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Interview with Brian Austin - 1962
St David’s Inanda: some recollections before the Beatles
Brian Austin (1958 – 1962)
In those days it wasn’t called St David’s, though his name was there in the small print.
We all knew it as ‘Inanda’, to distinguish it from ‘Obs’: those other guys who wore the
same funny stripey blazer. But many people around Joburg called both schools ‘Maritz’,
for obviously South African reasons but clearly without much appreciation of who these
Marist Brothers were. And, to distinguish us from them at Obs, ‘Inanda’ was always
regarded as the posh school where you went if you didn’t sound (or want to sound) like
Al Debbo (now there’s a name from the dark ages!).
I went to ‘Inanda’ (I’ll stick with that name) in 1958. My prep school years were spent at
the little Catholic school in Maryvale, St Paul’s Parochial School, that’d been founded by
the remarkable Fr Philip Erasme OMI in 1943. I’d been head boy there but was small fry
when I arrived at Inanda. Most of the guys in standard 6 had been together at the junior
school of Inanda and so they all knew each other and also who was king. New blokes
from other places – and there were a handful of us – had to slot into the established
social order. And Inanda had boarders and the boarders were the really important guys,
not day boys who still lived with their mothers. I was a day boy.
There was only one lay teacher in the whole senior school at that time. He was Mr
Bishop and he taught us English. Mr Bishop stood out for never having a hair out place
and he always wore impeccable suits. He used to read to us occasionally from a book
wrapped in brown paper. It was a war story and some said it was his autobiography,
hence the wrapping. In those days we got ‘lashed’ with the cane for various
misdemeanours usually to do with homework that wasn’t done. Old Bish could lash all
right. So could Br Andrew who was our official class teacher. He was a French Canadian
and always said ‘bon’, when you got something right. He taught us Maths and Latin. And
Br Benedict was the principal (I think that’s what he was called in those days. Later we
had a headmaster, but maybe not). Benedict was tall and gaunt. He was known as Beak
(or maybe Beek) and commanded respect. He could lash too.
The standard 6 classroom was stuck away down below the boarders’ dining room.
Remember that in those days the school didn’t extend north beyond the road that ran
down from the second gate (not the main gate) off Rudd Road. That property northwards
was a farm. And our classroom was alongside that road that ended up in the bicycle
shed. It also went past the swimming bath, which I see is now much bigger (according to
Google Earth) and somewhere else altogether. We had swimming as part of the
morning’s lessons one day a week in the summer, of course. I’d never dived into a pool
before then; I learnt to dive very quickly on the first swimming day. I was also known as
‘milk bottle’ because of my fair skin. Boys’ schools are very gentle and genteel places,
as we all know.
I played cricket because I loved the game. Rugby we all played whether we liked it or
not. In those days the school even had a professional cricket coach (a Mr Bannister)
who came out from England, believe it or not, to coach at various schools around
Joburg. He was a great coach and we didn’t have a bad U13 side as a result. The
captain was Roy Chisholm, a left-hander who bowled good in-swingers. I opened the
batting with Mike Ness who went to England the following year. So did Terry Coughlin,
the wicket-keeper. In those days, apparently, there was much traffic between some
South African ‘Private Schools’ and English ‘Public Schools’, such as Stoneyhurst in
Lancashire run by the Jesuits. In this context private and public meant the same thing
which would confuse anyone today not versed in such details.
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I remember Chisholm and I once ‘made a stand’ against Athone U13. He got into the
sixties and I made 53, precisely. Br Anthony (much more about him later) was umpiring.
The Athlone captain was a little squat fellow called Sammy. He placed himself at silly
mid-on (it gets technical here), just a few years to my left, and I was facing their offspinner
who bowled a gift of a full toss. I played a mean on-drive in those days and duly
caned the ball. It hit Sammy on the forehead and nearly decapitated him. He certainly
took off backwards and landed on his bum. Br Anthony, standing at the bowler’s wicket,
sauntered up the pitch to see if Sammy was still alive and then said to me: ‘that
should’ve been four”. Exactly what I thought too.
Standard 7 was a tough year. Our class teacher was a very young Irish brother whose
name now escapes me. He clearly felt challenged by pimply-faced, testosterone fuelled
fourteen-year olds with attitude. As a result he didn’t cope well and lashed us often,
clearly his only defence. A fellow called Ralph van Oppen would openly challenge
anyone who so much as dared look at him to a fight – and he always won. He once
organised a strike by terrorising the whole class who, at his say so, didn’t dare return
after lunch break. We just sat on the lawn. Somehow it was resolved (I don’t now
remember how) and we weren’t even lashed but van Oppen disappeared from the
school. A word, no doubt, was dropped into his father’s ear, though if the son was
anything to go by, Van Oppen senior must’ve been quite something. Perhaps he’d got
away before the allies captured Berlin? That was the year we started ‘Science’ as a
subject and I immediately discovered my métier. English too wasn’t far behind.
Standard 8, or ‘J.C.’ (Junior Certificate) in those days, was a nondescript class and an
uninspiring time. It was 1960 and the time of Sharpeville but our pent-up anger
throughout they year had much more to do with yet more testosterone, I’m sure. Girls
now entered our spheres of interest but most seemed totally disdainful of us. Rosebank
Convent provided much that was attractive but it never reciprocated our awkward
posturing. And we produced a lousy rugby team, but smoking on the bottom field
improved markedly as the year went by. Br Walter, our class teacher, seemed older than
Noah by at least a generation. He was the most gentle of men. Seemingly near-blind
behind very thick lenses, and always somewhat befuddled, he taught us Maths and
Christian Doctrine. Sometimes there was so much fervour involved in both that it was
difficult to tell them apart. As a result, if one had any mathematical flair it was likely to be
kindled by Walter and mine certainly was. Others discovered they had ‘vocations’ and
talked of becoming brothers themselves. At the end of the year, having gained a ‘firstclass
J.C.’, I remember writing Br Walter a letter thanking him for making ‘the minutiae of
the subject’ (Maths) so amazingly clear. His flair with figures, equations and abstruse
geometry undoubtedly helped because I’ve used a fair bit of the subject ever since. On
the matter of our execrable rugby performance that year, I remember our being thrashed
by Jeppe 103- nil. How we dared arrive at school the next day remains one of those
mysteries on one’s educational life. The ignominy must’ve been indescribable.
Junior matric followed and another figure - in black (not white then) cassock, white bib,
rope around his waist and swinging crucifix - strode into our lives in very sharp focus.
Brother Anthony was the new principal and his Scots accent became part of our lives.
He was always known as ‘Ornge’ or ‘Ornges’ from the way he said ‘orange’. He also
caused much mirth when he spoke after the annual athletics sports day each
September. After thanking everyone for attending and making the occasion the success
it usually was, he’d then announce, into the microphone, that all were very welcome to
attend the ‘bry flies’ afterwards. Most did, if only to hear Ornge say it again.
Ornge was a phenomenal headmaster. I’d go as far as saying that he really made the
school into what it is now. Every morning at assembly he spoke from the upper balcony,
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looking down (but only metaphorically) on all of us standing in our rows, per class, in the
‘quad’. The prefects prowled around in between. I still vividly remember hearing one of
them, Martin Funston the nephew of Ken Funston the Springbok cricketer, tell a fellow
who happened to have a shock of red hair, and who was talking, to ‘shut up, copper
knob’. That actually occurred in 1958 but such things happened in 1961 too and just had
to be mentioned because the reaction of all within earshot was excruciatingly funny.
The matric class in ’61 (a year ahead of me) were a brilliant bunch and Ornge was very
proud of them. Dudley Mandy,with much swagger and I suppose what we’d call
charisma these days, was headboy. I think he also subsequently became a brother. The
cleverest bloke was Doug Hawkins, now a professor of Statistics in the states. ‘Dougie’
(but pronounced, as you’d expect, by Ornge as Doogie), was at least 6 foot 3 and gangly
too. Though clearly designed for the second row of the scrum, or at least the line-outs,
he didn’t appear on the rugby field. Having brains helped some escape. He was a
mathematical genius – a fact often mentioned by Ornge – and he also started the
Science club. His plan was that ‘Inanda’ should follow the Americans into the space
race; remember sputnik was launched by the Russians in 1957 and ever since the
Americans had been trying to catch up. Anything we could do to help would no doubt be
appreciated. Doogie wanted to design, build and launch a rocket and Ornge backed him
to the hilt. So, one morning at assembly, after he’d addressed us from the balcony,
Ornge called on Doogie to join him up there and tell us his plans for interplanetary travel
or whatever he had in mind. I was enthralled and when the great man asked for
volunteers to join in I was there.
By then I was rather interested in radio. Not Springbok Radio but making radios and I’d
already made a few. Doogie said we needed radio communications, especially radio
telemetry, on our rocket. It would at least tell us where it was when it came down –
possibly in someone’s swimming pool. We agreed to meet at his house over the
weekend to discuss strategy and try to make a radio small enough to fit inside a (rather
small) tube that would be packed with explosives and after ignition would lift the missile
into space. It sounded fantastic and I was bursting to make my contribution. Doogie and
I, in his father’s garage the following Saturday afternoon, soldered and squashed
electronic bits and pieces together into the tube but never a peep came out of it. His
mother brought us tea and enquired how we were getting on. We said we were at ‘T
minus something and counting’ (that’s what they always said from Cape Canaveral just
before lift-off) but had hit a snag. She said she was sure we’d sort if out and then asked
us to try not to drop solder on the carpet.
I don’t remember the rocket ever being launched. Something about Pretoria and laws
against making missiles, if I remember correctly, but it was great fun and Doogie was
impressively tall. Others in that class who excelled cerebrally were Richard Hartdegan,
later a dermatologist in Joburg, Rodney Leigh (known as ‘Gripper’ for some reason),
another medical doctor, and Steven Fine, a dentist to be. And Emil Iglauer, built like the
proverbial brick toilet, hence he propped the 1st XV scrum with Darko Vidas (in my year),
became an electronics engineer, as I did too a while later.
In 1962 I entered matric. There were only 17 of us in the class and, of course, only one
matric class in those days. Our classroom was right at the end upstairs. Next door were
the junior matrics and next door to them was the Science lab which always stank of H2S,
but then so did some boys even though they never went near the place. I never earned
my colours blazer. You needed three ‘scrolls’ for that and despite being bananas about
cricket I never made enough runs to get that most prized (in my mind) of scrolls. I was a
prefect for which you also needed the ‘merit’ scroll. Presumably it meant what it said but
we didn’t know how they measured that. They just watched us, I suppose. We also
never had a head boy that year. The ‘watchers’ clearly decided that no one really stood
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out. Roy Chisholm was no longer captain of the 1st cricket XI because Rob Fiore had
arrived from St Henry’s (in Durban) accompanied by accolades about his sporting
prowess. So he captained both the first teams: cricket and rugby. I still opened the
batting and, in fact, had played in the ‘Firsts’ the previous year too.
Before that, in the 2nds, our captain was Bill Oliver (also lavatorially-shaped and so
another ‘Firsts’ prop) opened the bowling. For sheer spirit (if not stunning talent) that
2nds side was fantastic – and Bill was the reason. He was inspirational, not least
because most of the team were in classes below him and were at least 50lbs lighter than
he was. Bill had his own form of ball-tampering long before the term was ever used at
test match level. Before opening the attack with the new ball he would rub part of it
vigorously on the concrete wall alongside the main cricket field – the main rugby field too
– immediately on the right of the driveway into the school from the main gates. This
gouging of the leather near the seam gave Bill the purchase he needed when bowling
his assortment of deliveries, mostly short-pitched that reared up at pace, to all who faced
him from our neighbouring schools. He hated them all – a good sign in a fast bowler –
and he inspired us.
In 1961 I went with the 1st XI to Marist Brothers, Walmer (in P.E.) for the Marist Cricket
Week. Every year each Marist school in the country sent its first team to play against all
the others at one or another school. We didn’t do too well; as you might expect given the
fanfare that surrounded Fiore’s arrival from Durban a while before, St Henry’s walked
over everyone else. But Rob himself was picked to play for ‘S.A. Marists’ – as a bowler.
Until then he’d been a top-order batsman and occasional wicket keeper too. But in P.E.
our captain (Mike McGurk) told him to bowl medium pace, which he did, and he took a
mountain of wickets. Needless to say, this was yet more Fiore sporting magic.
My cricket in matric was obsessional. Alf Smith (who didn’t play at all but was a cricket
nut like me) and I used to ‘talk cricket’ at every break and often in between too. I still
opened the batting, usually with Renzo Brocco of the year below. He was also fullback
for the firsts at rugby (I was fullback for the ‘Thirds’). We had a few decent opening
stands when he scored most of the runs. I was just too dogged and Jackie McGlew-like
in that I stuck out my backside, gripped the bat too low down and lost the on-drive that
had nearly murdered the Athlone boy some years before. In the St David’s Magazine
that year (I think it was, by then, known as St David’s) the matric class had pen pictures
and photos. Alongside were our nicknames and any special idiosyncrasies, foibles etc.
As was seemingly the custom in those days, we were also described by a current pop
tune. Mine was ‘Transistor Sister’ because I was also, by then, a confirmed radio (in the
electronics sense) nut as well. My cricketing prowess was, as I remember it, described in
equally unflattering terms too!
In matric, Br Anthony (‘Ornge’) taught us Maths, and very well too; Br Robert, an
extremely short Australian, taught us Science in a very methodical way, and Br Gerard
taught us English, quite inspirationally. He even made (some of) us appreciate poetry.
Best of all, he spoke impeccable English with much emphasis on correct ‘received’
pronunciation. For example, the list he put on the board included such words as
Wednesdee, ‘vittles’ (food to the rest of us), and ‘contriversey’, with the emphasis on the
first syllable and a delicate ee sounding of the second. And he could lash too, especially
when one hadn’t learnt the complete ‘To be or not to be’ soliloquy from Hamlet, our
setwork of the year. If I remember correctly, Alan’s Paton’s ‘Cry the Beloved Country’
was another, as was Thomas Hardy’s ‘Return of the Native’ which allegedly caused
some consternation within the state censor’s office until it was pointed out that influx
controls were not being breached.
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Sportswise, the cricket coach of note was little Br Dennis or ‘Tickey’, as we knew him.
He taught Latin and History too. And, on the rugby field there was ‘Bodo’: Brother
Bonaventure, big, dark and almost brooding. He too wielded the cane with precision
while teaching us Afrikaans. Both he and Tickey, evidently, never stayed the course and
left the brotherhood some years later. Now, of course, there are no brothers left and old
Ornge is, so I hear, still doing a fantastic job out in the sticks tending to those whose
needs are far greater than ours, as very privileged white youths, ever were.
I was an active member of the Science club in 1962. I proposed a club project to Ornge,
which he accepted, and the school funded. S.A. Philips, the Dutch electronics company,
had recently published a remarkable book, written by its engineers in Joburg, called
‘Transistors for the Home Constructor’. It contained all sorts of circuits for various
electronic gadgets and I wanted to build the radio transmitter. Ornge forked out the
money and my father bought the bits and pieces. Then, two or three of us, set about
building the transmitter. It took a bit of fiddling but eventually we got it working and we
could walk all around the school grounds transmitting our voices to a good old fashioned
‘wireless’ set up in the science lab. And that was long before cell phones. My mates
thought I’d clearly become what I suppose we’d now call a ‘geek’ or a ‘nerd’. They felt I
needed to spend more time with girls.
I left ‘Inanda’ at the end of 1962 and spent nine months in the army before going to Wits
to do electrical engineering. Graduating, after a few hiccups along the way, with B.Sc
(Eng) degree launched me on a career that became my life, first in Joburg at the
Chamber of Mines Research labs, and then at Wits as an academic in my old
department and for the last twenty years, before I retired five years ago, at the University
of Liverpool. As a side interest, I also wrote the biography of Sir Basil Schonland, a
noted South African scientist who amongst many other things founded the CSIR, was
scientific adviser to Field Marshal Montgomery and ultimately, was director of Harwell,
the atomic energy research establishment in England. It was published in 2001. St
David’s (‘Inanda’) provided me with lots of good guidance, both academic and spiritual,
great company amongst one’s fellow pupils and, especially, a sense of pride in a
wonderful institution that thrived throughout my time there under an inspirational
headmaster always known to us as ‘Ornge’.
B.A. (Brian) Austin
West Kirby
Wirral
UK
(May 2010)

