers were not world class but Br Bosco was a very good Science teacher.
The boys used to like playing tricks on Mr Done, who was a good teacher, and would move his desk to the
edge of the teacher’s platform. When he sat down, the desk naturally fell forward. Patrick remembered an
incident when he and Mark Agar, expecting Peter Greenaway, held the classroom door closed to prevent
him coming in. Eventually they let go and to their horror, in walked “Drac” who threatened to cane the whole
class unless the offenders owned up which of course they did and suffered a severe caning.
During the period Patrick was at the school, when there were still boarders in 1970 to 1972, the sport was
very strong especially in his age group. Patrick personally played 1st team cricket for three years from the
end of standard 7 and 1st team rugby for two years.
Patrick swam in the primary and high school and, whilst he was in the primary school, the swimming team
beat KES, perhaps the team was so good as the training was tough, starting at 7am with Br Andrew
keeping the boys attention with a chain on their wet skin if they didn’t perform. Patrick also swam Transvaal
schools U14, together with Geoff Harrison and Keith Shaw.
Nassey Simaan coached rugby and encouraged the standard 5 boys to start playing before they went into
high school. They were a strong team with members such as Mark Agar, George Nichas, Ivan Bensimon,
Michael Richardson, Ross Hunter, Spiro Trupos and Ken Fraser, an American who had never played rugby
in his life but proved to be a great prop together with Kim Small. It was the best era for St David’s sport with
the rugby team only losing two games beating Jeppe and Parktown and in 1972 they lost one game against
KES. Observatory also had a very strong team in 1970 and 71 but we managed to beat them both years.
He remembered that during one match James Harrywyn gave one of the players of the opposing team a
karate chop and the boy’s mother ran onto the field and hit him with an umbrella.
During this time the school employed professional cricketers as coaches including Ken Palmer, Don Wilson
and Peter Stringer and cricket really blossomed. Patrick played U15 Nuffeld cricket, and together with Ivan
Bensimon made Transvaal schools cricket team in 1970. Johnny Williamson also made the Transvaal
schools cricket team in 1970. He recalled the Marist cricket week in standard 8 where he was selected for
SA Marist which was the last time it was held. Patrick also attended the opening of the cricket oval in 1970
and still has the programme.
Sadly Patrick only went on three sports tours whilst he was at St David’s and MOBS didn’t exist. The boys
at St David’s didn’t believe in themselves, they were very good sportsmen with a lot of talent but they never
reached the heights they should have. They only played against local competition and were rather insular.
St David’s was a small school but with the opening of the oval they were the school to beat – KES being
the biggest rival. One tour Patrick went on was to St Joseph’s, Cape Town by bus to celebrate the Marist
Brother’s Centenary.
A’s for academics were a distinctly scarce commodity unlike today, however many of the boys earned 1st
class passes for matric, 9 distinctions for the whole class and Patrick was always in the top 5.
Patrick was vice head boy and was awarded the provincial blazer in his final year and scrolls for prefect,
merit, cricket, rugby and studies.
Patrick firmly believes that a strong old boys makes a school. He is still in touch with Ivan Bensimon who
lives in Sydney and Mike Richardson living in London.
After leaving St David’s, Patrick went into the army and then onto Stellenbosch University where he studied
for a BComm. He then studied for a post graduate qualification through Unisa and Wits University. Patrick
wrote the board exams and was placed first in the exams in South Africa becoming a CA in 1979. He then
did a post graduate course at UCT and lectured there whilst doing an honours in taxation.
Patrick joined Ernst and Young and became a partner at 28 and in 1987 went overseas working for
Schroder’s Merchant Bank in London, in 1989 he started up Standard Bank in London and then Standard
Bank in Hong Kong in 1992. In 1996 he came back to South Africa and joined Dimension Data.
Patrick met his wife in Hong Kong and is the father of triplets, two boys and a girl who attended St Peter’s
and are currently at St Andrew’s and DSG in Grahamstown.
Patrick believes it would be a good idea to target a year, trace former pupils and contact them. 2016 would
be the 45th anniversary for his year. He would like to get involved but because of pressures of work could
only do so towards the end of 2014.
JE October 2013

Interview with Paul Edey 1995 – 2006
Paul Edey was appointed as college headmaster during 1994 to start in January 1995. He had
previously taught at St John’s College and King Edward VII School, where he was a viceprincipal.
The search for a new head to take over from P Davies was led by Tony Frost, head of
human resources at Lonhro,and a colleague of the chairman of the board,Terence Wilkinson.
1994 had been a difficult year for the school with the board conducting a survey which had
resulted in the headmaster, Paul Davies, stepping down. The deputy head, Gary Norton, acted
as head for eight months with Paul Davies continuing to live at Mary Knoll for 7 months and only
moving out in the December of 1994. The school was battling financially and had endured a
succession of lay headmasters in the college following the last Marist Brother, Brother Timothy
Mc Krindle ( (1967-81) South Africa was in a state of flux with the first free and democratic
elections resulting in Nelson Mandela coming to power in April 1994. The relationship between
the prep school , which was thriving and successful and the college which was battling for
numbers was poor
Paul’s biggest challenges were to win the confidence of the prep school and the parents to
encourage them to send their sons to the high school rather than local rivals St Stithians and St
John’s College. In 1995 sixty four boys were admitted into grade 8 and split into three classes.
Some of the top prep boys had been awarded scholarships to rival senior schools, but for the
first time in many years the numbers were up in the college. The school wrote the Transvaal
education department matriculation examination (TED) and the results were generally
undistinguished. There were 267 boys in the High School in 1995 with Michael von
Guilleaume,head boy and Jeremy Wickens, deputy, leading a small but very talented matric
group.
Although Anglican, Paul made doubly sure that the Catholic ethos remained and strengthened.
The numbers picked up from 1996 with a small but stable staff of 18 with some very strong
teachers such as Lesley Henning (HOD Maths), Belinda Marais (HOD Afrikaans), Richard
Girdwood (English and senior housemaster) and Rod Smith, former headmaster of Sandown
High School. We were very fortunate to have a very successful rugby team in 1995 with the side
winning 18 out of 19 matches and going on a very rewarding tour of Australia to round off the
season. Of interest was the fact that the touring squad had 5 boys in it from Jabulani Technical
High School in Soweto whose tour was paid for through the fundraising efforts of the St David’s
community. 1996 was a very weak year academically but the numbers were increasing and
things were looking up.
Rick Wilson was appointed head of the prep at the beginning of 1996. He took over from the
very successful and charismatic Greg Royce, who had left in the middle of 1995 to become
headmaster of St Peter’s Preparatory. The senior school suffered a blow at the end of 1996
when the loyal and hardworking deputy headmaster Gary Norton left to take up the headship of
Oakhill School in Knysna. Pete Geldenhuys, Andrew Brownlee, Greg Lamb and Richard
Girdwood, all four housemasters left during the course of 1996. In one year the entire college
management team apart from the head and bursar had left. Malcolm Williams, an old friend and
colleague of Paul’s from Wits and King Edward’s, was appointed as the deputy head during

1997. A number of other colleagues from the King Edward’s days joined the staff with Simon Fry
      and Stuart Foulds coming in as the heads of department of History and English respectively.
      Teresa Vroom became the librarian.
      Critically, at this time Kevin Brewer became chairman of the board and together with the school
      management team and the support of the Marist Brothers an exciting development plan was put
      together for the school. Under the leadership of Bill Carter and Gerrit Wessels of the
      architectural firm Taljaard Carter, this was to result in the complete redevelopment of the school
      over the next decade. The development plan covered a 10 year period. In 1997 the grade O
      block was built and the high school pavilion replaced the long serving zozo hut from which tea at
      sports fixtures had been served. For years the long suffering mother’s committee, under the
      extremely capable leadership of Mary von Guilleaume, had complained how the cream scones
      and cakes had gone sour in the heat of the summer. These developments were followed by 6
      new classrooms, the redevelopment of the quadrangle, the amphitheatre and the Champagnat
      hall. Two new libraries, a music school and a design and technology centre were to follow in
      quick succession when the astroturf and the new car park were developed the school was
      almost unrecognisable from its rustic appearance of the mid 1990’s. The school borrowed R12m
      with an unsecured loan from Standard Bank after Br Jude and Kevin Brewer went to see Myles
      Ruck. It has to be noted that there was some uncertainty over tenure as the land and buildings
      belonged to the Marist Brothers and all major capital projects over R500 000 had to be
      approved by Rome.
      Over the next seven years the numbers in the senior school increased to 500 and there were
      now more applicants than places. Scholarships were offered to top children which culminated in
      2001 when Garth Horsten, Kyle Wales, Jean Paulo Peirera were in the top 50 IEB matrics for
      that year. The sport showed steady improvement under the leadership of Graeme McMillan with
      cricket in particular able to compete against the top state and independent schools. Hockey was
      driven by Malcolm Williams and the school had reasonably good rugby sides. The prep was
      also very strong in athletics, soccer and swimming., this began to have important spin –offs for
      the college.
      Father Brewer died in 1999, the boys adored him, he was always on the sports field or
      backstage providing support to the boys, but he hated authority and didn’t like headmasters!
      The school was now being headed up by non-Catholics and there was a lot of talk about ethos.
      The brothers started the pilgrimage to France and Rome in order to give lay school
      administrators and teachers a feel for, and understanding, of the Marist ethos and charism.
      It was comforting to have brothers at the school as a buffer against the board which became
      increasingly secular. The school was now being run in a far more business-like manner, but it
      was essential that the Marist ethos be maintained, something which was quite difficult given its
      location in the richest business centre on the african continent.
      Kevin Brewer had had the time and energy to really set the school development plan on its way
      and at the same time to keep a close eye on the finances. He was followed as chairman by
      Tony Reilly, Eric Annegarn, and Tony Chappel. Certainly the board and PTA had some very
      strong people like the Brocco’s, Emmanuels, O’Shea, Busschau, Van Linden families and
      Trevor and Glenda Anderson played a major role. The characters on the staff were Anderson,
      Ansell, Joseph, Castle and Marais.
      Paul was made executive head (CEO) in 2002 which was motivated by Kevin Brewer. Paul had
      been head for 7 years and had started looking around elsewhere to further his career. With
      numbers around 1,100 the school had to think about where it was going next with the building
      having largely been completed. Hence the idea of a super head to deal with the CIE, brothers,
      and JOCASCO and to build up the Foundation office. In the first year of the new headship there
      was no deputy, or clarity on Paul’s role. It was a difficult period for Paul and his great friend
      Malcolm Williams, who was appointed as head of the high school as the new roles were
      established. Malcolm was studying for his Master’s in Education and initially had no deputy until
      the appointment of David Smith to the role.
      Paul seldom interfered with the prep school and only when there was flack did he get involved.
      The prep probably got limited value from the new structure. The philosophy behind the
      appointment of a non teacher in the CEO role was that Mike Greeff brought experience of
      strategic planning, HR, and financial skills with him. He was adept at handling the non- teaching
      aspects of school administration.
      The admin staff Paul recalled were the bursar Malcom Smit, the charming and efficient pair of
      June Anderson (college secretary) and Lindsay Van Heerden, head’s secretary, Genny
      Carvalho, Audrey Williams, Mary von Guilleaume, Sister Mary Ryan and Willem van der Merwe
      and his great team on the grounds George Ndlovu, Big Julius Shivambu, Thomas Ramutsindela
      and of course the long serving Phineas Selima and Julius Shibambu (Zimbabwean) who had
      worked in the brothers dining room for years, deceased who worked for the school for 45 years.
      Paul mentioned that the book written by Margeurite Poland “The Boy in You” about the history
      of St Andrew’s College sold for R450 per copy when it was published in 2008 and a limited
      edition of 100 leather bound copies sold for R5000.
      Paul is currently headmaster of St John’s College.
      JE 2016

Interview with Paul Gerrard – 1992
Paul remembered his first day as he arrived a bit late two weeks into the first term of grade 1.
He sat next to Jaffrey Tsaksani and Ryan Lamberts, his teacher was Mrs Scaafsma who used
her ruler quite liberally on the boys hands.
As it was compulsory Paul played rugby and cricket and made all the matches unless he was
show jumping which took up a lot of his time. Due to his commitment to horse riding he didn’t
make the 1st teams. He enjoyed the team sports and felt that it really helps in understanding
people and it is good to work together. The camaraderie was great but not all the boys were
accepted and Paul felt that the boys who played hockey rather than rugby missed out. The
camps were amazing and the camaraderie and hierarchy of who sat where on the bus trips.
Paul participated in cross country usually coming 2nd or 3rd but didn’t put in too much effort and
was often caned for missing a run. He was strong in the distance events in athletics, 800m and
the high jump. Through his horse riding Paul became stronger as a person and very fit.
Paul didn’t enjoy being caned but believed that it was necessary. He recalled Mr Girdwood,
English teacher who got very angry about something and smacked him very hard at the back of
his head – at the recent reunion the boys remembered that incident well.
Of his teachers he remembered Lesley Henning an excellent Maths teacher who converted him
from average to being good in the subject. Finlayson was the cricket and rugby coach and Grant
Webster, Biology, had a bat called “Justice” which he wielded once if you admitted not doing
your homework and twice if you lied. There was a small, cheeky, Muslim boy called Mohammed
Ahmed who Webster grabbed by the ankles and held over the railings on the top floor.
He recalled being kicked out of a matric prize giving held at the pool. Together with some other
boys and girls that were around he was messing about creating a noise, a teacher came and
found them and told them to leave.
In the prep most of his best friends were black but in high school groups formed, and the black
pupils usually had their own group. The fact that the school was non-racial changed Paul’s
attitude. His uncle, Francis Gerrard and aunt were activists and in the late 70’s visited Mandela
in prison and Mbeki in exile. Paul’s friends who went to government schools had an entirely
different, prejudiced attitude to blacks. Paul was one of a group of boys who visited Alex
township taking food and clothing collected at St David’s.
Boys he remembers, the naughty crowd, are Garth Ramsay, a cattle farmer in the Midlands who
was a rebel rouser, Bobby French, Andreas Zanella, Jason Harmsen, Justin van Linden, Jason
Hallett’90 and Peter Batisch. From 1993 there were Andrew Harris, Andrew Botha and
Lawrence Azar.
There were initiation rituals where the younger boys had to blow up condoms and other silly
things, nothing too serious but good for one’s development. Paul, together with 3 other boys
opted out of becoming a prefect by walking out of a meeting.
At the recent reunion it was noticeable how many of the “cool guys” attended coming from the
UK and Cape Town but a number currently living in Johannesburg did not make the effort.
After matriculating, Paul studied through Unisa and Midrand Campus for a BComm Honours
which he completed in 5 years. In his final year of honours he was working as a property broker
letting industrial space south of Johannesburg. However interest rates climbed to 20 – 25% and
he lost out on a major deal which prompted his decision to go overseas .He had spent some
time coaching cricket at St David’s and played cricket after leaving school. He spent some time
mainly in the UK, France and the US as a professional ski bum and cricket coach and worked
for a season in the UK as a cricketer .The time away gave him a new perspective on life. He
had many jobs one as a security guard for various shows and events, ending up together with
his wife in the computer industry in the UK. Then in 2003 Flanagan & Gerrard asked him to join
them in South Africa. The company is involved in commercial property development specialising
in shopping centres. They organise christmas carols every year supporting various schools in
Rustenburg, children’s and old age homes.
Paul’s eldest son attends Redhill School as St David’s would not accommodate Adrian in grade
0.
Paul’s father Peter donated a cricket scholarship to the school in 2008.
JLE January 2013