Brother Aidan 1963- 1984
Br Aidan attended St Aidan’s School where he matriculated in 1953 and then attended Wits University in 1954.
As Br Aidan’s main ambition was to teach he joined the Marist Brothers in Pietermaritzburg. He then went to
Australia to complete his novitiate and eventually returned to Port Elizabeth’s Walmer School to teachAt the
end of 1962 he received a letter from the Bishop in Johannesburg to take up the post as bursar at Observatory.
Br Michael, the incumbent bursar at St David’s, met Br Aidan at the train station and, when they arrived at St
David’s Br Michael informed him that the position had changed from Observatory to St David’s as he, Br
Michael, had been appointed Provincial and therefore had to vacate the position. The job had included looking
after the boaders and their food etc. Br Michael had looked after the tuckshop, worked only for the boarders
and had to supervise that every afternoon and evening. The job also covered the ground staff. With Piet the
cook for the boarders, the catering turned out to be quite easy, Charles was the brothers cook and second IC
in the kitchen. Apart from being ther bursar, Br Aidan had 4 periods of teaching Monday to Thursday after
break and on a Friday afternoon he had to do the shopping which was a heavy load.Br Aidan was very
reluctant re taking this position as he really wanted to teach. Before the Bishop sent the letter to Br Aidan the
Marist Brothers had spoken to Br Aidan’s father who was a bank manager and asked if he thought his son
would be able to cope with the job. All his father stated was that he was not in favour of his son joining the
bank!
The brothers at this stage moved into the admin block from the house near the swimming pool but the
configuration of the new ‘house’ was not really suitable as offices and living areas. Br Aidan had installed a
safe in the office but there were only two burglaries in all the years he was bursar and each time nothing of
value was taken. Br Anthony had a secretary, the first ever – Mrs Macfarlane? Br Aidan remembered Phineas
Selima who worked with him.
The first year was tough but the second year was even worse. The accounting system that was used came from
France as they had to report to the Mother House each year. In 1965 the Provincial moved him to Pietermaritzburg
and then on to Walmer, PE from 1966 to 1967 where he taught and looked after the boarders.
Br Ephrem, the new Provincial, recalled Br Aidan to pick up the pieces and he stayed at St David’s from 1968 to 1984.
Piet was the first cook in the kitchen,then the school had a series of cooks including a Scottish couple with the wife in
the kitchen and the husband as groundsman. This didn’t last long and they were followed by Mr and Mrs Erdis. Once
they left there was a gap of many years before Willem van der Merwe was appointed. To begin with there was conflict
between the work force and Willem. The ground staff were really left to their own devices because Brother was far too
busy with other matters. The problem was solved and they have become a cohesive unit now.
Br Anthony appointed some parents to form an advisory committee (first mentioned in 1968), they were the
forerunners to the board of governors. Messers N Herber, P Paizes and T Marneweck were the first parents selected.
The Marist Provincial Council took the decision that each school should be governed by an appointed board
comprising people of varying expertise due to the declining numbers of Brothers. The old boys, especially Alf Smit
were very involved and wanted St David’s to continue.
As time went on Br Aidan found that it was increasingly difficult to keep the books. He was not proficient in double
entry bookkeeping and therefore suggested that the books should be outsourced. This was done and Mr Viera came
in once a week but this process was too slow so his services were terminated. Towards the end of the 1970’s Mrs
Audrey Williams, a school secretary, was employed as a bookkeeper.
In the early 1980’s the Marist Provincial Council felt that employing a brother to be act as a bursar was counterproductive.
Mrs Anne Evans, the bookkeeping teacher, took over as bursar in 1984 with Br Aidan taking the year to
hand over the reins.
The financial position was not good as the fees were not very high. The Science lab had been built as well as the new
swimming pool. The board were not happy with the way in which the brothers allowed some children to attend the
school without paying. The brothers didn’t give cash bursaries only book entries.
A huge financial boost to the school finances was the expropriation of the land adjoining Rivonia Road. The money
from this should have gone to the Marist Brothers as they owned the land but instead Br Anthony used the money to
pay for the building of the Science lab (Opened in 1972 together with the Br Urban auditorium).
Br Ephrem moved into Maryknoll once Mrs McGill Love went to a retirement home.(The property was purchased in
1963) The McGill family were hoping that the will could be revoked and that they would get the land back. This of
course did not happen and the superiors put pressure on the school to sell some of the land as they felt the school
would have no need for it.
An embarrassing moment was when the school started accepting black children. Br Aidan was so used to seeing
people waiting in the passage applying for work so this one day he greeted this gentleman and asked him what job he
was being interviewed for only to be told that he was there to enroll his son in the school!
On another occasion Heather Joseph and Carol Ansell were talking outside Br Aidan’s office window not thinking that
their conversation could be overheard. It was just after the holidays and Heather was bringing Carol up to date with
the holiday. Heather had been to Port Alfred and said the surf was great but on one occasion she had lost her bikini
top in the surf and had to run back to the beach. Br Aidan decided to use this episode and told Heather that a lady had
arrived at school with a green bikini top which she felt belonged to someone on the staff. Of course this wasn’t true but
caused Heather much embarrassment.
After Br Aidan left St David’s he was sent to Holy Cross in Soweto run by the Holy Cross Sisters in 1986. Here he
taught which he thoroughly enjoyed, however the year was very disruptive due to the 10th anniversary of the Soweto
riots. The sisters felt that their work was not being done and they decided to close the school and the Bishop decided
that the diocese would take over the school. The opening in 1987 was slightly delayed but the school finally opened
with over 700 pupils and very few suitably trained teachers. Br Aidan wasis still at Holy Cross at the time of this
conversation and was slowly handing over to lay staff but unfortunately once they are suitably trained they leave for
greener pastures.
In conclusion Br Aidan felt that all the effort that was put into the school in the 60’s and 70’s has been worthwhile. The
area around the school and the catchment area changed dramatically but he felt very proud when he returned to the
school.
November 2010

Interview with Darko Vidas 1962
Darko joined St David’s in 1960 after living in Namibia. His mother had died and eventually his
father decided to move to Johannesburg hoping for a better life for his children. Darko was a
boarder and found the first year to be very hard; it was difficult to get acquainted with everyone
and everything, plus the fact that he went overseas for two months to Europe and Croatia to
meet his family there.
Darko was quite a rebellious child and initially found the discipline at St David’s to be a difficult
change from life as he knew it. Brother Anthony had just been appointed headmaster and he
began by reading the boys the riot act as he was determined to change the ethos of the school
and behaviour of the boys. Darko thought he would get thrown out of the school!
His first day was quite horrific. Getting organised, classrooms, teachers and books he needed. It
was a very different environment from Namibia where he went to a much poorer, dual medium –
English and Afrikaans school and discipline was a big issue. His English was never very good
as he had been brought up in his mother tongue of Croatian until he went to school and he
battled with the language.
He now speaks Croatian, English, Afrikaans, German and a little Zulu and firmly believes in
introducing other languages to children as it gives them a greater vista and an advantage.
He also remembers serving at mass in Namibia, if you did this the nuns gave you breakfast
which included delicious rye bread and polony.
He really enjoyed his time at St David’s, making good friends, with whom he really bonded.
They shared everything, which was a great experience; he mixed with boys from different walks
of life – richer and poorer than himself – having compassion for one another. The brothers
showed love and compassion even though they were disciplinarians. As far as he was
concerned there were no cons to boarding school life at St David’s, for him it became his home
and haven as he no longer had a mother at home. He also remembered that the food was very
good.
Some of the Old Boys he is still in touch with and some he remembers:
Alec Quail Steven Muller
Doug Wickins Mike von Guilleaume
John Daly Rugani - deceased
Alf Smith Tonetti - deceased
The last day he can’t remember which exam he wrote. He remembers that he wasn’t happy
about leaving and knew he would always be back. It was the end of an era and he was sad
about it.
The boys were made to play sport and he played 1st team rugby and was vice –captain of 1st
rugby team, although he had never played before. He was also a good athlete. His record with
cricket was rather ignominious as, during net practice he disgraced himself and managed to
injure one of the school’s best batsmen. Needless to say he wasn’t encouraged to continue. He
was nicknamed “Bull”, was rugby prop and was injured in a match against KES. Whilst he was
in hospital, Br Anthony told the boys to go to church and pray for Bulls recovery.
His class was the smallest matric class ever, just 17 of them, but they played against all the top
schools and beat Observatory for the first time in 1961 away (3-0) 1962 at home (6-8).
As teachers, he didn’t think the brothers were particularly good but they were certainly always
encouraging and supportive. The brothers at the time were Br Anthony, Br. Gerard, Br Liam, Br
Dennis who coached rugby and Br Ignatius and there were some lay teachers in the junior
school. Br Gerard was kind, compassionate and a dedicated teacher who helped him a lot with
his English and gave him extra lessons at no charge. He put up a stage production of “Hamlet”.
All the boys had to learn the roles and not only learn the words but understand and interpret the
meaning. He was also the senior master for the boarders and used to feed them extra food in
the form of cakes from the brother’s fridge.
The brothers were a family in themselves and motivated all the pupils and taught them to be
innovative and to think laterally. They taught them to understand what they were trying to do
and not just to learn another formula.
He remembers that he and some of the other boys built a stage for a production of “Swan Lake”.
They took Gertie, the school bus to collect wood from some of the boys. However that didn’t
come to anything and eventually the wood was donated. When it was finished it had to be
transported from the wood workshop to the school hall (now the library) and all the boarders
mucked in and helped.
Alex Quail and Darko shared a big trunk in which they kept their books and punishment for
some of the younger boarders was to carry this trunk from their classroom back to the study.
Once, a couple of boys dropped the trunk, which then went sliding down the stairs nearly wiping
out Brother Anthony. The poor boys even got caned, an additional punishment however Brother
Anthony didn’t cane hard as he really didn’t believe in caning.
Another time the boarders went on strike protesting about the food and one boy even sang a
ditty
“Sausage in the morning, sausage in the evening sausage at super time”. Brother Gerard who
was in charge of the boarders had a soft heart and often used to open the brothers fridge and
hand out some food.
An incident, where he got into trouble after complaining about an English test, led him to be
disciplined by Br Anthony. He was not allowed to wear his honours blazer for 3 months. It was
very hard for him but he learnt the true meaning of the school motto “Comfortare esto vir - Take
courage and be a man”. Br Anthony was the cornerstone of his life, always there to listen and
offer advice and was a guest at Darko’s wedding.
Darko was vice captain of Osmond house and a prefect.
Darko’s first girlfriend, who was with him at his matric dance, much to his horror, became a nun,
however they kept in touch until she died.
When he left school he went into the navy. He volunteered together with Doug Wickins.
Afterwards he started an apprenticeship with Eskom as an electrician but he decided this
wouldn’t get him very far and studied electrical engineering at night at the Wits technikon. When
qualified he joined Siemens where he stayed for 41 years until he retired.
He brought his future wife to St David’s and remembers telling her that any sons of his would be
pupils at the school. He continued to be an active member of the school community and served
several terms on the PTA from and on the board of governors as a well as on the old boys
committee and the old boy’s bursary fund, but hastened to add that many of his compatriots did
likewise. Darko was also good friends with the now infamous headmaster John Murphy. Darko
being a boxer had something in common with him. Darko was at that time chairman of MOBS
and was on the board of governors. He was distressed to here of Murphy’s wrestling exploits
but agreed he had to go when his falsification of qualifications also came to light.
JE May 2011

Interview with Alan Reeves – 1977
Alan began his career, as a day boy at St David’s in standard 1 (grade 3) in 1968. It was a
completely new school for him and he was very excited on his first day even though he really
didn’t know what to expect. He quickly made friends and remained friendly with the same guys
throughout his school career.
He remembers that as a day boy that it was good to go home each day but that a lot of time was
wasted travelling especially when school or sports functions finished late. The boarders created
a deep rooted spirit and tradition in the school and Alan felt it was a real shame when the
boarding school closed as that all vanished.
Alan really enjoyed being around friends every day, the sport, the spirit.
Some negative aspects were classes with Br Bernard who taught Latin and made all the boys
hate the language. Some amusing situations were in the class of Mr Sherman who was a
temporary History teacher. He had absolutely no control over the class, the boys initially gave
him some nonsense names. He was a disaster and, at the end of term when the parents met
the teachers there was always a long queue outside his classroom., He spent hours writing out
notes on the board and the boys would come into the class early and wipe them off. Colin
Anderson (vice head boy), who didn’t even take History shot a movie in the classroom hidden at
the back under all the blazers and Mr Sherman didn’t even notice.
Teachers he remembers well and who left a lasting impression on him were Br Timothy, who
showed him the meaning of leadership and empowerment as he guided him but let him make
his own decisions as head boy. Ken Lipschitz used very progressive teaching methods and Alan
thought that both he and Br Timothy changed a lot of aspects at the school in a subtle way to
more modern educational processes.
Alan remembers Nassey Simaan and his wife Agnes. Nassey was the rugby coach and
coached the 1972 rugby team which only lost one game..Agnes was a very kind person and all
the boys would go to her if they had problems.
Angelo Haggiyannis, head boy 1974 and Alan were both in the Wanderers Club athletics team
and used to take part in athletics competitons. Alan said that Angelo was a brilliant athlete and
they are still friends.
Alan enjoyed the leadership courses and in particular the one held at Queen’s College in 1977.
There was also a leadership course held at Hibberdene where, on the last night the boys put on
a show which included taking off the teachers!!
His most memorable moment at St David’s was when he was told he had been elected as head
boy for 1977, this was in the October 1976 and the day he was also informed he was to receive
the Marist Provincial Award. At his first matric dance in his grade 11 year he was partnered by
his girlfriend who is now his wife.
Academically Alan received a study scroll. He was part of the band playing guitar at the interhouse
plays held at Rosebank Convent.The press attended and a good write up followed. Alan
loved sport and was in the rugby 1st XV team, A team swimming, A team water polo and in the
athletics team. He represented the SA invitation team in the pentathlon and SA Defence in
pentathlon in 1981.Alan was head boy in his matric year. On his last day Alan recalled feeling
very sad as friends were going to different universities, military service and emigrating.
He went on to study for a BComm at Wits University. He has always owned his own businesses
together with his brother Mark and owned Foto First and Beyond IT for 25 years, sold out in
2004 and started DIY Depot in 2007.
JLE 2012