Interview with Paul Saunders -Staff 1973-75
When Paul began teaching at St David’s, Br Anthony was the Headmaster but left in 1974 to go
to Slough and Br Timothy took over in 1975. The school was much smaller with about 200 boys
in the high school with mainly brothers teaching in addition to 6 to 7 lay teachers. Paul and his
wife Hester had just married and moved into Lowndes Gate close to the school and later moved
to Woodmead Manor, Rivonia. Paul taught Afrikaans and coached U13 cricket and the 5th rugby
team.
Some lay teachers he remembers were Billy Karoo now in the USA, Mrs Elliott and Ron Hughes
who both taught English, and Mrs Wheelan. They were a small group and bonded well. The
teaching periods were much longer but very well run and hands on. The boys were scared of
the brothers but Paul found them easy to work with. Br Anthony had an irritating habit of walking
up and down the corridors. He could not be seen through the windows which hung at 22
degrees and would stand out of sight and listen to the teachers, checking up on them.
In his first year the lay teachers originally had their lunch together with the brothers in the dining
room but then moved into what is now the copying room and the lunches became a little more
frugal, sandwiches and soup which didn’t please many of the staff. The chapel was upstairs and
used by the brothers. The tuck shop was where the Music centre is now and was run by the
parents.
Some of the brothers he recalls were Br Bosco, Br Bernard, Br Andrew (Drac) who taught
Maths, Br Aidan, the bursar and Br Anthony. Br Anthony had a couple of canes in his office but
punishment was only given in class, corporal punishment was the norm.
The matric dance was held in the boarder’s dining room with a pirate theme. The club house is
now the home of the CEO, the oval is in the same location and Pete Stringer, the cricket coach
used to rule the roost there. The prep playing field was the cricket pitch for all teams other than
the 1st team
Whilst Paul was recently substituting at the school he was using the same classroom he had
when he was full time at the school. He recalled that he had a very old wooden chair which one
day eventually collapsed in front of the whole class with him in it. The boys were so well
behaved they didn’t laugh until he told them they could.
There was a big ceremony when the auditorium was inaugurated. Most functions were held in
what is now the CEO’s home. There were many well known families with children at the school
– Lebos, Kourie, Daras, Zent, Allem, Marnewick, Walfords, Peel, Brian Macmillan was in the
cricket team and in those days the boys played Nuffield cricket. Paul remembered Mr Manolios,
the prep headmaster although he didn’t deal with him directly.
Paul eventually left to teach at Damelin and later taught Science and Biology to matric. Damelin
was eventually taken over by Educor.
Paul said that Marist Brothers brings back a great nostalgia, it was a special place. Paul enjoyed
his time at St David’s and found the boys to be extremely well behaved both in and out of the
classroom.
Photos that could be included – standard 9 and one with Br Bosco (Mario) and the honours
boys and U13 cricket team.
JLE February 2013

Interview with Peter de Kock – 1967
Peter joined St David’s in 1962, standard 6 as a boarder. On his first day he remembered
meeting many other standard 6 boys from outlying areas and Johannesburg. The boys were
all sent to St David’s because there was no English medium available in the Afrikaans high
schools. For most of them it was their first time away from home, so it was quite a challenge
with the brothers taking care of them. In those days they didn’t have cell phones and they
were not allowed to use a telephone, very different from today.
He enjoyed being a boarder as they shared more comrade ship and school spirit, learning to
share and take responsibility for their own actions. There were more sporting activities which
meant more discipline but they had little family life. The day boys however had more of a
family life with their brothers and sisters and a better social life.
Teachers who made a lasting impression on Peter were Br Anthony,(Aunches) the boys
were all scared of him but he ruled the school with an iron fist, which made it a great school.
Peter now believes that Br Anthony could have been the MD of a big international company
and would have been very successful. Others were Br Andrew (Dracula) who was also very
tough but actually fair. Br Bosco and the other brothers left both good and bad impressions.
He remembered an occasion at rugby practise when Br Bosco let the boys tackle him, Peter
did so head first onto his leg and he couldn’t walk for a week. The least noteworthy brother
but a nice guy, in the first year of standard 7 read comic books in class, with the result that
half the class failed that year.
Peter enjoyed the sport playing in most teams but never made any first team. He also
enjoyed school affairs and school activities but unfortunately academics was not one of his
strong points. He was put in charge of the games room in standard 8 and when he became a
monitor in standard 9, the brothers asked him who he recommended to take over his duties,
he recommended Willy Castle!
The great sporting event that stands out in his memory was his first rugby game against
Jeppe, when his team lost 60 something Nil, with most of his group having never played
rugby before. They then, later won games against KES and Parktown which made up for it.
Another event was the 100th anniversary of the Marist Brothers in South Africa.
Things that Peter didn’t enjoy, was the feeling of being “dropped” at boarding school. Being
stuck at school as a boarder, he was an enthusiastic member of the cycling club as they
could get out at times although it became a comfort to get back to school. Uncomfortable
moments were such as the first time he saw a brother pull his cane out of his cassock, like a
sword and then go into chapel.A significant memory was that of being chosen as the first
non-catholic head boy of the school.
Of his last day at St David’s he recalls that they had an “end of matric” party, ending up at
the Balalaika Hotel and being chased away by a Zulu guard with a whip and big earrings.
Then there was a farewell in the courtyard and they all went their separate ways which was
rather sad. Peter had many friends at school but unfortunately his closest friends seemed to
have moved on to other schools and he was a bit of a loner, however he does remember
that most of his classmates had their own characters and they haven’t changed much apart
from the colour or lack of hair. A few of them Peter Moni, Derrick Schoombie, Kevin Hussey
and Rohan Erleigh meet for drinks at Molly Malone’s in Fourways every now and then. He
also meets up with others at the MOBS functions.
On Matriculating, Peter attended Farm technical course, Bloemfontein technical college.
Acquired an Agricultural Diploma from Potchefstroom Agricultural College then participated
in a foreign exchange programme at the University of Minnesota, St Paul USA for 3 years.
He married an American, returned to South Africa for 3 years farming in Heilbron. He then
emigrated to Minnesota and farmed and worked for 7 years in Luverne returning to South
Africa in 1983 where he met and married Suzette, then farmed in Heilbron for 11 years
moving to Fourways in 1994 and since then owns and runs a guesthouse in Glenferness,
“The Rooster’s Nest bed and breakfast”.
Peter has 4 children, a daughter in the USA,with businesses in Minneapolis and West Palm
Beach and a son who is a teacher in Sasolburg with one grandchild, a daughter who is his
PA and a son who is an entrepreneur. Peter’s wife is a teacher at St Peter’s Prep Boys
School.
Peter’s son Johnathan didn’t attend St David’s as, living in Kyalami it wasn’t practical
because of the traffic and he went to St Stithians. Peter last visited St David’s last year and
he usually attends the MOBS AGM and some sporting events when he can.
JLE July 2013

Interview with Peter Gerard – 1966
Peter Gerard joined Marist Inanda in 1955 and his brother Francis in 1952 The school was then
quite small and didn’t have the reputation it has today, with a mixed bag of pupils from all walks
of life.
Peter and his family lived at 58 First Avenue, Inanda on the boundary of the school, Rudd Road
was then a dirt road and was only tarred up to where the Toyota garage now stands in the late
50’s.
Peter was a rebel, a non-conformist and didn’t get along too well with Br Anthony who wanted
all the boys to conform and recalled Peter Tuffen who won a Maths olympiad and was a
favourite of Br Anthony. However Br Andrew tolerated his lack of conformity and also that of
Roger Phillimore and Olof Winkler.
He remembers teachers such as the young Heather Joseph who was a favourite with the boys
with her beehive hairdo. Mrs Brick who taught there in the 40’s and 50’s; Mrs Scaafsma used
her ruler to rap knuckles; Br Andrew used cuts with the cane to discipline the boys, during a
Science lesson something blew up into Br Mario’s face. There was one incident where a brother
was teaching and turned to write on the board and one of the boys threw a dart at his back,
needless to say they were all caned. An older pupil, Roy Hutton was a phenomenal swimmer
but rather conceited and became the target for some of the boys with pellet guns. Once again
they were severely reprimanded. The discipline was hard but the boys coped with it and were
generally outspoken and not intimidated when they did not agree with the brothers.
In matric 20 boys, including Peter were arrested and landed up in jail due to a
misunderstanding. They had been walking from the Kelvin Grove Hotel in Rosebank where a
bust up had occurred. The police thought they had been involved and arrested them.
Fortunately one of the boys Jannie Steyn, spoke Afrikaans and managed to convince the police
that they were innocent.
Peter recalled a controversy over the sale of the land where the Inandas now stand. Initially, the
owner of the farm “Three Trees” didn’t want to sell to Catholics but eventually his widow sold the
land to the school in 1963. In the late 1970’s The brothers apparently missed out on another
possible land purchase as Tony and Peter Wilson owned the land from the bottom playing fields
as far as the Inanda Club and would have been willing to sell it to the school. Possibly the
finances were a bit tight at this time.
Peter and some of the other boys planted all the grass on the fields during Br Anthony’s Maths
lessons.
Peter was expelled during his second last year because of an incident at a 1st team rugby
match. Roland Walker or Br Anthony was exhorting the boys to shout “Come on St David’s” and
Peter shouted “Come on Marist Brothers Inanda” which didn’t go down too well as did his retort
to Roland Walker. In order to be reinstated,he had to apologise to Br Edwin who was the
Brother Provincial residing at Obs, Br Anthony and the head of the PTA, Mr Roland Walker
before he was allowed back at school. Ironically Peter ended up working for him when he was
offered a job by Alastair Barclay and was introduced to a senior partner – Roland Walker! He
recalled that he achieved honours in studies, swimming, athletics and rugby and that Br
Anthony did not particularly enjoy presenting him with his honours blazer.
Peter enjoyed the sport and played 1st team rugby, 2nd team cricket, tennis in the prep together
with Jannie Steyn and Terry Rosenberg. Willy Castle was 2 – 3 years behind him.
Peter thoroughly enjoyed his years at St David’s in spite of his rebelliousness. There were 48
boys in his matric year and between 4 and 500 pupils at the school. In 2006 there was a 40 year
reunion at the Michelangelo and 35 of the old boys got together many travelling from various
countries around the world. He recalled Charlie Platt, who had always been quite large
commenting on the fact that Gilroy who was always rather slim was now rather “fat”!
After matriculating Peter went on to Wits University where he studied for a BComm for four
years and then went into the property business although initially he was hoping for a career in
merchant banking. He is now involved in shopping centre development and investment.
Peter’s son Paul attended St David’s and his wife became very involved running the tuckshop
for 10 years. Peter donated a cricket scholarship to the school in 2008.
JLE January 2013

Interview – Peter Habberton – Staff 1975 - 80
Peter grew up in Benoni, son of an Anglican minister who was forced to leave South Africa in

1967. As a consequence, Peter finished his schooling and university education in England
      returning to South Africa in 1974. As a member of the Wanderers cricket club at the time he
      learnt that Peter Stringer the current St David’s cricket coach was leaving. He went to see
      Brother Timothy and was subsequently employed as cricket coach and P.E. teacher in
      October 1975.
      Br Timothy gave Peter and his new wife Jackie 3 rooms upstairs overlooking the cricket fields
      in what is now the CEO’s house. Their daughter was born there in 1978. Peter had a dog
      called Shane who went with him everywhere and tracked down his son, aged 2 when he once
      went missing walking out through the school grounds to a nearby shopping centre.
      Peter taught Physical Education from the prep through to the high school having a PE degree
      from the UK. He then started to teach English and became part of the school’s management
      team together with Trudy Elliott, the then head of English. Peter coached the 1st team cricket
      and 1st team rugby and was in charge of athletics. Later on Peter started the Art department
      also painting the scenery and sets for the annual matric dance.
      There were still many brothers teaching including Br Timothy, Br Mario, Br Bernard, a keen
      photographer and artist, Br Aidan the bursar. Br Jude was the Brother Provincial. Br Anthony
      was no longer around but popped in occasionally. Other teachers were Ken Lipschitz, Maths;
      Tom Macfadden, History; John Vahey, Geography ; Heather Joseph taught in the prep school
      together with Willy Castle and Terry O’Mahoney both of whom joined as students whilst
      studying at JCE. Willy eventually took over the prep soccer. Terrry O’Mahoney, coming from a
      strong Marist family was a fellow student who went on to St John’s. In 1980 Peter Swanson
      was the assistant coach for rugby. Mrs Gilroy, Br Timothy’s secretary, ruled the roost in the
      admin block.
      In those days the school had fewer pupils and not many resources but managed to climb up to
      the A league and become competitive especially in the Catholic schools league. Peter
      remembered an occasion when Walter Cronje was victim of a dirty player on the Observatory
      side. The player had been sent off, was allowed to return to the field again and immediately
      homed in on Walter tackling him and rupturing his spleen in the process.
      The land was sold off where the Inandas now stand but it was believed that the money was
      used not only for St David’s but other Marist schools. However, there was a good spirit in the
      school with a very supportive parent community. There were on average 27 boys in a class
      and Br Timothy was a firm but understanding headmaster.
      Some of the boys he remembers are Mike Peel, a brilliant cricketer now living in the Nelspruit
      area who is now an environmental scientist. He was the first of Peter’s charges to get into the
      Transvaal Nuffield cricket team. Sasha Martinengo who now presents motor racing on Super
      Sport was in the prep school in those days
      JE October 2012

Interview with Peter Moni – 1967
Peter came to St David’s as a boarder in grade 1 having spent the year before at CBC Kimberly
where he learnt a lot although CBC didn’t have the same facilities as St David’s. Peter thought
that the boarding school structure was good for him. His brothers Adrian ’69, John’ 70 and Paul
’80 were all pupils at St David’s and Peter’s father was also a Marist old boy from Koch Street
and was head boy of Marist Observatory.
Peter remembers teachers such as Mrs Brick, Mrs Green, Mrs Janusch and Mrs Kempster.
Peter enjoyed the prep school coming from a large family and enjoyed playing soccer and swam
but didn’t play cricket. He remembers having supper in the dining room and also playing
volleyball there.
In the high school, Peter participated in athletics, swimming and rugby, playing in 45 1st team
rugby games from standard 8. Peter enjoyed the tours such as the centenary rugby tour to
Cape Town where an open air mass was held at St Joseph’s. The rugby matches against
Observatory were also a phenomenal experience and Peter also ran and swam against Obs
although Inanda was better at cricket and hockey than was Observatory. In those days Jeppe,
Parktown Boys and Observatory were the big rugby schools.
In high school he remembered the Brothers Anthony; Timothy; Andrew (Drac); Liam; Ignatius;
Augustus; Bonaventure; Edmund; Bartholemew; Sean; Vincent; Aidan and McGurk. Br Andrew
was in charge of Peter’s dormitory. Of his classmates, Joe Strevino became a good cricketer,
and he is still in touch with Gabriel Simaan, Terry Lavery, now living in Seattle, Derek
Schoombie and Peter De Kock.
After matric Peter went into the family business, Fatti’s and Moni’s dealing with industrial
relations until it was sold in 1981. He now runs his own tour operations business – Firelight
Tours and often deals with groups of American students from Furman University, South
Carolina who come to South Africa to study aids and the inter-relationships between white and
black people. He enjoys his work and the different aspects of it.
Peter’s son John matriculated from St David’s in 2009 and is currently studying for a BSc Hons
in Finance at UJ. Peter believes that the quality of education at St David’s has improved
enormously over the years.
JLE February 2013