Interview with Frank Cattich – 1969
Frank came as a boarder to St David’s in standard 8, 1966. He had previously been a pupil at St
Aidan’s in Grahamstown and had a bond with Br Aidan having been a pupil of his. St Aidan’s
was Jesuit and extremely strict so it was a relief to appreciate that St David’s was not quite so
rigid and more relaxed. It was also great to be closer to home as his parents lived in
Bedfordview.
Frank’s mother was an orphan who grew up with nuns in Rome and Frank remembers staying
in the grounds of the Vatican as a child. His mother sought out her mother in South Africa as
she wanted to know why she had abandoned her. Unfortunately this didn’t have a happy ending
as her mother a widow, her husband having been the owner of Valenti Construction, didn’t want
to know her daughter. She established that her father was an Italian prisoner of war and
eventually got to know Margo Moni and others with whom she lived together in the youth hostel.
He recalls his first encounter with Anthony Stanley was with a punch up on the rugby field and
they have been firm friends ever since. Mike Denopolius built the castle at Kyalami, now lives in
Marbella and his daughter recently married Chemaly’s son
Trevor Corie was a boarder who slept near Frank and about twice a month they would stuff their
beds with cushions, climb out the window onto the roof and through a chapel window en route to
the kitchen. They would raid the kitchen and, after midnight bring back the loot, cases of cool
drink, biscuits and sweets. There were a couple of dobermans that roamed around the school
but they never barked at them and Br Bosco used to patrol the dorms with his torch but never
caught them out. On one occasion they were in the kitchen, heard footsteps, one of the Brothers
had come down to make a cup of tea, all the lights went on and the boys hid behind the stove.
Trevor started to giggle and Frank’s heart stopped, thinking they were going to be caught, it
seemed like an eternity but they got away with it. Later the brothers put a padlock on the fridge
but undeterred the boys removed the pins from the hinges and still got in. During these raids the
boys accumulated hundreds of empty bottles which they stacked on the roof and only years
later were they found.
The boarders were used to plant the fields on the McGill- Love farm at the weekends.
Br Mario was unique and always seemed to be in conflict with the boys behaving rather like a
prison warden. He wasn’t unfair but the boys just didn’t like him. He once ordered Frank and
Trevor to bend over and Trevor refused, they weren’t guilty on this occasion. Br Mario just didn’t
know how to deal with them. Br Andrew “Drac”was very hard and Frank recalls being lashed on
his first day at lunchtime following a fist fight. One of the boys, Simon had been tormenting the
new boy Frank, shooting at him with a peashooter, Frank identified the culprit and let him have it
on the landing, unfortunately witnessed by Br Andrew. Br Michael was the rugby coach. Br
Anthony had a short memory and awarded Frank his honours blazer, which he never received
as his father refused to pay for it. He was awarded scrolls for athletics, rugby and merit; three
scrolls were required for honours, three months later Br Anthony, obviously wondering why
Frank wasn’t wearing an honours blazer re-awarded him his scrolls.
Frank played rugby and was 1st team captain in 1969 and recalls there was a blood feud
between Observatory and St David’s and there were some tough games. On one occasion he
remembers a painful experience playing against Jeppe when he was about to score, was ankle
tackled and fell a metre short of the line. Frank didn’t board for his last year but rode to and from
school on his motorcycle. He remembered that his brother had an operation to reconstruct his
nose which cost R10 000. Being fair his father offered him the same option but Frank decided to
keep his nose and save the money.
Frank was a November child and he believes that this contributed to him repeating his matric
year in 1969, together with Willy Castle. However, Frank was not good academically, was
motivated by material things and didn’t achieve a university pass. On leaving school Frank went
into the army and afterwards went to Europe where he met a German girl, a dental assistant. He
stayed with the family for four years before returning to South Africa and joined his father’s
company dealing in civil construction, earthworks and pipelines. He was an apprentice for 6 -7
years. His father didn’t believe in spoiling his children and Frank was the black sheep of the
family, with his brother and sister going on to university .Frank speaks fluent German and Italian
and has always been in business for himself spending 7 years in Switzerland and then he got
involved with a contract in Iraq which was a huge and exciting challenge. He was established in
Cyprus and all was going well until 9/11 when, due to sanctions nothing was allowed in or out of
Iraq. Following this disaster, Frank came back to South Africa and together with Investec Bank
launched Velocity, a company with technology imported from the UK to upgrade and maintain
the deteriorating roads in South Africa.
He is married to Sheena and is the father of three children, a son Maximillian, a pupil at St
David’s in grade 0 and twins a boy and girl.
Frank is an active member of MOBS.
JLE October 2012

Chris Daras – 1976
Chris was a boarder at St David’s from standard 1 in 1967. In standard 6, 1972 the boarding
was closed down completely. Chris’s brother George was already a day boy and their parents
lived on the corner of Bompas Road and Jan Smuts Avenue.
Chris hated boarding, only being allowed home for one weekend a month so he was quite
pleased to become a day boy. Whilst he was a boarder he was fortunate to have a friend,
Andrew McCartney who used to invite him for Sunday breakfast. Andrew’s father was one of the
first ophthalmologists in South Africa and took Chris to work with him, it was then that Chris
decided on ophthalmology as a career.
Because of the boarding facility there were many boys from the Congo, Mozambique and other
parts of Southern Africa but when it closed many of those boys went to St John’s College and
boarded there.
Chris recalled the dining room and the kitchen where the tuck shop is now and remembers that
they were given an avocado once a week at breakfast.
On his first day Chris made friends with Neil Jacobs, now a cardiologist in Sydney; Les Pullman
who is chief financial officer for Nandos, with whom he is still in touch, the Lebos brothers,
Martin Gill, Roberto Berti, Mark Otto qualified as a dentist and then became a professional wind
surfer, John Lawrenson – professor of paediatric cardiology, Children’s Hospital C.T., John
Hazkins and Tim Parr who formed a band called “Elemental”, he was good at English and once
someone upset him in class and he just stood on a desk and kicked him. There was a golfer,
Fulton Allem who was a friend of the Kouries and Lebos families, he used to practise on the
rugby fields and ended up winning the Million Dollar Golf at Sun City. All in Chris’s group did
pretty well but some sadly have since passed away - Mark Meyer, Basil Sopas and Nick
Georgidos
The school has changed enormously. The pool was built during Chris’s time and the boys used
to play war games where the tennis courts are now. A sculptor, Baldinelli or Villa lived in the
house nearby and used to scream at the boys to be quiet and they retaliated by throwing stones
at the metal sculptures.
Of the teachers he remembers Bill Karoo who taught Biology in the high school and Chris went
with him and Heather Joseph on a trip to Europe, George Maritz, a ducktail with brylcreamed
hair and pointed shoes.
Brother Anthony was the initial headmaster followed by Br. Timothy. The dormitories were
above what is now Willy Castle’s office and Chris can remember listening to the radio broadcast
of the first landing on the moon one Sunday. He recalls Br Mario and Br Aidan and saw Br
Bernard carve the statue that now stands outside the chapel. The brothers used to make the
boarders weed the playing fields on a Saturday to keep them busy. The school did well with
horse riding with the paddocks where the grade 00 block now stands. The team won the
national schools jumping competition at Hickstead in England. Bishop Tutu came to speak to
the boys in the auditorium and began by saying he wasn’t there to make a political speech and
then proceeded to do just that. He made a big impact on many of the boys
Chris’s matric year was the year that one of the brothers took the boys out to a movie followed
by supper.
There was a rumour in his matric year that there were going to be attacks on white schools and
unbeknown to the teachers, many of the boys took guns to school. Chris was a prefect, vicecaptain
of College house and was awarded his honours blazer for studies, merit and athletics.
Chris was a runner, played rugby and sometimes captained the 2nd rugby team and was a
member of the B swimming team..
Although many of the boys didn’t realise it at the time, St David’s carried a lot of prestige with
the institutions of higher learning. St David’s also went against what the government of the day
stood for and school was important for that reason. The first black children were admitted as
pupils in 1975. That ethos came through and with many of the old boys that thinking has not
changed.
Chris didn’t do well academically but passed matric and went on to Wits University where he
studied for 5 degrees – Initially a BSc Hons in neuro-chemistry for 6 years followed by yeast
technology at Stellenbosch and then eventually he went into ophthalmology. Whilst at Wits he
joined a student march and met Philip Tobias. Chris had some money and decided to study until
the money ran out; also it was a way of avoiding the army. If you registered for under-graduate
courses you were not called up. However, in 1989 the army caught up with him and he ended
up as serving for a year as an eye doctor stationed in Pretoria with an office next door to Wouter
Basson.
Chris has two sons who are currently pupils at St David’s and he is a member of MOBS.
JLE June 2012

Interview with David Braun – 1972
David attended St David’s from 1967 to 1972 and his brother Jamie until 1974 and some of the
track records he set were unbroken for several years after he left. His father, Max Braun was
chairman of the PTA at one time.
David was a day boy apart from a stint at boarding in 1970. He remembers brothers such as Br
Patrick his class teacher in standard 5, Br Andrew who taught him Maths, Br Ezekiel also
Maths, Br Bosco\Mario – Science, Br Timothy – Biology and Catholic Doctrine, Br Bernard –
housemaster, Br Anthony – headmaster, Br Aidan – Latin and bursar. David was grateful for the
education he received at St David’s, especially the Brothers, but also some amazing lay
teachers. Br Timothy’s Biology classes inspired him to become very interested in the natural
world and he subsequently has ended up doing working for National Geographic.
He appreciated the liberal aspects of his education, especially from the brothers and other
teachers who openly questioned the morality of separate development and who taught the boys
to understand and appreciate History, Geography and Science all of which has served him well.
He regarded himself as having received a strong education at St David’s and various South
Africa universities.
David was not much of an athlete at school, he tried swimming in his earlier years and the last
rugby match he played was for the U15 C team and vividly remembered a match played against
St John’s as being particularly dirty in the scrum. He was a prop and received several injuries in
that game, including a bite and a very hard blow to the groin. It was only after he left school that
he found enjoyment in running and completed 12 marathons including the Two Oceans twice.
He recalls other boys and in particular Robert Tine who left to attend a fashionable school in
Swaziland and became a famous novelist of stories based on popular movies. David and Robert
were members of their own secret society in 1969, complete with covert awards and medals
which they used to wear on the underside of their blazer lapels. The society’s only function was
to mock the more obnoxious teachers and prefects. It was an amusement during the breaks.
On leaving school, David did his national service with a couple of Marist boys at 3SAI in
Potchefstroom and then was transferred to the military police in Wonderboom and
Voortrekkerhoogte and didn’t do any camps after basic training. He then enrolled at RAU for a
BA in Political Science and International Politics,doing his studies in Afrikaans, his second
language. He completed two years then dropped out to become a journalist. He later completed
his BA via Unisa. He added a post-graduate diploma in strategic marketing from Unisa and
some credits for an MBA at the Wits Business School.
David’s student career was marked by political activism, first as a member of the Young South
Africans of the United Party then as a young Prog chairman and deputy chairman of the
Southern Witwatersrand region of the Young Progs. He also served on the federal executive of
the Young Progs under the chairmanship of Bobby Godsell who later on became chairman of
the SA Chamber of Mines and CEO of AngloGold.
In 1976 he joined Argus Newspapers as a cadet journalist on Pretoria News and worked for
some 17 years for the newspaper group now Independent Newspapers, becoming political
correspondent of The Star when he was 29 and Washington bureau chief when he was 34. He
returned to SA as an executive editor on a couple of Durban newspapers and then emmigrated
with his family to the US in 1995. He has been with National Geographic for more than 15 years,
the last 5 of which he has been VP editor in chief for National Geographic digital media.
David is a dual citizen of the United States and South Africa and is married to Caroline Melhliss,
also a journalist on the Pretoria News. They have a daughter, a psychologist and a son who
works on web development for the army small business unit at the Pentagon.
David has travelled widely in his career and privately but notably he travelled with four SA
Presidents, P W Botha to Zaire, Ivory Coast and several countries in Europe; De Klerk to the
US, Mandela on his North American tour and Mbeki to the UN in New York. He also travelled
with President Clinton to four African countries and Mexico a few years before he left office. He
has been to more than 80 countries, more than 50 as a working journalist. He has taught
journalism in South Africa, the U.S. and Russia. He has published two books and has solid
plans for three more and intends to be very active in his retirement.
JLE November 2012

Interview with Mike Eilertsen – 2000
Coming from Rosebank Primary, Mike joined St David’s in 1996 when Paul Edey was
headmaster. He recalled that on the first day standard 6 underwent an induction on the
basketball courts and bullying was the big topic for the day and great emphasis was placed on
the boys being part of the Marist family. Rod Smith had been the victim of bullying in his youth
and was therefore strongly against it.
The teachers he remembers in particular are Mrs Snyman, Mr Fry, Mr McMillan, Mrs Cameron,
Paul Edey and Rod Smith. Debbie Cameron was impressive and once flicked and caught her
high heeled shoe before throwing it across the class when the boys were being particularly
unruly. Mr Cameron had an elastic ball which grew and grew as he confiscated rubber bands
from the boys. Mr McMillan used to squash paper and throw it at the boys, on one occasion
Mike caught it and threw it straight back. “Mac” used to hit the boys with his hand with what was
called a “Pucker”, he wasn’t vicious but made his point and often used to make the class stay in
after school. He had a little Scottie dog which followed him everywhere. Mrs Schumayn the
Afrikaans teacher would get so harassed by the boys that she would order the whole class out
of the classroom. Of course the boys took advantage of this until one day Mr Edey came by and
asked why all the boys were in the quad. There was a Mrs Leenstra who taught Maths and with
whom every boy fell in love. She was a warm person and beautiful on the inside as well as
being very attractive.
Mike was a very good sportsman excelling in athletics, was a good sprinter and received the
Victor Ludorum in 1999 and 2000. He was awarded an honours Blazer for general honours and
specific honours, sport, culturals, merit and leadership. Mike also got involved with school and
house plays, and public speaking which helped in his business career and is key with his
presentations. Academically Mike was in the top class but regarded himself a “B” student.
Mike went on to study a BComm Entrepreneurship at RAU but was unhappy with the content
and programme. He decided to open a business – “Breakfast Boys”, he initiated this and sold
breakfast packs at the corner of Jan Smuts and Conrad Drive for R10. He included pamphlets
about himself and what he was doing and business issues he was experiencing. The business
did well and he had a number of students who did the same thing at various key intersections
with him providing the packs. Someone then asked for coffee with the breakfast pack which led
to Mike buying some backpacks from Nestle and then flying to the US to acquire the rights for
the specialised backpacks. Two months later he took over the below line marketing for Nestle
and SAB and covered all the cricket matches and outdoor events including the World Cup. It
wasn’t long before Nestle and SAB bought him out. Together with Bruce Smith he got involved
with other ventures and now runs an events company, publishing and travel companies under
the umbrella “LiveOutLoud”. The hard cover magazine he publishes is available only to
exceptional people or SA business leaders.
Mike’s company is a finalist in the Sanlam Entrepreneurial Award 2012, the youngest company
to be nominated and in the top 20. The company was placed in the annual Africa SMME Awards
where the best businesses in Africa and the most innovative were identified. Mike’s company
was placed second in the “Most Innovative Category”.
Mike believes that experience is as vital as qualifications and that the courage to go out and get
involved in something makes you stand out.
Mike would be interested in offering internships to boys in grade 10 and up and would be
interested to be involved with the matric rite of passage. He would be interested in the book and
getting involved in 2016 celebrations and MOBS.
JE September 2012

Interview with Keith Farquharson- 1952
Keith attended St David’s from 1948 until 1952 and was a day boy who boarded for a couple of
terms whilst his parents were overseas.
Keith enjoyed the sport playing rugby and tennis but wasn’t particularly good at swimming or
cricket. His mission was to get his matric and go to university. He enjoyed the tours when the
boys went to play rugby at CBC and St Charles, it was not a regular occurrence and was a treat
to go away. Harry Best was the PE teacher in charge of general sports who introduced boxing
to the school. He didn’t allow fighting but if the boys had an issue they would participate in a
controlled boxing contest. Keith said that Paul Freemantle and Risi had quite a fight. Harry had
a link with a boxing gym in the Johannesburg city centre and when Vic Toweel was contesting
the World Bantamweight Title, Harry organised sparring partners for his opponent Jimmy
Carruthers the current holder of the title. A number of the boys used to go and spar with Jimmy
and were paid five shillings per round. Vic Toweel won the fight.
As a day boy Keith was able to buy cigarettes for the boarders and recalls he charged one
shilling for a box of commandoes. He also supplied the boarders with sandwiches.
Brother Urban was principal but when he died in 1950 Br Edwin was appointed. Br Edward who
was Spanish taught Maths, Br Benedict coached rugby, Br Thomas taught Science and
coached rugby and although he also carried his cane in his cassock, was his favourite brother
who took him to task on a number of occasions and took the class for the first period after the
lunch break. He used to enjoy his tot and was in charge of the B dorm. Once a month on a
Thursday he would have the day off and go shopping and bring home his tipple. He had to walk
from the terminus in Dunkeld and once fell, breaking his arm which meant he couldn’t
administer any form of corporal punishment.
Of his fellow pupils Jeff Truby came from Barberton and would bring back miner’s fuses after
the holidays. The boys used to then make bombs with the Sparklets soda siphon refills and
Hugh Miller, who was a keen chemist blew up the steps by the tuck shop and was put on
probation. Charlie Gilfilllian had a bad stutter and was never asked questions in class. Ray
Gibson and Mike Forrester dropped out. They were notorious for slipping out after late prep and
had girlfriends down the road. The belief was that they were expelled, both of them played 1st
team rugby and were sorely missed. B Cooper came from Hilton where he had refused to do
any fagging for senior prefects and opted out and came to St David’s. Unfortunately boys
coming home for the holidays had a vendetta against him and he often needed a group of St
David’s boys to escort him home. A sad memory is of Peter de Silla vice-captain of the cricket
team whose youngest son had a drug problem and ended up murdering Peter and his wife.
Norman Lazarus had the nickname Oogies where he came from, Paul Freemantle started at St
David’s in 1941 and his brothers Owen and Joe always attended the school. Dan Reeece was
the 1st team rugby captain and is reputed to have set up the biggest Ponzi scheme in South
Africa and attempts are still being made to extradite him from Switzerland. Cornelius Seeling
used to build kites and in August would secure them to the rugby posts on the main rugby field.
Peter Leigh whose father was the school doctor, Brian Stott, Victor Ludorum in 1952 was a
casualty of the lightening strike whilst playing golf at Johannesburg Country Club.
After matriculating Keith went on to Wits university and UCT acquiring financial qualifications
and also became a member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators. His
career was in the field of financial management working for Deloittes, Cooper and Cooper and
was surveillance manager at the JSE for 10 years until the 90’s when he became the financial
manager for E. W. Balderson. He lost contact with St David’s until 1963 when he and his wife
played hockey for Maristonians and he renewed his association with MOBs. Keith and his wife
Dorothy have a son and two daughters.
JLE November 2012

Interview with Thierry Dalais – 1975
Thierry has had a long association with Marist Brothers. His father went to St Charles and he
himself went to St Charles as a boarder in 1973 at the age of 10, he loved the school and, on
moving to Johannesburg was introduced to St David’s in standard 8 whilst Br Anthony was still
headmaster.
On his first day, school had already started and Br Anthony took him to class 8A (Class 8 was
the smarter class!) and the chaps he then met are still his friends to this day.
Thierry was very involved with sport and played everything that he could including rugby,
athletics, swimming and was a good tennis player together with Michael Lipschitz and Victor
Lalieu (now in Brisbane, Australia). He was a member of the 1st tennis and rugby teams. Brother
Timothy coached the 1st rugby team and became headmaster of the school in 1975.
Academically Thierry did well and together with John Wallington achieved the studies scroll
requiring an average of 60%. He came in late to the school but was accepted and eventually
became a prefect.
Thierry remembers Brothers such as Br Timothy, Br Ezekiel, Br Andrew, Mr Sanders and Mrs
Trudy Elliott. His colleagues included boys such as John Wallington, Case Schilperoot, Marshall
Walford, John Swingler and Mike Black. He has fond memories of assemblies, prize giving,
competitions and big events, debating, swimming galas and water polo matches. Champagnat
day was however not such a big event. Of his last day he recalls nothing remarkable, he has
very fond memories of the school and is proud to have been a pupil and sent his sons to St
David’s although they wanted to go to boarding school, being a boy thing, and one son went
initially to St Andrews and then St David’s and the other two went firstly to St David’s and
afterwards to Michaelhouse.
Thierry recalls that there were issues involved with transition in the school with the boarding
closing and other mostly political issues. The Marist Brothers underwent a tough time and
Brother Jude was very involved with the major issues of the time and the accompanying
financial restraints. The brothers were very good at teaching the boys about what was
happening in the country at the time and were rumoured to have given shelter to members of
the ANC. However there were no more brothers coming in to the country and the schools began
to introduce lay headmasters and teachers.
On leaving St David’s Thierry was awarded a bursary by Anglo American and studied
accounting and commerce at Wits University but eventually served articles and worked as an
accountant with Deloittes. He is currently executive chairman and founder of the Metier Group
based in Johannesburg. The company gives investment advice to “Love Life” and runs their
investment programme, the company’s general social responsibility being currently quite strong.
Thierry is a member of MOBS and spent 5 years on the board of St David’s Foundation, was the
first chairman in 2006 and recalls that it was initially tough going. He thinks the school still has
good values and although it may now be run as a business it has good educational principles
and values. The school has close ties to the Vatican which owns the grounds that the school
leases.
Some ideas or projects he would like to see happening within the school:
Perhaps the boys could adopt a year tracing the old boys in that year and get in touch with them
with the idea of putting contemporaries in different decades in touch with each other.
He would like to see the school yearbooks on the school website.
JE February 2012

Interview with Willem Van Der Merwe – 1981 – 2012 Staff
Willem joined St David’s as estate manager in 1981 at the time when Br Timothy, the then
headmaster left followed by the first lay headmaster Mr Murphy in 1982. Willem supervised a
staff of 20 including, ground, kitchen and cleaning staff all living on the property. Currently only
10 members of the ground staff live on the property. His foreman was Julius and George
Ndlovu. It was the beginning of the mission in Kuruman and Willem found that helping Br
Anthony was very special in the early 80’s. They couldn’t get tradesman in that part of the
country and Willem did most of the plumbing. Br Anthony was one of the best men he had ever
met in his life and was very approachable.
Paul Edey came in 1995 as college headmaster and got the school going again together with
the new development plan which saw many changes in the building and development of the
school. When Willem first arrived at the school there was no fence around the property allowing
access to all and therefore there was a problem with theft so Willem started to fence the
property in. He also constructed the roof over the terraces of the swimming pool. The PTA
funded it and Willem completed it at a far lower cost than had been quoted by outside
companies. Willem was also very much involved with the school fetes, twenty-twenty cricket and
the fireworks with this year being the best controlled event so far.
Already a paddler and, at the request of Paul Edey, in 1995 Willem initiated canoeing as an
extra-mural activity at the school. Willem has trained seven or so SA paddlers during that time.
They competed all over the country with the Duzi, Fish River in Craddock, Cape Town, the
Breede Marathon, just about every river race there was. The SA Schools was held in a different
province each year and Willem encouraged some of the weaker boys and saw the boys grow.
Alex Roberts was one of the best paddlers and the best team he ever produced was with Adrian
Gebers who was the first ever St David’s paddler to make a B final overseas in the sprints.
Willem is grateful that through St David’s he was able to give his sons Vaughan and Matthew a
good education. Vaughan, the eldest studied for a BSc Hons Anthropolgy at Wits University and
was the first person to go as a Gap student to Campeltown in Australia and now runs his own
recruiting business after trying various other options beforehand. He also has a carwash
business and was married last year. Matthew was awarded a scholarship at Varsity College but
he is now at the Design School in Greenside and doing well.
JLE November 2012