Interview with Peter Scott- 1970
Peter came to St David’s in 1969 as a day boy having moved up from Durban where he had
attended Northlands Boys’ High and had been streamed to study Maths.
Peter had an interview with Br Anthony who made a place for him. Peter’s father was employed
by Barclays Bank as was Angus Band’s father and Peter spent a week’s holiday with Angus
before starting at Marist Inanda. It was quite a change coming from a government school into a
private one, he was no longer just a number, everyone knew you and Peter enjoyed the
friendship and the smaller classes; for Biology there only 8 of them in a class.
Peter recalled that Br Anthony was a wonderful man whom he respected, he was strict but fair.
He had a saying that all roads lead to Damelin and as a form of discipline every time a boy
committed a misdemeanour he would first add their name to a transfer card. Next would come
the address and so on until the card was complete and the boy was then out of St David’s.
Br Timothy taught Biology in a didactic manner; Br Bosco (Mario) Science, he was a great
teacher who gave classes after school for the more advanced pupils. Br Patrick – English; Br
Andrew (Drac) who was very strict; Br Michael – Maths and Mr Kalifi, an electrical engineer
turned teacher who taught Maths and Applied Maths. Lex Fernhead was the Biology teacher in
standard 9 and taught the boys as if they were at university level. He gained a Phd, ran the
Durban aquarium and then started the Two Oceans in Cape Town.
Fellow pupils were Kevin McPherson who became an architect, was very good at drawing
caricatures and drew one of Br Mario on the blackboard. Peter Elliot, Alec Chemaly (both
cyclists); Keith Shaw who was head boy, now living in Cape Town and involved in tv work
having done an excellent series for the BBC on Mandela. Kim Small, a good ruby player is now
farming in KwaZulu Natal. Peter often works together with another MOB, Greg Boyes-Varley
and Francis Gibbons and he were best man at each other’s wedding and still keep in touch
today.
Peter wore his hair as long as he could, the maximum allowed, which led Br Anthony to
comment at a prize giving – “grow it, you might lose it one day!” In those days the prize giving
was held under the trees on the south side of the school.
Socially the boys would meet up with the girls from Rosebank Convent and Parktown Convent
with the girls coming to the rugby matches. There was also a coffee club on Friday nights at the
Rosebank Catholic church for teenagers aged 14 to 16 with dancing and socialising but no
alcohol. Peter got quite involved with this and used to organise the music until he was in his
second year at university.
On the sporting front Peter was a runner together with John Williams, his best being the 400m,
however Willy Castle was a better runner. He was a member of the 5th team rugby in standard 9
and in the 3rd team in matric. There was a good spirit and Peter enjoyed the rugby, playing
against CBC Boksburg and CBC Springs which was quite a journey taking two or more hours in
the school buses. Peter remembered a controversial match against St John’s, where everyone
believed that the referee was biased and the Marist boys chased the St John’s team up to the
bell tower. St David’s didn’t play against St John’s for a number of years after that incident.
Peter was also a student officer in the cadets. The drill team came second in the
championships. Mrs Moni organised all the uniforms and the boys had to travel standing up so
as not to crease them before the competition.
Peter recalled a weekend in Henley on Klip for school leavers prior to their matric study week.
They were allowed to drink beer and John Moni was rather bleary eyed on the bus trip home.
There was a three week marine biology trip to Chidenguele, Mozambique where the boys had
an amazing time.
Peter participated in the “Business Game” with his team doing well coming second that year
when Michaelhouse won. Other members of the team Kevin Ryan and Richard Collier went to
do well in business.
The matric dance had the theme of Venice and was catered by Fattis and Monis with the after
party held at John Moni’s home.
Academically, Peter did well and achieved 3 distinctions for his JMB matric. He walked away
with all the prizes with the exception of Afrikaans.
After matriculating Peter went to Wits university to study Medicine, delaying his stint in the army
when he did his two years military service as a doctor on the Angolan border and in mission
hospitals in Natal. He studied Medicine and a BSc Hons in Bio Chemistry simultaneously,
graduating in 1978 doing his housemanship at the Johannesburg hospital. He lectured in
Anatomy for a year with Philip Tobias then started his career and did 6 months as a senior
house officer in plastic surgery and then specialised in general surgery and plastic surgery up
until 1986 when he graduated from the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh. He then
underwent 2 years as a consultant at the Johannesburg hospital and began his own private
practice in 1988. He is still heavily involved with teaching and is on the executive committee of
the Association of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons of South Africa and is a member of the
world body of plastic surgeons which involves a lot of travelling and teaching.
On a personal level he is interested in archaeology as a result of his friendship with Philip
Tobias and is a keen cyclist. Peter is married with three children, two daughters and a son who
went to St John’s – his wife, who is a teacher chose the schools and Peter selected the doctors!
One of his daughters is likely to follow him into the field of Medicine.
JLE April 2013

Interview with Peter Stringer – 1966 – 74 - staff cricket coach
Peter played professional cricket for Yorkshire and was brought out to South Africa by the Wanderer’s club
who paid for his airfare and he had free accommodation at St David’s. He travelled here by sea on the
Union Castle line. The first stop was Southampton to Las Palmas and Cape Town, then with the “Blue
Train” to Johannesburg. The return fare was R480 then when the Rand was two to one Pound. He coached
from September until the end of March each year until he moved to SA permanently in 1971.
Br Anthony was the headmaster and Br Andrew, who was Spanish, was in charge of the grounds and had
never even seen cricket played until he came to South Africa. Br Timothy was on the staff and Br Bosco.
Willy Castle was a pupil at the time. When Peter first arrived at the school, the dining room was full of about
16 brothers but by the time he left there were only about 4. A young brother came out and had never seen
cricket played before. After watching a practice one day he asked that the stumps be left and grabbed a
ball, kept on trying to bowl and then run after the ball. After about 10 minutes of this activity he brought the
stumps back declaring that this was a tough game!
Willem Van der Merwe was working at the school then and Peter remembers him seeing some renovations
of Rosebank where paving was being ripped up and replaced. He enquired where it was going and how
much they were paying for dumping it and arranged for it to be “dumped” at St David’s where he used
them. Willem also converted the dormitories into classrooms after the boarding closed and saved the
school a significant amount of money when he built the swimming pool stands.
Peter recalled a cocktail party at the school to welcome the new headmaster, Mr Murphy who claimed to
have played rugby for Lancashire. Peter used a facility next to the Lancashire rugby grounds and knew
many of the players and found it interesting that when Murphy heard this he quickly moved away and didn’t
wish to chat to him any further.
The initial fields were where the prep school playing fields are now. Lee McGregor who became a
Springbok swimmer was a pupil at the school. His father owned an earthmoving equipment company and
when the school purchased the Love farm, he purchased two old bulldozers which he serviced and, under
his supervision, were used to create the cricket oval. Peter recalled that Br Anthony asked how big the
Wanderer’s cricket oval was and made sure that St David’s was bigger. Wanderers enjoyed playing on the
St David’s oval.
At the opening of the oval in 1970 a professional cricket team was put together and played against the
school team. As it was so dry and Br Anthony being a perfectionist, he organised that the pitch was painted
green for the opening. The day was overcast and rain threatened but after the Bishop blessed the oval, the
sun came out and a wonderful day was had by all. Dicken Bird, the famous umpire was a member of the
professional team.
Peter saw the ghost rumoured to haunt the Love farmhouse. Peter was sleeping in the house before
leaving early for the Kruger Park with Don Wilson and Barry Leadbeater. He woke up sensing someone
was in the room, sat up and saw an old lady who just faded away. Chris Clifford who coached cricket and
taught Maths slept in the same room with his wife one night and she woke up screaming claiming someone
was in the room but she didn’t see the ghost.
Peter was Wanderers cricket coach for 42 years. He was also the convener for SA universities cricket and
coached the likes of Hansie Cronje, Jonty Rhodes and Andrew Hudson. At Wanderers he also coached
Brian Macmillan, who went on to play for South Africa. On another occasion he was asked by the MD of
Whitbread if he would coach the Wits university team 2 days a week in exchange for a few free beers.
Peter remembers a large beer truck drawing up at the school with 30 dozen beers. Needless to say a
certain amount of partying was done and Br Anthony and Br Andrew also joined in.
The cricket at St David’s was good in Peter’s day and he remembers bowling St Stithians out for 17.
Harry Curtis was the fast bowler but had to play in tackies as he couldn’t get cricket shoes to fit him, size

15. Peter had some shoes made for him in Northampton, England and remembers paying R7 for them.
    John Peel, Terry Lavery, Chris Stanle, Glyn O’Leary, Peter Moni, Patrick Quarmby Frank Cattich, Greg
    Boys Varley, Mike Stanley and Alan Reeves were some of the school’s cricketers. Peter coached Alan’s
    son.
    Peter remembered the Marist cricket week. Joe Stravino was selected for Transvaal, became captain and
    was vice captain for the A side Nuffield cricket. Mike Smith who came from an Italian family was also a
    keen cricketer.
    Peter started the rugby in the primary school and coached the Peel brothers for 3 years. The team played
    U13, U14 and U15’s and they didn’t lose a game until grade 6.
    Peter often looked after the boarders and played indoor soccer with them in the old tuckshop.
    When Peter first came to St David’s, it was considered really far out, there was no Sandton and Rivonia
    was a village. The chapel was upstairs and the swimming pool was where the after care is now. Piet the
    school cook was the “Boss” who ran the school kitchen. He used to take the pumpkin and butternuts seeds
    and send them down to his family in Natal. He was a big man and if he lost his temper all the staff scattered
    and ran out of the kitchen.
    Peter finally left St David’s because he clashed with Br Timothy the then headmaster, swimming and rugby
    were his sports. Peter went on to King David’s, Victory Park for 20 years and has been coach at Trinity
    College for the past 12 years. He left SA in 1980 after his mother died and opened up a butcher’s shop with
    his brother which is where he met his wife Maureen and they married in 1985.
    Ronnie Carr was also a cricket coach at St David’s for a number of years. He owned a butcher’s shop in
    Darrenwood but got tired of it and asked Peter to help him become a coach.
    JLE October 2013

Peter Wharton-Hood – 1983
In 1977 Peter came from Clifton Preparatory, Durban to St David’s into standard 4 as Peter’s father had
been transferred by Liberty Life to Johannesburg. Peter would never forget his first day being interviewed
by George Manolios and his impression of the school was of a pristine, big and beautiful place.
His first teachers included Mrs Kenesovitch; Heather Joseph who all the boys were in love with and of
course Willy Castle. Peter did well academically winning many subject prizes in the prep.
Other pupils he was friendly with at the time were Andrew Forsmann; Mark Forsmann; Mark Attieh; Garth
Ritchie; Duncan Senior and teachers in the high school were Mr Walsh who taught Maths; Tom
MacFadden a brilliant History teacher, there were 12 in his class and 10 got A’s in matric; Mr P Colia –
Maths; Mr Boswell – Afrikaans; Gavin Neft the Afrikaans teacher who had a great swing when hitting the
boys and Sven Retslaf.
Brother Anthony was around for a while in 1982 and Br Timothy (Tin Man) was headmaster until 1981.The
changes in the leadership of the school from 1982 with first Mr Murphy, then Mr Freilick as headmaster
created chaos in the school with Peter’s class became fragmented being in the epicentre.
The sport was brilliant and Peter was fortunate to play in the Transvaal schools cricket side and was
captain of the 1st XI in 1983. Peter also played 1st team rugby in 1982 and 1983 and was a member of the
Debating team in 1983, led by Mrs Trudie Elliot. Peter also went with a group of boys to assist at the
squatter camp in Slough, Kuruman which was run by Br Anthony.
Peter recalls many memorable school tours, among them the junior school cricket tour to the Eastern Cape
and the rugby tour to St Charles, Durban. He was a member of the provincial cricket team in the prep,
played in the Coca Cola week and Beckwith week with the U15’s but missed Nuffield.
Peter was awarded colours for cricket and rugby and received 6 A’s with distinction in matric. He was also
elected deputy head boy. Peter believes that he owes a huge debt to St David’s and couldn’t have had a
better start in life, it’s what shaped him as a person giving him a balanced , religious upbringing with a
strong academic base accompanied by the discipline to play sport as well. The school was ideally suited
to Peter and the times that the country was going through. Peter feels strongly that he was blessed to have
had the chance to attend such a school. St David’s also enabled him to discern the right choice of career
having undergone an aptitude test in standard 9, he was initially thinking of becoming a doctor or an
actuary but the test came out strongly in favour of accountancy.
It was a tough school to grow up in and getting caned was part of the deal. Some of the boys used to put
notches in their ties every time they were caned, a bit of a status symbol. There were many funny moments
but Peter won’t mention them in order to protect the guilty parties!
Peter believes that he was assisted through scholarships in some shape or form whilst he was at St David’s
and feels he repaid his debt by lecturing at Wits on a part-time basis from 1989 until 1999 and is currently a
trustee on the Chartered Accountants’ Eden Trust.
After matriculating, Peter went to Wits University to write a BComm then Hons, followed by a CTA and CA
(SA). He completed his articles with Price Waterhouse then, in 1987 he went to Harvard as part of the
advanced management programme. He then became the Edcon group financial executor and in 1997
moved on to Standard Bank as financial director of the Standard Corporate and Merchant Banking division
of Standard Bank and ended up as the group deputy chief executive and chief operating officer of the
Standard Bank Group and a member of the board of directors of Liberty Life and the Standard Bank Group.
In 2013 he was appointed chief executive of Deutsche Bank SA.
Peter was involved with corporate outreach activities through Standard Bank which was the biggest single
contributor to a broad based BBE company Tutuwa and Deutsche Bank is involved with the SA Foundation.
Peter is a member of MOBS, last visited the school in 2003 for the fireworks, is married to Sarah and has
two daughters, Emily born 1999 and Beatrice 2003. Had he had sons they would most certainly have
attended St David’s.
Peter is keen to become more involved with the school, business commitments allowing.
JE October 2014