Interview with Terence K. Lavery -1967 aka – T
Years attended Marist Inanda – 1956 -1967 – Matriculated 1967
My oldest brother Rory (1965) and I carpooled from Emerentia Ext. with Kevin & Johnny Peel
from 1956 – 1965. In 1966 & 1967 I boarded at Marist InandaThere really were not any pros to
being a day boy, it was what it was and we didn’t know anything else and I did feel sorry for the
boarders that had to remain at school over the week-ends but sports and activities made the
week-end go by quickly.The cons to being a day boy for the Lavery’s & Peel’s were that we had
to get up rather early to execute the carpool and that we were dropped off early, usually 1 to 1-
1/2 hours before school started (until standard 7, when they implemented a new period that
started @ 7:45am) and we were picked up 5:00pm to go home. This made an extremely long
day, especially in the early years. Special arrangements had to be made when we were let out
of class early and many times we had to wait until 5:00pm to be picked up. The other con was
that we did not get to play or know the children in our neighborhood, since we arrived home so
late.
The pros to being a boarder, especially in standard 9 & matric was the structured day, study
hall, rosary, chapel, meals and bedtime. Boarding (and the military service) taught you to eat
anything and everything otherwise you went hungry. You became better friends to your
boarding classmates.
The cons were the limited access to radio music (a form of broad punishment) and news
papers. In hind sight I missed a lot of music influences in 1966 & 1967 and world and local news
events (Sharpsville riots) that influence and mold teenagers in that age bracket. This really
showed up when I was attending the University of Washington in Seattle, WA 1970-1974.
My 1st day is still a vivid memory, very apprehensive but not like some others that day as I was a
3rd sibling and my oldest brother Rory already attended Marist Inanda. My mother walking me
into the courtyard of the grade school, on the way to Mrs. Bricks classroom when she spotted
another mom and son next to us walking in the same direction, she grabs his arm and asks
“what your name? – Robert Ashby he replies – good, this is Terence Lavery, you are now
friends.” Robert and 11 other boys walking to Mrs. Brick’s classroom that day matriculated
together in 1967.
My last formal day before matric exams began consisted of short time in the classroom followed
by Joe Stravino, Johnny Astrup and I (only 3 matric boys with cars) deciding to race our cars
around the cinder athletic track, NASCAR style early years, sliding around 3 corners (track had
3 legs of cinder and 1 of glass) completing 1 lap and after 2 additional corners finding Br.
Anthony standing squarely in the middle of the track, hands on his hips causing us to come to a
screeching stop. When each of us exited the track onto the road he asked us “What are you
doing? I’m not going to let you take the final exams.” We went to his office to beg for
forgiveness, and permission to be allowed to take the exams.
I cannot remember the theme of the matric dance but I do remember that the standard 9’s had
done an excellent job of decorating the dining hall and that Susan Davey and I had a wonderful
time. I also remember that my sister Trisha, who attended Holy Cross Convent, helped set up
Joe Stravino with Zenda Lutz and Derrick Schoombie with his date for that night and that they
both of them married their dates that night later in life.
I enjoyed the all boys’ school, the uniforms, the small class room sizes, the brothers, the lay
teachers, the discipline, the friendships, ethnic diversity and the athletic fields, the requirement
to participate in a sport every season.
The aspects I least enjoyed were wearing ties on a hot summer day, caning the entire class for
an infraction by one student, competing against larger schools in sports – KES, Parktown Boys
and Marist Obs and getting crushed. But the passage of time, the 46 years, has diminished the
majority of dislikes.
The Marist Centennial celebration in 1966 with 3 bus loads of students travelling down to St
Joseph in Rondebosch, Cape Town was memorable in more ways than one. Best left
unspoken.
The worst moments at school, in my experience, comprised of the strict and severe disciplinary
measures metered out by the brothers. I recall my 1st caning in grade 2 and my last episode 1
week before I matriculated. But the most memorable was a severe dose metered out by Brother
Andrew one morning in 1st period standard 8 because the entire class was were talking and not
studying as instructed. The entire class was marched out single file to an empty class room and
individually brought back for 4 strokes with the cane. When it was my turn Brother Andrew, who
was left handed, seemed to dispense the strokes with extra vigor and on my return to the class
room I felt blood dripping down my buttocks. Being macho and amongst peers you did not show
any sign of pain or crying and were usually laughing out of pain. I let my peers know that I
believe I was bleeding and was called upon to prove it. I dropped my pant to display the
bleeding to all in attendance, only to have Brother Andrew enter the class room to see me with
my pant around my ankles. “Lavery - What are you doing? Do you want 4 more?” When I turned
around to face him he noticed the blood streaming down my leg and his jaw dropped in surprise,
his eyes got bigger and he mumbled “Get dressed!” and left the class room.
As an epilogue to the above story I do not feel that any of the discipline I received was
undeserving or malicious in nature and it never affected me mentally or physically. I never
notified my parents of any incidents because my father was an old Marist Observatory boarder
from grade 1 to matric (1933) and he would have supplemented the punishment. He too was a
strict disciplinarian.Unfortunately time has erased the funny/amusing incidents but I sure if I
were to attend a class reunion my recollections would be rekindled.Once again, unfortunately
time has erased the names and faces of the teachers but the following 3 were clearly influential
in my development. Brother Anthony, Brother Andrew & Brother Timothy come to mind.I was a
prefect but didn’t receive any special awards other than for athletics.
I played all sports at Marist Inanda at that time 1956  1960 swimming, tennis, athletics and
soccer.
1961  1967 – I participated in swimming and water polo team, cricket, tennis, field hockey,
soccer and athletics. We did not attend or have any camps available to us. In all sports I was on
the 1ST Team except cricket which I did not participate in. From 1965 as I was playing baseball
for the Pirates Club and the 1967 1st XV rugby teams as I was training for the Springboks
European tour 1967.I competed for the Southern Transvaal athletics teams from 1964 – 1968 in
all provincial competitions and South African championships and was selected as a Junior
Springbok to compete against Germany 1966 in Bloemfontein, OFS and to tour with the Senior
Springbok team for 4 weeks in Europe July 1967. I still hold 4 South African records in the 100
yards, 220 yards, 220 low hurdles & 440 yards in the U-17 age group.I was selected to attend
the South African Air Force in Valhalla and after my service was completed was given a bursary
to attend Stellenbosch University. I toured with the University of Stellenbosch athletics’ team in
1969 in Rhodesia.
In 1970 at the advice of a mentor, rather than attend the University of Stellenbosch, I applied for
athletics’ scholarships to 14 different USA universities in western or southern states. I accepted
an athletics’ (track) scholarship to the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington State. I
chose to study Business Administration and graduated in December 1974 with a Bachelor of
Science degree in Business Administration with a minor in marketing. In 1975 I attended Wits
University MBA program which I did not complete as I returned to USA in August 1975.
In order to return to the USA on a working permit I was offered a job as an outside Industrial
salesman for a plumbing, commercial and pipe, valves and fittings distribution company in
Seattle, WA. I have been employed there for 38 years and hold the position of national account
manager for The Boeing Company. In this position I administer the support to Boeing for its
ground assembly facilities across the USA, supporting Boeing’s locations in the Puget Sound,
Portland, OR, Southern California, Mesa, AZ, Salt Lake City, UT, St. Louis, MO, El Paso, TX,
San Antonio TX, Philadelphia, PA and Charleston, SC. In 1988 my company Familian
Northwest, Inc was sold to an English company Wolseley, PLC. Which today is the world’s
largest distributor of plumbing, commercial plumbing and pipe, valves and fittings in the world
and USA.
Since I was out of the country I had none of my 3 children attend St. David’s, Marist, Inanda.The
last time I visited St. David’s was in January 2002.
The story I recollect regarding the sports field north (?) of the school is as follows – I believe the
50 acres of property were donated to the school in 1965 +/- and that our students were granted
access to a usually prohibited piece of property for the 1st time. The newly assembled marching
band members use it to practice their bugles and kettle drum music and some members of the
1st VX rugby teams chopped some of the trees down as strength training. Then they started to
bulldoze the lower area for rugby fields and after months of work with large earth moving
equipment the fields had their final shape. I remember that Brother Anthony hire a water
dowsing expert to locate an underground stream or water source and that Brother Andrew, who
maintained the cinder track and cricket pitches, showed us how by using willow branch we
could confirm the location of the water. This is where Mr. Simaan enters the picture, Br. Andrew
was tasked with planting the grass on the newly bull dozed fields, he would allow a selected few
Std 9 & 10 students out during the evening study hall to walk with him as he survey this
monumental task. I’m not sure how this transpired but in short time George Da Matta offered his
father’s flat bed produce truck to Br. Andrew and that a number of us students went over to Mr
Simaans property the following week-end, armed with picks, shovels and pitch forks to harvest
the kikuyu grass that surrounded his property. We returned with a truck load of kikuyu starts that
were subsequently planted in rows starting in the corner closest to the road between the shed
and the property. George Da Matta, Dave Palmer and others that grew up on farms, knew how
to operate the tractor and plow and they hoed perfect rows for us to plant the kikuyu starts. We
did this in the evenings after the african workers had completed their work during the day.
JLE June 2013

Interview with Craig Wallington – 2007
Craig began his career at St David’s in 1995 at the age of 6 in grade 0. In his matric year, he
recalled that there were more boys than in previous years who had completed 13 years at
the school.
Craig’s first teacher was Mrs Sternberg and she left at the end of his year as did his teachers
for grade1, 2 and 3 but he felt redeemed when Mrs Jones in grade 4 stayed on! He has fond
memories of his grade 0 class with prayers before lunch. One of the boys accused another
of having his eyes open during prayers to which Mrs Sternberg replied “How do you know”?
Craig particularly enjoyed grade 4 with Heather Joseph as his Art teacher. He enjoyed the
sport and was the vice captain of cricket in grade 5 and swimming in grade 7. He played
tennis and hockey. At St David’s you got to do everything and, although not a phenomenal
sports person, he played sport every term.
Craig was a member of “The Bishops” from grade 0 to grade 9 but when he chose to study
Zulu instead of Afrikaans he had to move to “Osmond”. Zulu was very new to St David’s with
Mrs Ntombeni the teacher. Eventually Craig decided to go back to Afrikaans at the beginning
of the third term in grade 10. He set his mind to mastering the subject and was awarded the
subject prize in matric.
Teachers who made an impression on him were Mr McIver in grade 5 and 6, Mr Midgley
who taught Maths in grade 7 and Mrs Everson, English. In the high school all the teachers
were really good and Craig couldn’t really point out anyone in particular but Ms D King was
very helpful, also Simon Holderness who taught Maths and was his tutor. Mrs Nagy was
brilliant and Craig believed that her class dynamics were really good. The standard was high
and Craig started study groups with the grade 8’s in the library for the final exams. Craig
achieved academically throughout his time at St David’s.
Craig was involved with public speaking, debating, chess- captain, junior city council where
he met his current girlfriend, annual book quizzes and study groups. Anything you wanted to
achieve was possible and even more so now with Music and Art. He was involved with the
SMILE programme which he found to be an amazing experience. Craig enjoyed St David’s
as there were so many different ways in which one could excel. He was recognised for his
achievements in an environment where academics are recognised and sport did not override
that.
As for the school camps the only one he really enjoyed was the grade 4 Bush Pigs camp.
The grade 9 camp was also super with good leadership experience and a great spirit of
adventure. Craig learnt a lot about himself, although it was a terrifying experience most of
the time. In grade 10 they went hiking in the Drakensberg which he felt was madness and
ended up often hiking alone. The grade 11 camp he recalls was wet and very muddy, it
poured with rain the whole time. They had to cross a bridge to get into the camp and their
shoes were absolutely caked with mud.
Although most of his experiences at St David’s were generally good he does remember that
in grade 9, all the boys were punished when only a few didn’t attend the inter house Music
competition. The matric group that year wasn’t great.
His closest friends were also with him from grade 0, Gianluca Sacco, Connor Williams,
Duncan Otridge and Daniel Chappel, they are now even better friends than they were at
school. He also remembers Benjamin Ndimurukundu in grade 11 with whom he played
doubles, tennis and working together with Tyson Sithole,
Craig felt that St David’s fosters a learning attitude with the influences the teachers had, they
were so accommodating especial when Craig decided to take Accounts as an extra subject.
However a school cannot prepare you for everything and at university one had more
responsibility for one’s self.
Craig became a prefect was awarded honours for academics and (general academics,
cultural and leadership).
On a personal level Craig remembers bumping into Paul Edey when he was in grade 6, Paul
saying “I hear you are the next Daniel Wright”. Craig always studied since grade 8 and
always worked on something beyond his immediate objective and received continuous
positive reinforcement. His goal in matric was to come first in Afrikaans which he achieved,
winning the Buckley-Jones trophy for Afrikaans. Craig was always winning prizes throughout
his school career and in grade 12 was awarded the BR Hunt Trophy for Dux of the school
and the following trophies:
Walter Cronje Trophy for Additional Mathematics; the Phillimore Trophy for English; the
Matric 1991 Trophy for Biology; Thomas McFadden Trophy for History; Mayat Trophy for
Computer Studies; Ryder Bowl for Academic Achievement and the Gian-Paolo Pera
Accounting Prize.
The matric Dance was very special with the grade 11’s organising an amazing event “Cirque
De Soleil”. Marc Neto was head of the MDC and Graham Gallow gave his speech
acknowledging the fact that everyone was there and being a very close knit group.
On leaving St David’s Craig studied for a B Acc Science and was in the top twenty on four
occasions. He completed his honours and in his 2nd year Account articles but is in his first
year at PWC.
Craig is a member of MOBs and would definitely send any sons to St David’s.
JLE June 2013

Interview with Cheryl King - Staff – 2000 to 2015
Cheryl was interviewed by Rick Wilson, prep school headmaster and Mike Forder, bursar and was initially
employed as a secretary to the deputy headmasters Willy Castle and Darrel Webb, taking over from Robbi
Orr who had been employed in the position for 5 years. She shared a very small office in the grade 1 block
next to Carol Ansell’s classroom together with Pam Groenewald who was Rick Wilson’s secretary. Cheryl
recalls that when she was interviewed she said she was familiar with Ms Word etc but then went and did a
course. She had to find her way and sink or swim, organising her own space her own way.
Cheryl and Pam had to share the grade 1 toilet with the little boys! Cheryl remembers hearing Carol Ansell
often saying “Excuse Me” to her pupils which she still does to this day. Cheryl’s younger son Calvin was in
gr 2 with Carol Ansell as his teacher, and found it convenient to come and visit his Mom whenever he had a
problem.
In those days there were no emails or internet and Cheryl was inundated daily with phone calls from
parents as communication was very difficult. Working for Willy was a shock to the system as he and Darrel
Webb were like a pair of Duracell bunnies, always on the go. At the time Glenda Anderson was head of the
junior primary phase, Paul Edey was headmaster of the high school with Malcolm Williams, deputy head
with Lindsay van Heerden and Dawn Arnold as their respective secretaries.
Cheryl saw to all the little boys’ aches and pains sending them to matron when necessary. She was
responsible for the newsletter which was printed every thursday working from pieces of paper which was
very time consuming. In addition to this Cheryl also had to help Norman Cahi, the chairman of the PTA with
all his work and often helped Ron Thackwell. Cheryl also typed out exam papers including Mike Mitchley’s
Maths paper which was quite a challenge with an old computer, entering all the symbols and formulae. As if
this wasn’t enough Cheryl assisted teachers who were not computer literate with their termly report
comments
Cheryl also had to deal with the grade 7’s and the pupil development programme which had different tiers
that the boys worked their way through. The grade 7’s then had responsibilities which were good for them.
Darryl was making huge strides in the prep school introducing a new curriculum in addition to the
implementation of Edu Admin. Previously every child had a file; everything was printed and went by pupil
post or more official documents by the postal service.
Cheryl enjoyed Rick Wilson as a boss he was lovely to work for and then the secretaries used to get one
half day off per week. Being a working mom at the school was great in that she could go to the various
assemblies and sports events that her sons were involved in.
Willy Castle was given a cell phone, he then phoned non-stop for everything and anything and would often
call and ask Cheryl to come to the field where he would then tell her what he needed. However they both
worked well together, working hard with long hours often until late at night. Cheryl had to attend all the
functions, there were 75 boys in each grade and each received a personalised letter signed by Rick Wilson,
Willy Castle and Darryl Webb. Copies had to be made and it was all very time consuming.
Cheryl also organised the tours for each age group, grade 3 to 7, booking transport and tickets. There was
no school driver and Red Arrow coaches were utilised. Willy Castle also had a full teaching load followed
by sport in the afternoons.
Cheryl moved to the current prep secretaries’ office in 2003 when Pam resigned and Coleen Donaldson
took over as secretary to Rick. It was exciting then to receive emails but Cheryl still had the responsibility to
call all the schools to confirm venues for all the sporting fixtures. Willy used to put all the fixtures on an
enormous sheet of paper and Cheryl then had to type it up.
Cheryl remembers the fantastic end of year and end of term functions, with parties accommodating all ages
with everyone having good fun.
In 2005 Chantal Ratcliffe was employed as a consultant to the school .Tony Chappel was then chairman of
the board and an advert was placed for the foundation post for which Cheryl applied. Paul Edey, who had
been appointed executive head in 2002 and Chantal interviewed Cheryl. Cheryl was nervous about taking
the job and making the move and discussed this with Willy appreciating his advice. She and Chantal
started working in what is now the deputy head’s office and for the first four months Cheryl updated the
MOBS data base inherited from Stephan Contardo. Patrick Busschau was chairman of the old boys
committee at the time. In 2006 they moved offices again and were in what is currently the admissions office
and the Foundation trust was officially launched.
Initially Cheryl and Chantal’s focus was raising money for the chapel which was completed in 2007. There
were so many events to organise to introduce the Foundation around which there was a lot of negativity.
Functions were organised for old boys and many didn’t arrive. The old boys were pessimistic about the
Foundation and felt that they were just being asked for money.
In 2008 Chantal and Cheryl moved once again to an office in the admin block. Chantal left in 2010 and Lara
Klement was appointed Foundation and marketing manager. The marketing then almost took over, but
MOBS was getting stronger. Lara had a huge task on her hands, introducing a new corporate identity and
she bought in new marketing material with the gazebos, banners and hand outs. Cheryl also had to work
hard with the old boys getting them back into the school. Paul Vidas took over from Patrick Busschau as
chairman of the old boys and now with Willy Castle in that position he has brought a new energy and
enthusiasm with him. The database is now sitting on 5000 old boys, the Grahamstown and Cape Town
events are very successful and Mike Greeff has also made visits to the UK and to Australia. There was a
different vibe this year at the Cape Town reunion with a sit down dinner at St Joseph’s. Facebook is a great
media giving MOBS and the school exposure. Before he left, Malcolm Williams was very supportive and
was instrumental in introducing the old boys assembly, in particular the memorable assembly in 2003 for
old boys of 1973 and 2003. Mike Lamusse organised a get-together and dinner for the 1973 MOBS which
was incredibly successful. In 2007 the Matric Rite of Passage was initiated which was a positive move to
introduce the current matrics to MOBS.
Cheryl finds her role very frustrating at times but is passionate about MOBS and the potential of the
Maristonian and acknowledges that she couldn’t cope with all the events without the help of the support
staff. The highlights of the Foundation and MOBS functions were this year’s rugby festival with the St
David’s 1st team rugby beating their opponents, St John’s. It was an emotional and unforgettable day
seeing the old boys and the school boys together doing the war cry with Willy Castle standing under the
rugby post.
Relationships have been built over the years with parents, staff and MOBS. The old boys have been
tremendous and it is very special now with Willy Castle being prep headmaster and chairman of MOBS.
It has been a difficult decision for Cheryl to resign and to work on a part-time basis although it is better for
Cheryl and gives her more flexibility but still enables her to continue to pursue her relationship with Willy
Castle and 2016. Carey Fisher is now handling the marketing so Cheryl can focus on the alumni. Fiona
Budd’s focus is on fundraising , strengthening the Foundation and bursary funds especially the Willy Castle
bursary fund, having already introduced Snapscan and insituting debit orders. The years ahead will be
challenging and difficult but Willy will be happy as he will always be remembered with his bursary fund.
Cheryl will also be working on the MOBS bursary fund raising more finance, but MOBS will be Cheryl’s
major focus and Willy Castle is very supportive.
The school has grown substantially and it is comforting to see MOBS bringing their sons back to the school.
It’s all about relationship building and is almost like a circle within the school – admissions – prep – high
school – then MOBS.
JLE November 2014