Interview with Phineas Selima – 14 June 2010
Phineas started work at St David’s whilst he was still at school, his brother worked in
Balmoral and moved to St David’s in 1958 to do temporary work and Phineas joined him.
Initially he worked as a gardener, cutting grass etc. He didn’t stay on the property but lived in
Alexandra. He had been brought up by his grandparents and uncles as his father had died
and his mother was disabled. Brother Anthony was the school headmaster at the time. In
1962, Phineas matriculated and also became a permanent member of staff, cleaning
classrooms and assisting Brother Aidan
Brother Paul signed his ID in 1960 and Brother Leonard in 1961. He was obliged to pay £1
per year in tax from which he was exempted once he was at St David’s.
When he started working at St David’s in 1958, the current library was the hall and the
kitchen was much bigger. The boarders were accommodated upstairs in what is now the
senior prep.
The heating was by coal, the kitchen had a large oven and a cook called Julius. The present
committee room was the brothers’ dining room.
Teaching was undertaken mainly by the brothers with just a few female teachers who helped
out. Mrs Kempster was in charge of the primary school and left at the end of 1974, as did
Brother Anthony. Mrs Schaafsma then took over. Phineas also remembers Mrs Kenesovitch
and Buchan.
When he worked with Brother Aidan, everything was done manually. Each boy had a card
on which Brother Aidan typed all the details, envelopes were addressed to each parent and
receipts were written out by hand. Phineas used the roneo Gestetner machine, everything
was done by hand and put onto stencils, and then Phineas would roll them off, exam papers
from the lower grades through to matric. The current photocopying room was Father’s dining
room and Brother Mario was responsible for all the photocopying in the early days. Where
the bursar’s department and Laureen Schafer and Diane Clark’s offices are, were formerly
the brother’s dining room where Phineas often helped out as a waiter. He also helped out
with washing dishes in the kitchen, laundry dispatch and receipt.
Phineas was happy working and earning some money of his own with his wife living in Louis
Trichardt. His first born in 1968 was a girl and in 1967- 68 he used to go from St David’s to
Park station then on to Zone 8 Meadowlands and then home. He fathered 7 children, 3 girls
and 4 boys; the second born son was sadly killed in a car accident.
Phineas remembered some of the brothers, Br Andrew (Dracula), Br Timothy, head after Br
Anthony with Br Aidan staying the longest until the 80’s, none of the other brothers stayed
that long.
Phineas recalled Mr Murphy leaving and Br Anthony returning and Willy Castle left and went
to St Stithians for 3 terms. Mr Davies was a good but strict headmaster.
Phineas said that Willy Castle was a naughty boy, fighting other boys, hasn’t changed
much!!!!
Phineas is retiring after 57 years but will miss all the staff as everyone is so kind and the
school has been like home to him. He will be involved with family back home with selling
fruit, vegetables and groceries with which his wife is already busy and his brother doing the
gardening. His children all passed matric – the first born is a nurse and has 3 children, the
second child had a diploma in marketing and died whilst working for Denel. The third went to
Univ. Pretoria and acquired a degree in investment science, then honours and masters and
is now working for SARS. She is married with 2 children and her husband is an electrician.
The fourth has a diploma in tourism but couldn’t find a job and worked at SARS, the fifth is
also working at SARS finishing a BCom through Unisa. The sixth daughter is studying
electrical engineering and the seventh is at Tswane University doing graphic design.
Phineas and his wife encouraged them all to write matric.
As a child in grade 1, Phineas had a slate and chalks, with no shoes going barefoot to
school. He had to work to get some money to get into form 1 and went to Lemana College
near Elim Hospital, Louis Trichardt. The Elim Hospital was owned by a Swiss mission, he
found a Swiss teacher who let him stay with him to do form 1 and eventually went through to
form 5 and then St David’s where he finished his matric. He applied for the Univ. Of the
North but had no money for further education, which is the reason why he was so
determined that his children should be better educated. He started to live on the property at
St David’s as soon as he started working and was registered there and shared a room, going
home every month. In the 1990’s Paul Edey began to upgrade the rooms so that their wives
could come and stay with them.
In 2004, Mike Forder wrote a letter to Enoch and Phineas telling them that they had to retire
and then changed his mind so Phineas finally had to retire in 2010.
Phineas was not keen on Murphy. Davies he got on with the most because of his philosophy
of getting the job done. The bursars were always good to him and the photocopying
machines were always changing, he thought Minolta was the best.
Phineas worked t St David’s for over half a century!
JLE 2010

Interview with Rakesh Parbhoo – 1994
Rakesh first came to St David’s in 1986 in standard 2 and barely remembers his first day but
does remember the third day. He had originally moved up from St Henry’s in Durban to join the
standard 1 class however, on the third day he was asked by the teacher to step out of class and
follow her. Then she and the principal Paul Davies told him that he was going to be moved to
standard 2 and to pack up his belongings. At the time he didn’t realise the impact that this would
have on his life. That same day he met his friend Michael in Mrs Hurley’s standard 2 class when
he asked to borrow a pen. He had only had pencils up until that time as that’s all that was
allowed in standard 1.
He really enjoyed his time at the school especially the friends he had and probably didn’t realise
it at the time but now looks back with fond memories of most of the aspects of school life. The
teachers, houses,sports events, plays etc.
The teachers who he remembers are Willy Castle who he hated in junior school but had
unbelievable admiration for him and much he has done for the school. Something he felt one
only noticed in hindsight was the respect and modelling he instilled in the boys. Mrs Hurley
standard 2, Mr Howard the History teacher who brought out a passion for the subject in Rakesh.
He cannot remember his name but his English teacher was a brilliant man.
The aspects he least enjoyed were the times when he felt he didn’t fit in and wasn’t part of the
”in crowd,. But there was nothing remarkable about that. Rakesh hated cross country and any
form of running although he does it as a hobby today! He recalled knocking himself unconscious
by running into the rugby posts on a training lap, not paying attention. Rakesh was in the 2nd
hockey team but although he played sports he wasn’t the most talented person on a field.
He recalls having a half broken voice and doing a solo in the school play which was one of the
most nerve wracking experiences at the time and yet it probably gave him the confidence he
never had to speak in front of a crowd. There were many aspects of day to day school life,
family events and sports days that all blend into a blurred memory. He mostly tried to stay out of
trouble but remembers the worst moments being hauled in front of a house master or the
headmaster as being things he dreaded.
Friends he made and with whom he is still in touch are Michael Wickins, godfather to his
children and Rakesh to his and best men at each other’s weddings. Simon who joined in
standard 6 is till a good friend.
The last day after the last exam he remembers the boys went ballistic around the school,
causing a bit of havoc and writing messages on friends’ shirts.
After matriculating, Rakesh studied for a BComm. at Wits University majoring in Insurance and
risk management and information systems and is currently working as executive for emerging
markets at Dimension Data and is responsible for Dimension Data’s 16 operations outside
South Africa and the Middle East.
Rakesh last visited the school three or four years ago. He is on the MOBS mailing list. He does
not have sons at St David’s.
JLE June 2013

Interview with Raymond John – 1977
Raymond first came to St David’s in the early 1960’s as he had strong ties with the school
being the second youngest of 6 brothers and currently has a son Marco John in grade11. His
brothers were Jimmy (1964); Michel (1972); Costa (1973); Yango (1974); and Marcel (1978).
Raymond joined St David’s as a day boy in 1967, grade 2, the first year the grades were
introduced, he had attended Rosebank Convent for grade 1.
It was not unfamiliar territory for Raymond as had always been involved with his brothers
watching Rugby against KES and other schools. He remembered the bright red buses that
used to bring the KES boys, whole school to support at such big matches.
The teachers he recalls are Mrs Marsay grade 2, Mrs Elliott Std 1, Mrs Napier Std 2; Mrs
Geddes Std 3; Miss Cougan Std 4 and Mrs Kensovitch in Std 5 – she was very strict but
included a spiritual aspect in all that she taught and had a big influence on Raymond’s
spiritual upbringing. Of the Brothers there was Br Ronald, Br Bernard who taught Latin, Br
Mario, Br Aidan and of course Br Anthony.
Raymond enjoyed the sport and played cricket, rugby, soccer and participated in athletics
and played A team cricket until matric when he played a few games for the 1sts and was
captain of the 2nds. In 1970 the cricket oval was opened and top overseas cricketers were
there. He remembers bowling to Geoff Boycott who stayed at the school for a while. Don
Wilson who became the coach for the MCC and Peter Stringer who is the cricket coach at
Trinity College. Raymond was also captain of 2nd team rugby.
He recalled that the matches against Observatory were very intense and competitive
whether it was rugby or water polo and that in 1971 Obs boys came and defaced the school
with spray paint.
Raymond’s house “The Bishops” always came last in inter-house competitions but they
always won the Spirit Cup.
On the cultural side, Raymond was a member of the debating team and in the semi-final of
the Kobe Cup. He also played a role in “Hamlet” fencing with Marc John.
He recalled that St David’s in 1975 was the first school in South Africa to admit black pupils.
The apartheid government was establishing relations with other African countries and had to
accommodate the Malawian ambassador’s children as they couldn’t do that in the public
schools.
Something else that stands out in Raymond’s memory was that of Desmond Tutu coming to
the school and addressing the boys.
There were no camps as we know them today but Raymond remembered an outing to the
planetarium and a rugby camp in Std 9 when he was injured.
Raymond felt that, at the time, the school didn’t pay enough attention to academics and that
the prep school wasn’t as good as it should have been. However he remembered that Br
Ezekial was a really outstanding Maths teacher.
In 1972 the boarding facility, the back bone of the school closed which had a huge impact.
Many boys, sons of ambassadors, those from outlying areas of South Africa had to find other
boarding schools to accommodate them.
Raymond was awarded an honours blazer and had scrolls for studies, merit and debating of
which he was very proud. Raymond was the top student in grade 7 and also in his matric
year.
His last day was a half day and a bit of a letdown. He then went into the army for 2 years to
do his national service it was the first year that the 2 year commitment started. Originally
Raymond wanted to study medicine but after his army service studied instead for a BComm.
at Wits University. He then worked at the JSE eventually ending up at Investec for 17 years
and now runs his own business.
Raymond’s late father was very involved with the school raising funds to buy extra land. The
brothers presented the school with the Costa John Memorial Trophy in his memory, for
excellence in swimming, academics and athletics.
Raymond is currently on the board of governors for the Lebanese Catholic School in the
south of Johannesburg which has now opened up to grade 2. He is also a trustee of the
Opus Securitatus which administers the priest’s pension fund. He is also a member of
MOBS. He was also fortunate to visit Br Anthony at Nazareth House before he died. He
remembered fondly that Br Anthony was the guest speaker at his brother Jimmy’s 21st
birthday celebration.
JLE June 2013

Interview with Reg Titcombe – 1954
Reg came to St David’s in 1952 as a boarder. He attended Marist Brothers from grade 1 through to matric.
Firstly to Koch Street for 8 years until standard 6, then Observatory for a year.
He recalls being very impressed with his new school and enjoyed being a boarder as it was safe, he made
a lot of friends in pleasant surroundings with regulated study periods although he did miss home cooking,
the friends he grew up with and the freedom to do as he pleased.
He thought the teachers were great and he made some good friends. All the brothers who taught him were
very good teachers and he remembers them all, just not their names! The names he did recall in no special
order were Vidal, Phillip, Aquinas, Benedict, Ephrem, Bartholomew, Celestine and Edwin. Phillip a New
Zealander was a great influence in his life. He was inspirational teaching him how to organise his notes and
how to study. Celestine taught him Latin, which in turn taught him how to analyze problems. Br Ephrem
taught him Physics and Chemistry with great passion. These were the men who equipped him for the two
career paths he followed in his working years......Chemistry and Business.
About 10 days before the end of his matric year, Reg gave four of his classmates crew cuts for half-acrown
each. He needed the money, and they needed to look good the school dance was just around the
corner. Br Edwin walked into class, took one look at the four standouts, and screamed, “who did this?”. Reg
immediately put up his hand thinking he wanted to compliment him. He didn’t, he grabbed him by the scruff
of his neck, yanked him outside and thrashed him so many times, Reg eventually lost count. He also gated
Reg for the remainder of the school year. The incident was neither funny or amusing at the time, for Reg
anyway, but over the next few days, when everyone in the school was talking about it, he was able to see
the amusing side of the incident and he did not really want to go to the school dance and hockey pick up..
Reag played cricket, rugby, tennis, soccer and hockey. He was not particularly good at rugby or cricket but
did play U15A rugby and 2nd team cricket. He was very good at hockey and played for Natal University, but
hockey in 1954 was not a team sport at St David’s.
The only four boys he has seen since leaving St David’s were Jake de Lancey, David Reeves, Jimmy
Walker and John Livingstone. He has had n news of his other classmates but he did know that Ronnie
Columbic was a mercenary in the Congo, and was killed there in 1955. Jacques Kerwyn de Meeandre
committed suicide in the Belgian Congo in 1955, and he had heard but could not confirm, that Billy Hapker
fell off a tram and was killed in Brussels in 1955. John Livingstone who he saw in 1974 before he departed
for New York passed away a couple of years ago.
Thanks to the dedicated and unselfish brothers he was able to obtain, with ease, a BSc in Chemistry and
Geology and a BSC (Hons) in Chemistry from Natal University in Durban; and, after being transferred from
Cape Town to New York by Caltex in 1974, he went on to obtain an MBA from the University of Connecticut
in Stamford. Reg had an interesting and successful working life, thanks in large measure to the teachings
of three gifted brothers to whom he will always be grateful. He retired in 1999, and spent the last 5 years of
his working career based in Mexico City as vice president of business development, Fina Mexicana, S.A de
C.V. a subsidiary of Dallas, Texas based Petrofina Oil & Chemical Company, now Total Petrochemicals in
Houston, Texas. He and his wife Lynn now live at Lakewood Ranch just east of Sarasota, Florida.
Reg’s eldest son Michael was only 5 years old when he was transferred to New York in 1974 and his
youngest son Matthew was born in Stamford, Connecticut in 1978.
His two sons Michael and Matthew are attorneys in San Diego, California. Michael is a retired Commander
in the US Navy. He did four tours of duty to the Gulf. He and his wife Lisa had a little girl Rachel in 2000.
Mattehw is still a batchelor.
The last time he visited St David’s, was in 1985 or thereabouts, on a business\pleasure trip to South Africa.
He stopped off in Randburg for a dinner meeting with some executives from Sasol. The next day on his
way to the airport and had the cab driver drop him off at St David’s and he visited with Br Ephrem for an
hour or so. He really enjoyed seeing Br Ephrem again and the school looked very much as he had
remembered it.
JE September 2013

Interview with Richard Hartdegen – 1961
Richard came to St David’s as a boarder in standard 2 in the July. He had previously attended a
boarding school in Natal, Kings College, Nottingham Road in a group of only 32 children. His
mother had died in the early 50’s and his father worked for the Chamber of Mines in
Johannesburg. His sister visited St David’s coming to mass and met Brother Edwin and after
that it was decided that Richard should be a boarder there..
Of his teachers he remembers Mrs Batten, a tough Afrikaans teacher who took no nonsense
and much to the boys amusement lived on the property at Tara. Mrs Kempster taught him in
standard 4. She was well known for her pupils getting the most prizes each year. From standard
6 the brothers such as Bonaventurte and Timothy taught the boys. One of the brothers was
obsessed with wasting water and used to time the length of time the boys were in the shower.
Richard recalled that absolutely everyone had to play rugby unless they were unfit to play. The
school began to play open rugby with the matrics but couldn’t beat Observatory. In 1958, the
best rugby team of that time nearly beat Jeppe at a home game 9-8 but it was in 1959 that the
St David’s rugby team were the first to beat Observatory at Obs 8-6. In 1960 the team lost again
but redeemed themselves once more in 1961. Darko Vidas “The Bull” was a member of the
rugby team and once on a rainy day during a session of weight lifting in the dining room, strolled
in and coolly lifted some weights with total ease just to show how it should be done.
Richard didn’t play cricket or swim but he did take part in athletics. There were twins, the
McGurks one of whom was a good bowler and the other a good batsman which used to
thoroughly confuse the opposing teams. There was great competition to assist with the cricket
scoring at the Bric scoreboard on the weekends as the boys would then be invited to the lunch
which was always rather good. The food generally wasn’t too bad.
Richard recalled that, in standard 7 or 8 all the boarders crowded into the swimming pool area.
One of the boys upended a load of phosphorous into the pool from the diving board. There was
the most amazing bang and everyone scarpered. On another occasion a few boys were playing
with magnesium in the Science lab, there was a loud bang which was heard by Br Anthony who
was at the pool. He took off in a rush to see if anyone was injured and was not impressed.
Money was disappearing from the tuck shop and the culprit was eventually caught when, during
his return climb over the roof, down a drainpipe and into the tuckshop, he slipped and fell putting
his leg through a glass window.
Every morning all the Catholic boys went to mass and the non-Catholic’s went to study. Priests
came from Rosebank, one of whom was quick with the mass and the other slow which meant
that the boys used to miss out on the morning coffee and rusks.
Richard was head of the debating society. In standard 9 all the Marist schools wrote the same
exams country wide. Richard came 3rd in Maths and 3rd overall. Many of the St David’s boys
received medals and Richard still has his.
Richard thought it was an excellent idea that Brother Anthony took the view that if the boys were
doing well in their matric year they did not have to attend classes in the subjects in which they
excelled but could rather work alone in the study room. They still had to write the weekly and
termly exams and the teachers also had to agree to this. One of these boys, Hawkins was very
good at Maths, became a statistician and eventually was appointed to a professorship in the
US.
Dudley Mandy was the head boy, Emil Iglauer the deputy. In his matric year Dudley announced
that he wanted to become a priest and halfway through the year was sent to Pietermaritzburg,
however after he matriculated he changed his mind and eventually went to work for Gary Player
at his stables.
Richard did well in his matric year was a prefect, was awarded an honours blazer the Brother
Edwin Bursary and achieved 4 distinctions in the JMB Matric..
Richard studied at Wits University and is now a dermatologist and Mohs surgeon specialising in
of the treatment skin cancer. He has two sons who went to Redhill and Bryanston as he and his
wife decided that a co-ed education would be more suitable for their sons as they didn’t have a
daughter.
Richard keeps in touch with Dennis Adams but does not have any contact with any other of his
contemporaries. Richard would be very interested in the 75th anniversary in 2016.
JLE February 2013

Interview with Richard Kelly – 2004
Richard has good memories of his time at St David’s and the ethics and good manners taught.
There was a huge bond between the boys in their matric year. He wasn’t an academic, an
average student and was quite lazy. He played rugby until the opens, B team soccer and would
have preferred to play soccer, and backed out when he was not allowed to play unless he
attended rugby practise, as rugby was compulsory. He remembers Graeme McMillan hauling
him off the field for Gauteng trials, as he hadn’t attended rugby training. He was a member of
the choir in primary school but dropped out in the high school as it was rather frowned upon in
those days and virtually non-existent.
He remembers the East London soccer tour when he was in the prep school. They went by train
and stayed a week with Willy Castle. Mr Spencer punished the boys by making them eat a raw
onion.
He went from the prep to the high school with a break of one year in standard 6 when he left
and went to Sandown High but returned to St David’s in standard 7. On his first day in high
school he met new boys with whom he is still in contact – Nick Rasenti (Espresso), Chris
Phillips now in the US, Scot Grant, Matt Rose, David Schneider, Ricky Forleo whose father
owns a restaurant in Parkview. Jean Mark Du Casse is operations manager for Primi Piatti in
Cape Town, Johnathan Meyer and Chris Smith (who is now in London) went to the International
Hotel School. Craig Roman – head prefect runs an environmentally friendly company called
“Bugs Away”.
Richard coached soccer at St David’s working together with Willy Castle.
The last day at school was the best day of his life and it seems like a lifetime ago running into
different classes. Paul Edey became the executive head. He received the Eiletsen Trophy for
Computer Science which was a joke as there were only two boys doing the subject. He loved
Champagnat day with the soccer, inter-house athletics and thought the Guy Fawkes functions
were great. He participated in the first Shavathon at Nedcor and the first one held at St David’s.
He was involved with SMILE and really enjoyed that. He used to help out at the SPCA when he
was in the prep school. The prefects used to rule the high school but that hierarchy all fell away
by the time he got to matric
He remembers the Formula 1 event held in Sandton City, when he and some other boys ducked
and went in Richard’s car, with Malcolm Williams in hot pursuit.
Many of the teachers were fantastic – Julie Roman, Belinda Marais, Janet Skeen, Coleen
Kennedy, Sylvia Crichton, and of course Willy Castle. Father Brewer was amazing, kind hearted
and helpful.
Greg Royce, was a very good head of the prep school, always approachable and helpful.
His worst memories were any form of public speaking with Teresa Voorendyck, he hated cross
country.
When he left school he took a gap year and did some waitering, he then went on to study at the
Hotel School and graduated from there. He did his prac.at Full Stop Café and from junior
manager was promoted to senior manager. He is in the process of buying the restaurant and
paying it off. He is absolutely passionate about the job.
Richard enquired whether there was any preferential treatment for sons of old boys regarding
their admittance to the school.
JE September 2011

Interview with Robert Berti - 1976
Rob was originally a pupil at Observatory having emigrated from Italy with his family in August 1972 at the
age of 14. He was initially a boarder in standard 6 but, when the family was more established and had a
home in Bryanston, he and his brother came to St David’s as day boys, Rob into standard 7 and his brother
into standard 6 . Rob believes that he learnt a lot of English whilst in boarding 24\7 with boys from many
other countries such as the Congo, Zambia and Angola.
Rob recalls that Brother Anthony was the headmaster until he left in 1975 and Brother Timothy “Tin Man”
took over. Br Anthony was a legend and when he snapped his fingers you jumped!
Rob’s first impression of St David’s was that he felt quite comfortable and didn’t have to struggle. However,
it was not easy dealing with a new language but after about 6 months Rob says he began to think in
English. He studied Italian in standard 7, 8 and 9 but gave it up in matric although he did write it as one of
his subjects.
Rob participated in sport playing rugby, athletics and tennis. He had never played rugby before but the
coach put him in the back line telling him he would learn quickly. Rob was quick on his feet which was an
advantage.
Athletics was his main love the 100m, 200m, 100m Hurdles and 400m relay. Those were the days when
athletics was big with the inter-catholic schools and against schools such as Parktown Boys, KES and St
Stithians. Rob really enjoyed athletics and remembers a time when hundreds of boys were competing at
the Wanderers in a stadium that no longer exists. Athletics was compulsory when it came to inter-house
competition.
Rob played rugby 2nd team and was promoted to the 1st team in standard 8. He was awarded an honours
blazer for tennis. He has memories of playing in the U15 rugby team against St Stithians when a boy from
the opposing team kicked him in the face and concussed him. He came around swearing, and then only
realised that Br Anthony was standing over him. Br Anthony told him to “take it easy”. On another occasion
he was running the 400m against KES, a very competitive school. He was neck and neck with a boy from
KES who broke just before the finishing line with Rob then in first place. It was a highlight in Rob’s athletic
career. A similar thing happened during the 100m hurdles in an inter-Catholic athletics meeting when a boy
from CBC hit the last hurdle giving Rob the lead. Another major event was that In Rob’s matric year St
David’s beat KES’s water polo team.
Academically Rob never really struggled and was awarded colours for academics. Biology was his best
subject which he believes he owes to Mr Carew who had a different teaching approach and got the best out
of the boys. Rob just got pipped for the Biology prize. Rob auditioned for “The Merchant of Venice” and
remembers Mrs Eliott just laughing,he was not included in the play.
There were no camps in those days but Bill Carew organised trips with about 12 boys to Naboomspruit
when they would go into the bush. Teachers he remembers well are Bill Carew, Mr Lipschitz – Maths, and
Mr Maritz – Geography who used to wear steel tips on his shoes and didn’t take any nonsense from
anyone; Br Mario – Science, a nice guy; Mrs Elliott – English, who was a legend in her own right with a
broad Scottish accent like Br Anthony.
Rob was also awarded colours for merit and was a member of College house.
After matriculating Rob went to Wits University to study engineering. He survived one year before being
kicked out. He then went on to the Technicon where worked for his Higher National Diploma in
Engineering. He felt that the tech was more hands on in its approach with a wide syllabus and proved to be
more practical. He has been in engineering for the past 30 years and is involved with the family business,
his father having bought the business in 1976 and Rob joined in 1983. He wasn’t required to do army
service as he was an Italian citizen but he did volunteer for the air force and was a police reservist for 10
years.
Rob has had 3 sons educated at St David’s, Nicolas (2005) and Michael (2007) with the last, Matthew
writing his matric this year. He also has nephews in Grade 0 and 00 and hopes his family will continue to be
connected with St David’s in the future. He is a member of MOBS and attends most of the rugby matches
including the recent notable math against St John’s when the boys asked him to please contribute with his
usual bellows!
JLE September 2014

Interview with Robbie Crawford-Brunt – Grade 2 – Standard 2 1945
Robbie was only at Marist Brothers for three years and left at the end of standard 2. He started school in
1943 and completed grade 1 and 2 in one year.
Tony Sonnenveldt was in his class whose family were Robbie’s neighbours. Robbie’s parents built a house
on the corner of Main (now Rivonia Road) and Empire Place, Sandhurst a block away from today’s
Sandton City. In those days it was out in the sticks on the edge of a housing development. The
Sonnenveldts lived opposite in Empire Place and Tony sometimes rode to school on a horse. Gallos of the
record company lived opposite in Main Road.
Robbie still has all his school reports as well as receipts for school fees. He also has some exam papers
from that period and a copy of a proposal to establish a Marist old boys club.
Robbie was happy and contented at Marist Brothers and doesn’t recall any bad times or unpleasant
experiences.
JLE June 2013

Interview with Rod McLay – 1975
Rod came to St David’s from Marist Brothers in Bird Street, Port Elizabeth in 1966. His mother was a
teacher at the school and his brother Hamish matriculated in 1972. The family was not Catholic and his
father was a Scottish Protestant. Rod appreciates the fact that the religion of catholicism was not pushed
onto the non-Catholics and they didn’t have to attend mass.
He remembers Brothers Mario; Timothy; Andrew (Drac); Michael; Bernard who was a good photographer
but had a mean temper; Aidan, the bursar and Ezekiel who taught Maths. Of the lay teachers he recalled
Mr Lipschitz who taught Maths; Saunders – Afrikaans, Mrs Elliott – English; Mr Maritz and Mrs Kempster.
Rod played 1st team rugby and cricket in the high school and was captain of the athletics team. As far as
academics went he didn’t cover himself in glory and went on after matric to Damelin to repeat Maths and he
enjoyed his time there.
In those days there were only 24 of them in matric including the likes of Grant Ramsey (who was accused
of tax fraud in later years); the Melton twins; Kevin Prudence a biochemist now living in Guernsey; Mark
Meaker; Frank Soul who was a sportsman, placed third in Ironman and became a Springbok cyclist in the
80’s; John Morrison a chemical engineer; Kevin McGurk whose father was big in the printing industry and
head boy was Andre Dugas.
Rod was awarded an honours blazer, scrolls for athletics; rugby; merit became a prefect and was vicecaptain
of Osmond house.
After matriculating, Rod went into the army then to University of the Witwatersrand. He then became a
helicopter pilot in the air force, then the police and now flies for SA Express and is a police reservist.
Rod is married to Janine and has a son Matthew who is currently in grade2.
JLE June 2015

Interview with Ronnie van’t Hof 1969
Ronnie spent 12 years at St David’s, starting in grade 1 in 1958. He was a day boarder and only
boarded for a short time whilst his parents were overseas and hated it. He lived in Inanda and
cycled to school every day. Br Benedict was headmaster and Br Anthony a teacher at the
school when he started. Br Anthony was transferred to Walmer in 1959 and returned as
headmaster in 1960.
His first day at school was difficult to say the least as he didn’t speak any English, Dutch being
his home language. He was befriended by Glynn O’Leary and Victor Hamilton (now living in
Texas) and he is still in contact with them. In standard 3 he experienced a really hard time as he
was a left hander using a fountain pen was difficult as he had to push rather then pull the pen,
causing far too many ink splashes which messed up his work much to the displeasure of Mrs
Janusch.
Mrs Brick was his first teacher and he remembers she used to smack all the boys with a ruler. In
grade 2, Mrs Brophy, standard 1, Mrs Legatt, standard 2 Mrs Clay, standard 3 , Mrs Janusch
who was a tyrant and used a strap nicknamed “Oom Jaapie”, standard 4 Mrs Kempster,
standard 5, Mrs Kenesovitch.
In high school he remembered Br Bosco (Br Mario) Science, Br Patrick English, Br Michael
Maths, Br Andrew (Drac) who was also a tyrant, so much so that no-one ever fell asleep in his
class!
Academically he did very well in the prep school but his performance petered out in the high
school. On reflection he feels much of this was to do with the streaming that took place in those
days. Because of his good academic record, he received the trophy for being top of the class in
standard 8, he was placed in the so called “A” stream and studied Physics, Chemistry and
Maths instead of choosing languages and History. The wrong criteria were used in his case, he
lost interest and became demotivated, in addition he broke his leg in matric and was out of
school for 6 months.
His sport was tennis and he participated in the Cramer cup against Observatory at the old
Maristonian club near the Johannesburg drive in near the Lebanese Catholic church.
He remembers receiving a medal in 1961 commemorating the occasion of SA becoming a
republic. Andy Morris’s father was then mayor of Johannesburg and presented all the boys with
a medal and made a short presentation to celebrate.
On his last day at school, he was a prefect but missed out on a lot after breaking his leg in the
May and only returning to school in the September, he was unable to attend the matric dance
and many other events. Ronnie has very good and happy memories of the school and his son
was a pupil until the family relocated to Knysna. He recently met up with the head boy for his
year, Keith Shaw in Cape Town at a tennis tournament. Keith is involved with film-making.
Antoine Simaan was also in his matric year.
On leaving St David’s, he studied law and after completing his degree decided to go into
accounting with Deloittes.
He played the tennis circuit after completing his Law degree, qualified for Wimbledon in 1976
and is currently chairman of SA Vets, was ranked number 1 and played for SA in some events.
He was in New Zealand representing SA in the seniors event at the time of the earthquake.
Some players were actually on court at the time and had a very bad experience.
Ronnie was actively involved with MOBS for a number of years before moving to Knysna, and
organised debates with invited speakers. The main organiser was Stephen Miles who
subsequently moved to the UK. Thierry Dalais who was then an accountant at Deloittes was
instrumental in resurrecting MOBS.
Currently he is involved with his financial services company AQB – a question of balance, the
name of which has Marist origins, he was been involved in tennis development in the 80’s, is on
the board of the SA Tennis Association, is involved with SA Tennis Vets, wants to regenerate
tennis in the townships and feels strongly that sport should be compulsory in all schools.
JE February 2012

Interview with Ross Alcock – 1986
Ross began his career at St David’s in grade 1 in 1975. He had two older brothers at the school
and remembers being very excited on his first day. He was very familiar with the school as he
had already been there with his brothers on numerous occasions. His first teacher was Miss
Busscheau.
He remembered Father Plesters, the Chaplain who later became Monsignor, Mrs Walton grade
2, Mrs Ansell who was a temporary teacher, Mrs Webb standard 1, Mrs Napier a rather
authoritarian figure, Mrs Joseph, standard 3 and Mrs Anderson. In standard 2 Ross caught a
virus, one boy died and Ross was lucky to come through it, didn’t attend school and was unable
to walk for quite some time. Mrs Napier and Mrs Aubrey helped him with extra work at home.
Ross really enjoyed the sport and recalls sports coach Terry O’Mahoney together with Tim
Coetze standard 5 and Willy Castle standard 4. Willy also coached the grade 1 soccer team.
Br Timothy was the headmaster followed by Mr Murphy who appeared to be very authoritarian
in the beginning until his demise when he was seen by all the boys on TV as a wrestler. Mr
Frielick who was too soft followed and then came Mr Boswell, the Afrikaans teacher who was
influenced by Mrs Elliot, many of the boys thought she really ran the school and that he was
merely a figurehead. There was an incident with the non-catholic retreat in 1985 led by the
Doyle brothers which showed a lack of leadership within the school. Ross felt that the
leadership in the high school was sadly lacking and that the boys needed a strong leader.
Father Brewer was the type of person who should have led the school. He was an incredible
man, unlike a conventional priest. He taught RE but loved sport. An eminently practical and
pragmatic man he could give the boys guidance in life and, even though he was extremely
religious he was neither distant nor removed from reality. He helped Ross with extra Latin
lessons whilst he was at university and had incredible patience. Father Brewer married Ross,
counselling him and his wife beforehand, he also blessed his son but sadly died shortly
afterwards.
In standard 5 a number of boys left to go to St John’s as St David’s was then going through a
bad patch, although it wasn’t a good time for the school, the boys got on well together and there
was great camaraderie through the sport .Some of his pals at the time were Greg Lambe;
Gordon Tonetti and Craig MacKay. He remembers a black pupil joining in grade 2 and that there
were a few black boys at the school including the Shongwe brothers and a number of them went
to their father’s funeral in standard 7 held in Atteridgeville, Soweto.
Ross played rugby in standard 4 and 5 against the high school’s U13C team. As many boys left
at the end of standard 5 it was a great loss to the rugby team. Ross played Transvaal Nuffield
cricket in 1986 and stayed at Hilton College. He was awarded colours for rugby in mtandard 9
and again in his Matric year and won trophies for leadership, cricket, rugby and the Osmond
Cup for sportsman of the year. He was vice head prefect and captained the 1st rugby and cricket
teams.
His favourite year was 1985 playing 1st team rugby and cricket and he went on cricket and rugby
tours to Cape Town. At the Marist schools’ festival they had a very good side and made up the
vast majority of a combined Marist schools team. They stayed in old dormitories at St Joseph’s
and for the cricket tour stayed at the Newlands Sun and being boys managed to get up to some
mischief.
Ross was involved with inter-house plays in the primary school and remembers being in the
team that won the inter-house quiz in standard 5. However he didn’t last long playing one of the
guards in “Hamlet”, Trudie Elliott wasn’t his favourite person.
Ross loved his time at St David’s although he did have some regrets that he hadn’t gone to a
stronger school from sporting and other perspectives. He felt he would have further flourished
but only realised this later. After leaving school he played cricket for Old Eds and for Transvaal
and realised that had he been at another school he would have without doubt played Nuffield A
in 1985 and 6. He actually played for the B side and knew he was better player than many on
the A side. Because of this he didn’t return to St David’s for quite some time. Ross firmly
believes that when sport is poor the perception is that the school is poor. St David’s loses a lot
of focus on sport and does need to be more competitive.
Academically Ross was no star but did well enough to get one distinction in matric and went
into Law studying for a B Proc at Wits University and for his LLB through Unisa whilst doing his
articles. He missed the army by continuing to study and when he finished his LLB he went
overseas for a year, then did his articles at a small firm and joined Edward Nathan Sonnenberg
in 1997 and has been a partner since 2000.
Ross has two sons at St David’s and his eldest son will be going to Hilton for high school as a
boarder.
Ross’ company is the only law firm that has dedicated offices in Alexandra and Mitchel’s Plain
and everyone on the staff has to complete a certain number of hours of pro bono work to
support these offices. They also work together with the Department of Justice and Small Claims
Court in Alex and the managing partners sit on these courts and supply advice.
JLE October 2012

Interview with Rowan Stafford – 2003
Rowan came to St David’s into grade 8 from St Peter’s Prep and after one month at St Peter’s College. He
and his good friend Matthew Alford both came from St Peter’s, their friendship goes back a long time.
Rowan arrived at St David’s on a Tuesday whilst assembly was in progress in the old hall, not knowing
where to go or what to do. James Barrow was assigned to show him around and then at first break he met
up with Matthew.
Rowan enjoyed the sport and was a member of 1st team hockey for 2 ½ years. He made it to the final trials
but didn’t make the provincial team. He was good at athletics and a keen cricketer but didn’t quite make it in
the larger school that was St David’s and played in the B team. He was injured in his first game of rugby
and didn’t play again. Rowan also enjoyed golf and got down to a 3 handicap playing after school at
Wanderers.
As to the camps, Rowan thought himself fortunate to miss the grade 8 camp at Glenmore but thought the
grade 10 camps were more fun. The boys went to St Lucia where they had to camp out on the beach with
only their sleeping bags. Unfortunately there was an absolute deluge and the boys ended up sheltering in
some nearby toilets, cold, wet and shivering. There was a 1st team hockey tour to Cape Town instead of
Argentina where they got a hiding from the big schools down there. During another tour to St Albans with
Andrew Taylor as captain, the boys sneaked out to go to movies, were caught and did not play the next day
and Andrew was stripped of his captainship.
The teachers all had their individual ways of disciplining the boys – Mr Buys used a water polo ball, Mrs
Cameron her high heeled shoes and Mr McMillan his cricket bat. There were some bad moments with
Marius Buys with his strange stories and methods of teaching. He particularly liked Mrs Roman who had so
much patience and love for her pupils. He recalled an incident when she was writing on the board and
someone started throwing naartjies around. One naartjie narrowly missed Rowan and ended up splattering
the board next to Mrs Roman, she just sighed and carried on. Mrs Voorendyck was also popular but once
ended up sending the whole class out because none of the boys bar 3 had done their homework. Mr
Andrew was quite scary in that one could never tell what kind of mood he would be in. Paul Edey also
impacted as a teacher, having so much charisma and no one wanted to get a bad mark. Rowan felt he was
a major influence with a personal relationship with every boy in the high school.
Rowan together with Matthew Alford used to edit the school’s weekly newsletter working for Reverend
Bruce. They did this for 2 ½ years giving up the job before their matric exams. They had to get it ready for
printing on Thursday and there was always a rush to find a cartoon for the front page.
Rowan recalls bunking assembly and Afrikaans often using the newsletter as an excuse. Sometimes they
would join Jason Sturzenegger in his booth where he operated the sound. On one occasion they thought a
teacher was coming and had to climb up through the trap door to the bell tower and wait until assembly was
over.
Jason remembers the matric ance and in particular the after party held at Melrose Arch when they were all
kicked out the venue and his father came and took him and Matthew home rather drunk.
Rowan received half colours for hockey and was a library prefect. He remembers that particular assembly
when his girlfriend from Kingsmead was there and Mr Williams made the announcement which came as a
complete surprise to him. Rowan also received a prize for Mathematics standard grade in 2003.
Rowan matriculated with distinctions in Art HG and Mathematics SG and went on to study at Rhodes which
he found to be a big wake up call. He studied a BComm and majored in three subjects going on to do an
LM in Trusts and is currently finishing off an LLM in tax through Unisa. He is currently employed by Mahons
as a commercial attorney dealing with general commercial law, mergers and acquisitions, trusts and tax.
Rowan didn’t feel strongly about the school when he left but after time realised how important it had been
and enjoyed the recent reunion and the MOBS reunions held at Rhodes. He would send any sons of his to
St David’s and is a member of MOBS. He would also be interested in participating in future matric rites of
passage.
Rowan recently played in the hockey tournament held in honour of Malcolm Williams and realised just how
fit he was when at school.
Rowan’s company participates in community development with one of the senior partners being a board
member of the Teddy Bear Clinic donating cash and legal services.
JLE December 2013

Interview with Ryan Skirving – 2012
Ryan began his career at St David’s in grade 0 in 2000, he was the first of three brothers to
attend St David’s. He has brother now in grade 11 and another in grade 3.
He started off in Mrs Tyack’s class and also remembers Mrs Milne. He loved the playground
and the tuck shop was really cheap especially on a Wednesday, the boys could buy a hot
dog, a drink and yoghurt for R10.
In the prep school the teachers who made an impression on him were Willy Castle who was
a legend, Mr Sinclair, Mr Thackwell, Mrs McWilliams, Miss Hatfield and Mr McIver. He
enjoyed the sport soccer, swimming, was captain of the swimming team and played
provincial soccer with Willy Castle and 2nd team cricket with Mr Eyels. He also participated in
athletics and recalls that once the prestige gala was cancelled because of bad weather. He
played 1st team hockey in grade 7 and touch rugby in grade 6.He enjoyed the inter-house
galas and won a few trophies. He also enjoyed the camps every year from grade 3 and the
sports tours swimming, soccer and provincial.
He remembers the big hill the boys had to run up at the grade 8 camp and the first group
orientation they did at night he got lost and someone kicked over a bee hive. The grade 9
initiation into the water polo team was great fun with Richard Lance and Greg Steenberg
who were great guys.
Ryan remembers starting high school and had already heard stories of the high school from
older friends like Dempsey Bayley. He was very involved with swimming and water polo but
became very ill after a tournament in grade 8 and was off sport for 9 months. He played
rugby until grade 11 but got concussed too many times and then played hockey in matric. A
fond rugby memory was the victory in grade 9 against St Stithians B team which St David’s
won. That U15 B team was one of St David’s that won that year. He had a swimming
scholarship so continued with swimming and was a member of 1st team water polo from
grade 9 and was awarded provincial colours for water polo in grade 9, 10, and 11 and was
captain of the 1st team in grade 12. He still enjoys water polo at university. He recalled that
there was no sport against Observatory or Marion College as in former times.
Ryan thought that grade 10 was the easiest year with selected subjects, the best sports and
academics. In grade 11 the workload increased and grade 12 was a good year despite the
incident on the bus. He spent quite a bit of time with Mr Williams during that time. He
thoroughly enjoyed the cultural tour to the UK with Mr Bauer, Mr Ireland, Mr Jericevich and
Mr Schneider who gave them quite a bit of freedom.
Academically Ryan did well and was in the top ten from the grades through to matric coming
1st in grade 10, 3rd in grade 11, and 9th 0r 10th in matric. He won trophies for the best water
polo player, promoting the Marist spirit and was awarded a Champagne medal. He was head
boy in 2012 and was a member of “The Bishops” house. He participated in public speaking
in grade 11 and 12 and was in the inter-house play in matric. The matric dance was great
fun held during the winter at the Wanderers, the theme being Titanic.
Ryan is currently studying Business Science (Finance and Accounting) at UCT and will do a
5th year Honours in Accounting. Now at university Ryan realises that St David’s has more of
an emphasis on individual responsibility and attitude around studying which helps
enormously at university.
Ryan is a member of MOBS and will be keeping in touch with the school.
JLE June 2013

Interview with “Sbo” Sibonelo Mbongwe – 2011
Sbo first came to St David’s from Montrose Primary and joined grade 8. He remembers the grade 8 camp
and camping at the top of a big hill. Mr Rod Smith, Mr Lotter and Mr Williams were there with the boys and
Mr Williams joined the boys on a hike.
Sbo joined “The Bishops” house. His teachers, Mrs Russell - Maths in grade 8, very helpful and patient; Mr
Lotter – Accounts, Mrs Khanyile – isiZulu, a stern motherly figure, Mr Smith – English and Ms Cambitzis
who taught him in grade 11 and 12, he recalled that she gave them an insight into the life ahead of them
and continued to help him with his English when she moved to Kingsmead to teach there.
Sbo participated in sport, 2nd team water-polo; B team swimming and 2nd team rugby. He enjoyed drama
and was in the cast of “The Little Shop of Horrors” in 2008. He was very nervous on the opening night but
said it was a great experience. He participated in the house plays and wrote the script for the house play in
grade 11. Sbo was appointed head of culturals of The Bishops in his matric year and also received scrolls,
full colours for leadership and service, half colours for drama, a team award for music and was a peer
counsellor.
As a part of a community outreach project, Sbo and other boys went to Addo with Mr Fry and repainted a
school giving out beanies and scarves to the pupils. Sbo did this because he enjoyed it and it cemented the
need in him to give. The school motto is also very important to him “Comfortare Esto Vir” – take courage
and be a man.
Sbo remembered his matric dance and the before party with a couple of friends, the dance was held at the
Wanderers. Sbo was a member of the matric dance committee in grade 11 and assisted in the preparation
of a masked ball.
Sbo says that he enjoyed being so silly whilst at school, it was great fun with lots of laughter and jokes and
his grade are very close.
After matricualting, Sbo enrolled with UNISA and studied for a BA Accounting Sciences and is currently
attending lectures at the Edge Business School. He will complete his degree this year followed by a post
graduate year in 2016. He is a member of the MOBS committee and attended this year’s matric rite of
passage which he thought was perfect being held at St David’s. He would definitely send a son of his own
to St David’s.
JLE August 2015

Interview with Simon Franklin – 1985 Standard 7
Simon and his brothers Adrian and Jeremy attended St David’s with Adrian (vice head boy)
matriculating in 1984 and Jeremy in 1985. Their father was chairman of the board during the
time they were there. Simon didn’t stay on to matric but left and went to St Andrews,
Grahamstown at the end of 1985 when Mr Boswell was headmaster. There are a couple of
reasons for this, Simon got into some arguments relating to his almost certain election as a
prefect simply because he was a Franklin, this did not go down well with him and the fact that
his brother lost his honours blazer due to the disastrous non-catholic retreat in 1985. St David’s
was going through a bad time without strong leadership and Simon felt it was time to leave.13
out of 15 boys in the U14A rugby side, a really good team losing only a couple of matches that
season, also left that year.
Simon began his career at St David’s in standard 3 in 1981 and cycled to school, the family
home being in !st Avenue. He and his brothers used to access the school through a hole in the
fence. Brian MacFadden lived on the school grounds and Simon used to hang out with him at
his house and the pair of them used to ride a motorbike around where the Inandas are today.
They were naughty and considered the school their playground. Willy Castle and his wife and
young children lived next door to Brian.
Having two older brothers at the school made a big difference with Jeremy being the prop for
the 1st team rugby for two years, he was a big strong boy but is now much slimmer and an artist
who exhibits at the Everard Read, Standard Bank, and Goodman Galleries. Adrian who was
vice head boy to Nick Pruims, head boy is now a successful businessman running one of the
Fortune 100 companies.
Simon was a great sportsman playing A team rugby, cricket, swimming, athletics and held the
high jump record. When his brothers were playing 1st team rugby, his father invited the rugby
team to Dullstroom for the weekend together with Mr Collier and Mr MacFadden.
The teachers he remembers are Heather Joseph, the art teacher, a Mr Kotze who looked like
Freddie Mercury, someone who taught technical drawing who was a stand up comic and was on
TV sometimes. Finlayson was the rugby coach, Isaak Cronje, Walter Cronje’s brother, the
Physical Education trainer and Mr MacFadden who taught History and French and whom the
boys liked.
He enjoyed the prep but the high school doesn’t really stand out apart from the time spent on
the sports field. Academically Simon’s performance was poor, he did enough to get by and his
friendships with his peers and sport were more important to him. He participated in a “Can Can”
production in standard 3 in the old hall with Heather Joseph as producer and his Gran made him
a black and red outfit with stockings.
Of his peers Grant Dykes left at the end of prep, others were Brian Steele, Paul Allen, Sean
Johnson and Greg Black with whom he is still in touch. He recalls Gary Beuthin breaking his leg,
with the whole leg in plaster which did not deter him from lying on his motor bike and riding to
school. Mike Erery, matric 1985 a huge guy who drove a really small car. Other names he
remembers are Michael Wood’88, Tonetti and Roland Retz.
Being an Anglican, the Religious Education was something Simon had to do and didn’t really
appreciate until later and especially at St Andrews where he was nicknamed “The Rev” because
of his knowledge. He felt he was given the tools to decide whether or not he wanted religion in
his life.
Simon was 17 when he matriculated and went into the army in the medical corp it was the last
year of intake and he finished in 1990 when he enrolled at the Cape Technikon to study
marketing and played ruby for Villagers rugby. His first project was the 1995 World Cup which
took him all over the world. He joined FIFA in 2006 until 2011 which gave him huge exposure,
travel and introduced him into a different way of thinking. He was then commercial director for
SAFA and is now with Megapro.
Simon has a son currently in grade 0 at St David’s. Simon is glad to see that St David’s has
adopted football and that a number of boys have been assigned to professional soccer league
teams. He feels that the sport has improved over the last few years and believes that academics
are crucial but that sport is very important and the school’s performance on the sports field.
JLE November 2012

Interview - Stephen Eilertson – Staff 1994 -97
Stephen was teaching at Sandown High when Rod Smith, the former headmaster then teaching English at
St David’s, introduced him to the school. Gary Norton who was the then acting headmaster employed
Stephen to implement the building and opening of the first computer centre shared by both the prep and
high schools. Paul Edey was eventually appointed the headmaster with Malcolm Williams as his deputy in
1995.
The IT department was successful and Stephen implemented the first Computer Literacy classes followed
by Computer Science. Computer Science was not taken seriously enough and was only taught as a 7th
subject for matric. The genius of St David’s revolved around its sporting achievements.
Stephen remembers his notable pupils such as Daniel Wright, now with Google who wrote the algorithm for
the programme that handles all advertising for Google (Google adwords). This sophisticated world class
software brings Google 90%of its income. Daniel was one of the top 3 boys that Stephen taught, was an
extreme computer nerd but commanded respect in his own way participating in sport at his own level.
Daniel also wrote a DOS based programme identifying birds in 1996 just for fun. He now lives in Canada
with his family.
Another boy was Rafiq Sarlie, 1996 who headed a team competing in a South African schools competition,
sponsored by Microsoft to see who could make the best website. Stephen felt that Rafiq should possibly
have followed Gladwell’s ideas and become an entrepreneur and not necessarily followed the conventional
route of school, matric and university. He wonders what happened to this extremely talented pupil.
Some of the teaching staff he remembers well , Lesley Henning a focused academic; Mitchel who spent 4
years in jail as a conscientious objector and was tortured, he taught RE and started the “Saint of the Day”
focusing on martyrs of their time. He is now head of a school in Soweto. In 1995, Debbi Cameron and
Stephen organised a tour to Europe for 30 boys. One of the cities visited was Amsterdam where a free
evening was planned. He recalled Adriano Iorio’s leadership skills in averting a crisis when one of the boys
bought some dagga and Adriano and some of the other boys persuaded him to get rid of it. Also Adriano, in
consultation with other boys on the tour, decided it would be wiser to spend the night in the hotel than roam
the streets of Amsterdam.
There was an incident when Stephen’s son Michael was in standard 9 when, prior to a long weekend, he
took his son in full uniform to a world preview of Star Wars during the school day. Malcolm Williams was
absolutely furious and Stephen believes that this incident influenced whether Michael became a prefect or
not.
Stephen is justifiably proud of his son, also a St David’s pupil who recently was awarded second place in
Africa at the annual SMME awards and has been incorporated into a painting of the 100 greatest people,
past, present and future in South Africa.
Stephen left St David’s to head up Ambassador College which was later integrated into Boston City
Campus. He now runs a family business investing in the internet, marketing companies using search terms
and key words and graphic design. He deals with small to larger companies and also runs a course entitled
“Dead Men with White Collars”.
JE October 2012

Interview with Steve Duley – 1975
Steve was born in 1958 and first went to school in the UK whilst living in Lincolnshire near Skegness. The
family returned to South Africa in 1963 and Steve was then a pupil at Craighall Primary and moved to St
David’s in 1965, into standard 2. David, his younger brother by two years, was also a pupil of St David’s but
eventually left and went to Hyde Park High School.
Br Anthony was the headmaster and Steve recalls Br Bosco (Mario) “Boeing”, Br Bernard who taught Latin,
Br Timothy who taught Maths and became the Headmaster in 1975, Br Aquinas – English, Trudy Elliot –
English, Badenhorst – Afrikaans, Hartman – Geography and in the junior school Mrs Kenezovitch in
standard 5 and Mrs Kempster who was head of the junior school and the librarian.
Steve was not a Catholic but has recently adopted the faith. The non-Catholics did not attend the Religious
Education classes. As his family lived in Dunkeld, Steve cycled or walked to school. He also recalls
walking to the Rosebank Catholic Church every Ash Wednesday.
Steve was a day boy and found the discipline to be incredible with the boys having to wear caps and
doffing them when greeting people, they had to wear their blazers properly and exercise good manners.
This went down well with Steve’s father who was ex Royal Navy and very strict himself.
There was a good balance between academics and sport and all the boys had no option but to take part in
sport. The teachers were good but the discipline was always heavy, with boys receiving caning for doing
stupid things. Steve had his share but generally managed to keep out of trouble.
Steve played cricket, enjoyed running, long distance and played rugby for the 3rds as fly half. The school
didn’t offer hockey as a sport but Steve played outside of school from the age of 12, he was accepted for
the junior board but didn’t go. So he played rugby during the week at school and hockey over the
weekends. There were no camps only bus trips to play rugby at Observatory, Linmeyer, St Albans Pretoria
and schools such as St John’s.
Fulton-Allem’s father donated tractors to the school when developing the playing fields. Fulton’s father, a
farmer from Viljoenskroon used to fetch him at the end of every term in the rolls royce. In those days there
were horses on the property and Steve’s sister rode at the school on a few occasions.
St Teresa’s was the sister school and a highlight was the disco on Friday nights at Immaculata Hall in
Rosebank.
In his Matric year they played a rugby match against the girls from St Teresa’s, Steve said the girls didn’t
hold back in the scrum and went for every weakness. It was the toughest game the boys had played.
For his matric dance he remembers his partner was Anthony Robinson’s sister. He met his wife Rose
through his brother, she needed a partner for her matric dance at Hyde Park High and they are still together
30 years later. They have four children, two girls and two boys who attended Fourways High School.
Steve received a studies scroll and after matriculating, went to Wits Univerity to study Aeronautical
Engineering and finished his degree in 1981 sticking to his programme of four years academics and two
years socialising. He completed his masters in1986 and started to work at CSIR for the National Institute of
Aeronautics. Much later he completed his MBA in 2006. Steve was involved in test flight engineering
(flutter) in the defence environment, unmanned aid vehicle design and manufacture, managing an aircraft
maintenance company, then moved into the airline industry 15 years ago. Steve worked for Comair and
was involved with setting up the first low cost airline in Africa – Kululah.com, his specialty being IT. He is
currently with Sabre Airline Solutions and is responsible for sales in Africa and the Indian Oceans islands.
Steve also runs his own company Aviaquest Consultancy and is a non executive director of a high
technology aircraft engine manufacturer in South Africa.
JLE January 2014

Interview with Steve Muller 1953
Steve came to St David’s in 1941 even though there was no grade 0 in those days, and was
effectively in grade 0 until 1943. His mother said he talked too much and obviously thought
school would do him good, especially as his older brother was there too. He thinks he is the only
old boy to attend St David’s from 1941 until 1952 – check photo taken on steps by what is now
Malcolm William’s office. All three of his sons attended St David’s and his youngest son, Gavin
(87) was the first to complete 13 years, the other sons Graham and Brian completed matric in
1982 and 1980 respectively. His wife was the granddaughter of the first Marist pupil – Peter
Busschau.
The Brothers lived in a farm cottage, the land was all originally part of a Portuguese vegetable
farm. Steve can still remember the brothers walking across the veldt to school.
He was a boarder from standard 5. The senior school and boarding opened at the same time
(1948?)
The teachers, Mrs Kempster ran standard 4 and taught the boys how to write. Mrs Lidstone
owned the ‘Hudson Terror plane’ and used to pick up boys in Rosebank, corner Tyrwhitt and
Oxford where there was a Greek shop. The boys would travel with her along the then sand
roads at a rate of knots. A number of boys used to hang onto the strap at the back.
Brophy and Stirton taught the grades, Hoare standard 3, Kempster standard 4 and the Brothers
taught from standard 5 up. Brother Paul was blind.
He remembers Darko Vidas – a naughty boy. Mike von Guillieaume matriculated the same year
as Steve, Vito used to call him ‘Baron’ as his family originally German and had a castle.
Steve was not a great sportsman but participated in 1st team rugby. He was a good swimmer
and joined in the field events for athletics but never got colours for sport however he achieved
academic studies (60% in standard 9) and was a prefect. He was good at Mathematics and
received the Br Paul medal for Maths which he still has. Steve questions the high number of
distinctions pupils now achieve and remarked that a particularly bright boy, Anthony Radziwill
only achieved 5 distinctions in the JMB matric.
St David’s was always a big part of his life and still is. He enjoyed boarding, thinks it was the
best part of his life and feels very passionately about the school. He remembers his father
saying it was cheaper to send the boys to boarding school than keeping them at home, where
they would have eaten them out of house and home!
When he left St David’s he studied optometry at Wits University. He was an optometrist in
Rosebank for 40 years and in town for 10 years before that and worked until he was 70. He had
3 sons and a daughter. The daughter went to Rosebank convent.
Steve was chairman of the board of governors when, in 1981 Steve’s son was elected head
boy, although Steve knew this he kept it as a secret from his son at the time as he wanted it to
be a surprise. The board at the time was run by Vito, a farmer and Steve and optometrist. Steve
was still chairman 1982 when Br Timothy left and the first lay teacher became headmaster. It
was a difficult time, with both the parent body and many of the staff not being accepting of this
change. Tim Marnewick was vice-chairman and kept in touch with Mr Murphy, who was
originally interviewed by Br Timothy and Br Jude together with Steve. It was a tough time for the
school and many pupils left. A combined staff room for the prep and the high school was
introduced by Murphy, which proved to be an unpopular move with some of the staff.
Mr Manolios, the then prep headmaster was fired, without consultation, by Murphy for
inappropriate behaviour with mothers and a female member of staff. Murphy was also fired
when he appeared as a wrestler on TV. Br Anthony went off to Cape Town to investigate. It also
came to light later that Murphy was not as qualified as he had claimed.
At the end of 1986 when things were more settled, Steve handed over to Kevin Brewer who was
really good and has done a lot for the college.
JE June 2011

Interview with Steven Giuricich – 1994
Steven began his career at St David’s in Gr0 until he matriculated as head boy in1994. On his
first day he was dropped off by his mother, his teacher was Mrs Walton and he was befriended
by Dale Forssmann.
The teaching was of a good standard and he remembers that Mrs Snyman was an institution at
the school, very strict and a tough cookie. Willy Castle also stands out in his memory, also strict
but many boys respected him and still do to this day. Mr Brownlee taught Geography and was
housemaster for Osmond, Mr Cotze, standard 5 was quite fearsome, Mr Girdwood, English, Mr
Lamb married Antoinette von Guilleaume who taught Afrikaans. Mr Davies was the headmaster
of the high school, was respected and regarded as a good leader. Father Brewer was a great
man always there to talk to and very helpful. He was very involved with the school and the
sporting activities.
Steven enjoyed the sport and participated in swimming, soccer, cricket and athletics. He wasn’t
really much of a sportsman in the prep but came into his own in the high school with rugby,
swimming and water polo and made the 1st rugby team. He went on the swimming and a water
polo tour to St Henry’s followed by Midmar. He also went on rugby tour to St Charles.
Academically he was just above average and was in a small matric class of about 38 – 40 boys.
He enjoyed the drama and was a member of the backstage team. There was no outreach that
he recalls.
The matric dance was held at Oakfields Farm and had a medieval theme but the 1993 matric
dance was held in the old school hall.
After he matriculated he went to study BSc Building Science at Wits University. He then started
his own business in residential housing and renovations but joined the family business in 2008.
He is married with a son Danillo who will start grade 00 in 2013 and a daughter Valentina who
will be going to St Mary’s for grade 000 in 2013.
Steven is a member of MOBS and is still in touch with Kerry Gibson, Clifford Kopstave, Andrew
Harris and Robert Laing.
JLE October 2012

Interview with Sven Arp – 1980
Sven joined St David’s in 1978 going into standard 8. As his parents had divorced, Sven left St Albans as a
boarder to spend time with his mother and attend school as a day boy. He found the St David’s to be a
breath of fresh air, less regimented and the environment was more relaxed from a teacher pupil
perspective.
Brother Timothy was the headmaster, he was tough but ok. Headmasters are never popular individuals.
Sven recalls that he did something “silly” and Br Timothy told him to “think about the consequences of what
he did in life” which has somehow stuck with him ever since.
Sven played 1st team rugby, was a B team swimmer with an occasional visit to the A team but he didn’t
ever play cricket. Overall Sven enjoyed his time at St David’s with rugby matches always being auspicious
occasions; the boys were under a lot of pressure especially playing centre. Tackles were not! to be missed.
Sven considered himself a decent sportsman but no superstar.
He recalled having a blind date for the matric dance he attended in standard 9, the night did not go that well
date wise. He is vague on his standard 10 matric dance but did have a regular girlfriend at the time.
Although St David’s was and still is a great school the boys learnt to be humble and not to expect to win all
the time, even today. He feels that intense pressure amongst schools to win (which seems even worse
today) is not entirely healthy.
Of the teachers, he remembers Mrs Natrass who came right at the end, she totally lacked self confidence
but could teach amazingly well. If you took the trouble to do past papers she would get them back to you
the next day, marked with full explanatory comments. Trudie Elliott taught English and was a character in
her own right. Mr Neft, Afrikaans also a character. As a non-Catholic, Sven received separate religious
instruction from the Catholic pupils.
Academically Sven did well and was in the top 5 most of the time. He was awarded an academic tie,
honours blazer, became a prefect and won a trophy for the Maths prize.
His Grade 11 results got him into Onderstepoort, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria
which was fortunate as his appendix burst midway during the matric exams and he had to write supps for 4
subjects. He eventually achieved 2 A’s but would have hoped for more.
After spending 5 half years qualifying at Onderstepoort, Sven went into the army and was based in
Kangwani, Badplaas in the Eastern Transvaal. He married whilst he was in the army and on completing his
army service went into small animal veterinary work and, in 1990 started at Olivedale clinic which now
operates with a compliment of 4 vets.
Sven has two sons Reinhardt who matriculated from St David’s in 2009 and Ronan who is currently in
grade 6 at St David’s. Although it’s quite a trip every day to and from the family home in Olivedale Sven
believes it is worth it for his son to be a St David’s boy and they spend some quality time on the drive to
and from the school.
Sven does a lot of pro bono work with feral cats in the area and for the Animals in Distress organisation.
Vets are also involved in the development of individual community clinics in the Eastern Cape which is
spreading. He has no direct involvement in those but feels they are a great initiative.
Sven hosted a MOBS event at his home earlier this year (2013) The “boys” had all just turned 50 or were
about to do so, nostalgia prevailed. Brian Muller and Trevor Christie-Taylor were visiting from Australia.
Fifteen of them got together with their wives and children including George Daras (head boy) and Alphonso
de Chaud (vice head boy) who together with Gavi McLaughlin made it all the way up from Cape Town. It
was a truly special day to catch up with mates some of whom had not seen each other since the last day of
school. School friendships are of the best.
JLE October 2013

Interview with Ted Barale – 1984 (Std 9)
Although Ted eventually matriculated at Damelin College he was a pupil at St David’s from
grade 1 until 1984. Ted’s family lived in Krugersdorp which entailed Ted and his brother
Anthony catching a train at 4.30am from Krugersdorp to Park Street and then taking 2 buses to
get to school, repeating the process on the way home. He was a day boy but had lunch at
school and most Fridays the brothers used to go and have dinner with his parents at their
hotel,the Lewisham Hotel. Ted got a lift there and back with the brothers so he was ready for
rugby on Saturday.
Ted remembers Brother Anthony, and Mr Manolios, Brothers Andrew, Bernard, Aquinias and
Timothy. He remembers that Br Anthony used to allow the boys to choose their cane for
punishment.Br Anthony was popular with the boys and parents. He recalled an occasion when
one of the brothers was writing on the board and one of the boys flicked his fountain pen and
the ink went down the brothers back. The following day he came in facing the class and
eventually the culprit owned up and was sent summarily to Br Anthony’s office
The Herbert Baker house consisted of classrooms and stables were where the present grade 00
block is.
Ted loved the sport, playing hooker in rugby and made the cricket B team but did not do well
academically and battled with English and reading but enjoyed Biology and the Art classes. Ted
hated exams and the English lessons.Ted was the rebel and his brother Anthony, who became
a doctor and is now living in Canada was the clever one. Ted’s father was Italian and his mother
Afrikaans which didn’t help. His mother was chairlady of the ladies committee together with
Moni’s mother.
When Ted left school he went into the family business and has always been in catering and now
runs his own restaurant Picolinos in Fourways.
Ted still sees some of friends from school and some of them visit him at his restaurant. Paul
Moni, Nicholas Erleigh, Kevin Peel, Sean Davidson, Mike Stanley.
JE July 2012

Interview with Terry van Heerden – 1972
Terry started at St David’s as a boarder in standard 5 in 1967. On his first day he remembers his
mother crying, lots of other mothers crying, some boys crying, his father helped him carry his trunk
up to the dormitory, rows and rows of beds with military corners, emptying his trunk into his locker,
everything new and labeled with his name. Thomas Manko, whose locker was next to his, men
wearing dresses, big scary boys telling him what to do and where to go, dinner in the hall, loneliness,
homesick already.
The day boys didn’t get to play as much sport, and have endless opportunities to create mischief as
boarders, not that all the boarders considered that a con. In every other respect Terry would have
preferred to have been a day boy and live with his family, date girls, go to parties, wear cool clothing,
listen to music and so on. Terry also felt that boarding did not prepare you for a normal life and in his
first year at university he likened himself to an untrained dog that had been let off its leash. He
knows that the same thing happened to most of the boarders.
Terry most enjoyed the sport, comraderie, the “Boys Own sort of life” that they led and, in an odd
sort of way, the routine of the life. He also enjoyed learning. The habit has stayed with him all his life
and he owes it to the teaching he received at St David’s.
Terry doesn’t have memories of his last day but he is sure that he would have had mixed feelings;
relief that it was all over, excitement about the future, sadness to be leaving what had become, with
all its warts, home.
However he didn’t enjoy the hours of boredom (especially on visiting weekends when most of his
mates went home and he and other boys whose parents lived so far away were stuck at school with
no one to play with), the constant hunger and being homesick.
He has good memories of every rugby game that he ever played. Rugby was a big thing in his life
and Nassey Simaan had a lot to do with that. He lit the fire. Their loss to KES in 1972 still rankles to
this day. It was the only blemish on the “72 team’s record. Heplayed a lot of sport. Terry was in the
school’s swimming and athletics teams and held many records in both disciplines. And he was
captain of the 1972 1st XV rugby team which was the most successful team the school had had up
to that point. Lawrence Saad and Terry were the only two St David’s boys to have been invited to the
Transvaals schools rugby trials. Terry made it to the final 30 but on Br Anthony’s advice to his
parents he withdrew to concentrate on his studies. He later played a few games for the Western
Province U20 team.
Of the teachers, Brother Timothy was an influence. Like Mr Simaan, he had a passion for rugby and
it rubbed off onto him. He also taught him biology and that’s what he went on to study at university.
Another brother, whose name he won’t mention, brought some sanity into our boarding school lives
by supplying us with the occasional beer and cigarette.
Hunger was always with the boarders, and there was this story about earlier generations of
boarders raiding the kitchen at night. They didn’t know exactly how they did it, but they figured it
must have been by climbing out a dormitory window and crossing the roof, which is what they did,
him and Nichas and a couple of others whose names he’s forgotten. They never got caught. It was a
lot of fun. And while everyone else was losing weight, they started putting it on.
His closest mates were among the boarders: Harry Curtis (who, like him, was a Zambian), and
George Nichas and James Cronin (his equals, if not betters, when it came to getting up to no good).
But through sport and being the school’s vice-head prefect he got to know just about everyone.
Among the day boys he was close to Colin Rezek whose family graciously took him into their home
at weekends. Regrettably, he doesn’t keep in regular touch with anyone.
After matriculating, Terry studied for a BSc at UCT then gained a post graduate diploma from Wits
and an MBA from UCT. He is currently the managing director and major shareholder of a group of
companies in Australia – Salima |Holdings Pty Ltd..
Terry last visited St David’s in 1992 for a 20 years reunion.
JLE July 2013

Interview with Thabo Hermanus – 1992
When Thabo matriculated from St David’s, Paul Davies was headmaster, he had come from St
Albans. He remembers that he didn’t resonate with him and his parents only picked this up after
a while. People were pulling out of the school and a lot of black pupils left during Thabo’s high
school years. From standard 7 until his final year he was the only black boy in his class with
another joining in his matric year. One could see the degradation in the high school’s reputation
and what an impact a head has on a school and its teaching staff.
Thabo started school in Alexandra, passed top of the class in each year. When he completed
standard 2 at M.C. Weiller, instead of going to standard 3 remaining in Alexandra, he started at
St David’s going backwards to standard 1 and did marginally well. While at the time this was
difficult for him as he thought he would get left behind by his peers from Alexandra, over time
and, looking back he realised that most of the boys he was at school with in Alex didn’t even
make it to matric. It was a real sacrifice for his parents but it was so far sighted of them. His
mother was a teacher in Alex and his brothers also started at St David’s, although they
completed their matric at Wendywood High. His mother had said to him that if he failed one year
he would be out of St David’s. He worked hard and came third in standard 1 during his first year.
He felt being older helped with his confidence considering the jump in the standard of education
he had to contend with and he mentioned Gladwell’s: The Outliers in this context.. After a year
he had got used to the school and it exposed him to a whole new world. He wasn’t envious or
jealous of the lifestyle he saw that the white children had but it created ambition in terms of
defining what success was, the picture was bigger now and it was no longer necessarily out of
reach.
On his first day he was very nervous, he remembers his cap and thinking that all the boys
looked the same. Miss Keating was his teacher.
There were the odd incidents of naive questions and observations. His father drove an old
beetle and he recalls visiting Mark Pardini’s home and Mark’s little brother asking him why his
father drove a beetle. It was not malicious, just a boy who could not have been older than seven
years old being curious and noticing differences in material wealth. Bullying was normal and
part of the package. On one occasion he went to the tuck shop and bought a toasted sandwich,
another boy told him to give him a bite; he was a large boy, rugby type. Thabo broke a piece off,
gave him the smaller piece. The boy insisted on having the bigger piece and instinctively Thabo
stuffed the bigger piece into his own mouth. The boy punched Thabo for the “offence” which
Thabo could do nothing about given the David and Goliath scenario. He remembers thinking,
“Wait until I get to be your size”.
Even canings hurt but was what they all knew, so it was acceptable. Words can scar a lot more
as far as Thabo is concerned. The worst caning that Thabo remembers was with Mr Webster
and he knew rather to stand at the front of the queue and get it over and done with.
One of the most memorable classroom incidents he remembers involved seeing current in
action. There was a funny incident in the Science lab. Stuart Dickey had a pen set and he stuck
a pen in one plug and then the pencil, mistakenly creating a current, there was a loud bang,
Stuart got the fright of his life and his pen and pencil were welded together. Thabo chirped that
the bang made him feel at home coming from Alex and everyone packed up laughing which
calmed the air a bit from the shock.
He played rugby, basketball and was in the athletics squad in the high school while in the prep
he played soccer. He gained half colours for rugby and basketball.
He is still in touch with Justin van Linden, Yoav van der Heyden, Jeetesh Kathawaroo, Rowan
Brewer to name a few from his year and has contact with pupils from below and above and
recently got in touch with Mike von Guillaeume (2 -3 years behind him).
The teachers he remembers are Willy Castle – “Mr Fruitcake”. In the last soccer season in
standard 5, in a good team playing against a school who went on to win the championship that
year, they lost 1.0 by a silly mistake by Jeffrey Tsatsane. They played defence together and he
can still remember Willy Castle mumbling his disapproval calling out “Tsatsane”. In the high
school he recalled Mr Girdwood – an awesome English teacher, Mr Howarth – History, Mr
Finlayson – Sport and house master and Miss Von Guillaeume whom he is still in touch with
today. There wasn’t a teacher he disliked and he was taught how to think and not just
regurgitate answers, especially by Mr Howarth who spoke to them about the other side of the
story, not written in the matric History books.
He recalled a significant teacher in the prep, Mrs Hurley and a high impact moment whilst in her
class when she had a “throwing her toys” moment with him. He had got 60% for a spot History
test but she still kept him behind after school with boys who had failed. He was supposed to
have read something the day before but hadn’t and it showed. She reprimanded him in front of
his father, saying that his parents were spending all this money on him and he wasn’t working.
He never messed around after that, it was a turning point for him.
Academically he did well, receiving prizes in the prep school. It was a bit different in the high
school. In standard 5 Mr Kotze was the disciplinarian. In standard 6 he messed around a bit and
then in standard 7 he started working hard again.
He feels that a sense of worth helps but most of this comes from the home and parents should
not abdicate responsibility. He believes that boys coming from St David’s are more grounded,
humble.
His last day at school he remembers as being crazy, with everyone signing shirts and letting off
water balloons.
He struggled to get a bursary as he wanted to go to university away from Johannesburg. Justin
van Linden’s father was MD of Customs Plastics, a division of Nampak, had kept an eye on him
through the years unbeknown to him and offered him a bursary. He then went on to UCT, did a
BCom majoring in Accountancy and Economics. He planned to be a CA but hated auditing,
however he went to Nampak where he was a Management Accountant, helped his brothers
through school and university in terms of paying tuition. They are now both CA’s. He left
Nampak and went to Experiaen SA, primarily know as a credit bureau but he wanted to get into
the services industry. In 2008 he was co-founder of Nimble Collection Services and after setting
up the company they sold it. He has been in Cape Town for 4 years now and subsequent to
Nimble, together with his partner Suzanne Capper set up Find Inspired Talent (F.I.T.
Recruitment). Thabo is good with numbers but that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s what he
enjoys doing the most. People development and leadership are his strengths.
He is the father of two daughters aged 10 and 7, who attend the Waldorf School in Constantia,
he is on the school board and is also involved in setting up a trust to enable young black girls to
attend varsity (funding young girls from previously disadvantaged backgrounds).
He would like to keep in touch and would pledge or make a donation to the book. He would love
to participate in any celebration for the 75th. He owes a lot to his experience at the school.
JE October 2011

Interview with Thomas Rumpelt – 1972
Thomas came to St David’s from the German School, Johannesburg when it was still in Edith
Cavell Street, in the German block donated by Paul Kruger, in the original building built in 1893.
Tom wrote an entrance exam at Observatory but eventually went to Inanda for standard 6. The
family lived in Orchards at the time, his grandfather had been a Jesuit priest and his parents
thought it a good idea for both Tom and Martin, his younger brother to attend a Catholic school.
The first year at St David’s was difficult as he had to undertake all his classes in English and
had only started school at the age of 7. He was, therefore always with the older boys when it
came to sport and only learnt how to play rugby on his arrival in standard 6 He was a member of
the swimming team and athletics was compulsory. He had competed as a fencer at the German
School and continued by going to Wanderers every Saturday and duelling with Springboks. He
continued to play until the 90’s and was an inter-varsity fencer.
Academically he did well, was fortunate to have a good memory, a knack for Maths and he was
ambitious. His rival Alf Gohdes was more fastidious in standards 8,9 and 10 and Thomas had a
problem with discipline at the time.
He liked Br Andrew who was the Maths teacher and also coached team rugby. Tom recalls how
Br Mario opened his eyes regarding how critical things really were in South Africa. Br Mario took
the boys to Soweto and gave them a different exposure and perspective on life. Later he found
he couldn’t reconcile his life in South Africa especially when his brother, Martin suggested he
should perhaps get a gun for security reasons.
His worst time at school was when he was suspended for 3 days. Br Mario used to keep a close
eye on things, hence Tom was suspended for calling out “waiter” to Mrs Sacharowitz, Br
Anthony was not impressed. The boys were not allowed to smoke but did during the world C
chess championships when they would meet in the change rooms, Tom had a box of Mills and
they would smoke and play chess. Tom had long hair which he used to grease back with a lot of
Brylcream to avoid the prefects checking.
The boys had a good connection with Rosebank Convent through Steve Goodey who had a
sister there. It was part of their social life,they studied with the girls and even played hockey
against them.
Boys he remembers well are Steven Goodey, Chares and Nigel Mayer, Chris Stanley, Nolan
Springer and Mike Harris.
Tom recalled a classmate Nigel Mayer who wanted to study dentistry and repeated matric to get
better marks, he now practices dentistry in London.
One of his good memories is of a trip in the winter of 1972 with Andre Malan, the Afrikaans
teacher together with Karl Eb and Steven Goodey to Mozambique. Their car was cleaned out
and everything including passports were stolen. The passports were fortunately eventually
found at the Red Cross. He recalls that the car was a green rover and that only one tape was
left of Janice Joplin and whenever he hears that music he remembers the trip. To cap it all, the
ferry didn’t come to collect them on time to return to Lorenzo Marques, quite an experience.
Another occasion that stands out was when the “All Blacks” were in South Africa, some of the
team members including Maoris were Marist old boys, and visited the school and attended
assembly. It made him think that they were racially integrated and why couldn’t it be the same in
South Africa.
The theme of the matric dance was african dawn and Tom helped with the decorations, he was
good at Art and still paints to this day.
Add Maths was his last subject on 24 November and on his last day at St David’s, Tom had a
driving license so was allowed to take a car and packed a number of the guys in it and took
them to the Rosebank Hotel. Sadly he had to stay sober as he was the driver. They didn’t have
a matric holiday in those days just study leave.
When he left St David’s Tom was exempt from military service for medical reasons and studied
architecture but changed to civil engineering. Whilst at university he was involved in visiting
schools in Soweto encouraging the children to study engineering and not necessarily medicine.
He had a bursary from Grinakaer and worked for them but later returned to Wits to do his
masters, he then worked for SRK for 5 years. He went on to Berkley where he did his Phd in
civil engineering. He had in the meantime, married Mary, the Harrywyn’s eldest daughter and
after 4 ½ years in America, they decided not to stay. Mary had family in Belgium but they
eventually ended up in Germany where Tom was offered a job with an apartment nearby in
Stuttgart. They have two daughters and a son. He is currently involved in a lot of work in Israel
but also manages time in Berlin which he believes is the best city in Europe.
Tom feels that a good thing about the educational system in South Africa is the dual function of
many teachers with the coaching of sport. The teachers have more contact with the boys which
is very important as they see another side to a boy.
Tom went to Germany as an exchange student when he was 11 and believes this would be a
good thing for St David’s to do as a Marist exchange programme. At his children’s school in
Germany they are able to go on exchanges to many other countries including India and Mexico.
The school his children attend has a strong emphasis on Music and has an outstanding
orchestra.
Tom believes that if he hadn’t been at a Marist school he wouldn’t have been so critical of what
he saw when he worked for Grinaker in Hoedspruit, the machinists and boilermakers were
earning a lot of money and he learnt from them and the black guys who had little money and
saw how they lived. Matthew Bobett’s mother was an activist and he left in standard 8 to go to
Swaziland to a co-ed multi-racial school.
Tom’s mother is still living in South Africa and is still in touch with Br Mario.
Tom is on the MOBS mailing list and would be interested in a copy of the history of the school
and also would like to be able to access the yearbooks online. He is involved with foundations in
Germany funding the school’s choir, an English society and the Church.
JLE November 2012