Interview with Gordon Tonetti – 1986
Gordon came to St David’s in 1974 going into grade 1 in the same classroom where Carol Ansell now
teaches. Carol taught him together with Heather Joseph, Willy Castle, Mrs Schaafsma and Mrs Napier. Mrs
Napier who taught him in standard 2 to 3 would throw her blackboard duster at you if you talked in class.
Gordon admits to belonging to a naughty crowd, didn’t do much studying and was often jacked by Willy
Castle and Terry O’Mahoney. In fact the boys used to compete to see who got the most jacks! Mr Murphy
was the headmaster in standard 6 but didn’t last long and Br Anthony came back for a term before Mr
Frielick was appointed. Gordon’s group was the smallest matric group in years.
Gordon’s father was a former pupil of St David’s and vice head boy matriculating in 1954, and Gordon’s
grandfather attended a Marist school overseas. His father recalled when at the age of 6, he was put on a
train in Barberton and was told he would be met by one of the Brothers at the Johannesburg station. He
arrived but no-one was there to meet him, eventually a policeman spotted him and asked him why he was
there alone. The policeman called his family in Barberton who then contacted the school and at long last
one of the Brothers arrived to collect him.
Gordon was a good sportsman and was awarded 5 scrolls for athletics and rugby and captained a few
teams . He played 1st team rugby throughout his high school career and was a member of the A and B
swimming teams, but didn’t play cricket. In standard 5 the school had a strong rugby team but sadly many
of its members left and went to St John’s whilst Br Timothy was headmaster. Gordon loved the athletics
and the long distance running, he held the long distance record in his time and regrets not having been
pushed further as he could have done a lot better. He has started running again recently.
Mark Reeves’s sister was a swimming coach, a tough battleaxe and Mrs Mah, another coach would see a
storm coming up but wouldn’t let the boys leave the pool. On one occasion lightening struck where the
clock tower now stands, hitting a line of wattle trees, a third of one tree was split and came crashing down.
Mrs Mah screamed like crazy to get the boys out of the pool.
He recalled that if a fight started in the playground during break the boys would move the fight to the 1st
team rugby field but as soon as the boys saw any teachers they all disappeared.
When sport finished Gordon would use the tickey (phone) box, call his home and just say “pick up”, put the
phone down immediately and thus had the call for free. The schooling was different back then and Gordon
wasn’t awarded an honours blazer but was given an open scroll for athletics in standard 9.
Sondiwe Nyirenda and his brother were enrolled in 1975 as the first black boys in the school. A good
sportsman, he and Gordon became good friends but they sadly lost touch after he left in standard 5.
Gordon’s younger brother Trevor was sent from St David’s to CBC Pretoria as Gordon had a run in with
Trudy Elliott.
Gordon was academically average but enjoyed his school career. In high school Gordon was taught by P.
Collier, Ms Howard, Mr Moore, Mr Kaliphy, Mr McFadden and Br Ephrem taught Science. Father Brewer
was the chaplain, a very nice man who was very involved with the boys.
Gordon remembers an Afrikaans camp in standard 4 and a camp at Golden Gate in standard 5. In standard
9 there was the religious camp but because of problems with the non-catholic camp at Hartbeespoort the
catholic boys camp was very controlled and not much fun.
Gordon regrets the fact that corporal punishment is no longer allowed and felt that it played a significant
role in the discipline of the boys.
As it was an all boy’s school the boys had no contact with girls except for every two years when they
participated in a school play with St Teresa’s. Nowadays the boys aren’t as awkward around girls as they
were then.
After matriculating, Gordon attended the technikon for a diploma in engineering, which involved studying for
6 months and working for 6 months. After gaining his diploma he did his military service and then went
overseas for a couple of years. On his return he bought his business from his father. It was a very shaky
period for the business at the time but he pulled it through and the company did well.
Gordon is married to Helen and his son Liam attends St David’s, currently in grade 5. Gordon wasn’t too
sure about the school but Rick Wilson convinced him it was the school for his sons. The school has
changed a lot for the better from the time Gordon was a pupil.
Gordon is a member of MOBS and is currently a member of the MOBS committee.
JLE November 2014
NB Gordon has photos from his father’s time at the school in the 50’s

Interview with Andrew Kirkland – 2005
Andrew came to St David’s from Bryandale Primary in 2000, he was accompanied by three other boys
including Sean Howell; Curtis Montgomery. He had to jockey for position amongst the majority of boys who
had graduated from the prep school and who already knew each other, however he made friends quite
quickly.
The Glenmore camp was a big introduction for him, helping him to settle down into the school and Osmond
house.
He found it to be very different from a co-ed school, with a lot more direction and team building and with
hindsight the camp was pretty good.
The main reason he wanted to attend St David’s was because of the sport and his keen interest in cricket,
having played provincial cricket at primary school level. St David’s had a more personal side to its sporting
activities. Andrew played A team cricket all the way through high school. He was always the smallest boy in
the team and at the age of 15 and 16 he struggled. In another school Andrew believes he wouldn’t have
had the same opportunities. After grade 9, Andrew went through a slump in his cricket then picked up again
and did well. He was the top run scorer in the 2004 Beckwith week and subsequently got selected for the
U17A Gauteng team. He followed that up with the second leading run scorer in the 2-05 Beckwith week
and selected for the Gauteng U19B.
Highlights were the Australian Tour in 2003, when he was in grade 10 playing in the Marist Schools festival
in Bunbury in Perth, winning every game and beating St Josephs, the top Marist cricket school in Australia.
In the final game they played against St Gregory’s and lost by 1 run. The boys on the tour became very
close and still keep in touch. The highlight was winning the Beckwith week as leading run scorer and
achieving his specific honours for cricket in grade 11.
Andrew played B team rugby in grade 8, but it wasn’t the sport for him and in grade 9 he made the change
to hockey and played 1st team from grade 10. Through hockey he became friends with Kelsey Stewart and
Bryce Wray and attended provincial training camps in 2004. Alex Gitlin was very involved with the hockey
and was a good but very tough coach culminating in a successful Malaysian hockey tour and peaking at the
independent schools tournament at St Andrews in Grahamstown for their centenary anniversary where St
David’s won all their games. Andrew remains friends with Alex today.
Andrew was awarded an honours blazer, full colours for cricket and hockey, winning cricketer of the year in
2004 and 2005 and was sportsman of the year in 2005.
Andrew recalls his matric dance as being a bit of a disaster, he didn’t get the date he wanted and he was in
charge of the limo’s for the evening. They got there alright but the limo didn’t come to fetch them until the
early hours of the morning so they missed the after party.
Academically Andrew did alright but sport took first place and only when he reached varsity did he realise
what studying was all about.
The teachers he remembers most are Mr R Smith, housemaster and English –also taught the boys life
lessons; Mrs D. King another excellent English teacher; Mr D. Smith – Geography; Simon Holderness -
Maths, he organised the Malaysian hockey tour in 2004 and Mr Gitlin – hockey. Paul Edey was the most
well respected headmaster and an incredible guy, when he spoke the boys listened.
After matriculating, Andrew acquired enough points to be accepted to study for a BSc Construction and
BSc Hons at Wits University. Andrew also played cricket at Wits and originally wanted to play cricket for
Hampshire, England but there were many delays and he ended up studying at Wits for 5 years which
turned out to be better for him in the long run. During his first year there he felt he had a definite advantage
coming from St David’s as much of the work in the first year was covered, especially Maths that he had
done before. He did well in his thesis coming first. It was the first academic prize he had ever won and his
father teased him about it. It was quite hard going through university as he was also working for his father.
Andrew was involved with the organisation of old boys versus Ist team cricket eleven in August this year
with the old boys the victors. He also participated in the One Touch soccer events for the past two years.
Andrew currently works in the family business Spiral Engineering, specialising in structural steel
architectural steel and spiral staircases, winning the steel award for the Malapa Beetle Project in the Cradle
of Humankind in 2014 in conjunction with Wits University. Andrew is project manager having graduated
from small accounts to larger ones. He was involved with numerous steel projects such as Soccer City,
Wits building rejuvenation, Standard Bank, Rosebank but unfortunately, with the labour problems
experienced of late the company has been forced to limit their projects. The company is involved with
community projects such as the Cosmo City Creche, the Malapa Beetle Project in the Cradle of
Humankind.
Andrew is a Member of MOBS and any son of his would definitely come to St David’s.
JE October 2014

Interview with Gareth Kolkenbeck-Ruh – 2003
Gareth came to St David’s in 1999 from Rembrandt Park Primary School. Gareth’s father was a devout
catholic and Gareth had had experience of the school when it hosted various primary school sporting
events, and he liked what he saw.
He remembers that on his first day he was collected from the “Thatch” by prefects and taken to the
amphitheatre, he was overwhelmed by both the size of the prefects and that of the school. As he was the
only pupil coming from Rembrandt Park he didn’t know anyone but by the end of the day he began to fit it.
The grade 8 camp was a great ice breaker and initiative where he got to know everyone. After three days
the grade 8 boys went off to camp during their second week at St David’s. Belonging to a specific house
gave you an immediate identity and Gareth was selected for Osmond.
Initially the jump in academics was quite a shock but the teachers helped to make it manageable. It was at
first strange coming from a co-ed environment into a monastic one but by the end of the first term Gareth
was enjoying the change. He now firmly believes it to be a good thing to be in an all boys environment
during high school. He grew not only academically but learnt how to be a man in today’s society which he
appreciated enormously.
The teachers he remembers in particular are Shane Gaffney, Graeme McMillan who was at times quite
scary, Rod Smith, Colleen Kennedy and Paul Edey. They were good role models and one of the reasons
why Gareth has chosen teaching as his profession.
His last year as head boy was an unbelievable year as far as the sport was concerned. St David’s won the
Johnny Waite Cricket, had an unbeaten soccer side, and the rugby team beat KES and Jeppe on their
home territories for the first time. Gareth believes that, especially in a boys school, if the sport is going well
then the general school vibe reflects that and is good and positive.
Gareth had heard that the position of head boy was a lonely one, however he had massive support from his
peer group and, so far it was the most enjoyable year of his life. He had a good relationship with Paul Edey
and Malcolm Williams who took over the headship in 2003.
Gareth was captain of soccer and cricket teams and was awarded honours for soccer, cricket and general
honours.
He played provincial cricket U17 and U19 and had a professional contract with Wits University for one year
in 2003.
Academically, Gareth did very well and earned 3 A’s and 3 B’s in his matric. Dave Smith helped him to
catch up on the Geography syllabus in the matric year as Gareth needed the subject to enable him entry to
the USA. The teaching staff was always willing to go the extra mile for the boys. Gareth was awarded a
Champagnat Medal and won the Brother Edwin Award for Cricketer of the Year; the St David’s Marist old
Boys Soccer Trophy; the Desmond Schatz Trophy for Sportsman of the Year; the Old Boys Trophy for
Leadership and Promotion of the Marist Spirit and the Osmond Cup for study, sport and leadership.
After matriculating, Gareth went on a soccer scholarship to the US to Gannon University in Pennsylvania
for three and half years. He studied for a BA English and PGCE or Postgraduate Certificate in Education,
graduating Suma Cum Laude.. He was tempted to stay in the US but his family was still here in South
Africa and in the US the educational system is different and teachers don’t coach sport. He returned to
South Africa and taught English in the high school from 2008 -9 and went on to KES in 2010 and became
head of English there in 2012. He was appointed deputy head of the primary school at St David’s in 2014,
is learning a lot from Willy Castle with good systems in place.
Gareth was also instrumental in getting soccer up and running in the high school together with Shane
Gaffney in 2002 into 2003.
Gareth is an active member of MOBS .
JLE March 2014

Interview with Earl Morais – 1989
Earl came to St David’s with his brother in 1980 as their parents wanted them to have a good education. As
far as he is aware they were the first coloured boys to be admitted to the school. His brother Kurt started in
grade 0 and Earl in standard 2 with Mrs Hayley as his first teacher. The boys both started a week late after
the school term had begun and were interviewed by Mr Manolios.
It was quite a culture shock for Earl with only one black pupil, Siphiso, in his class having come from a coeducational
environment into a monastic one. Compared to his previous school, he found St David’s to be
very competitive from a sporting perspective. Earl couldn’t swim a stroke and Willy Castle, his Physical
Education teacher told him to just get into the pool and I will teach you how to swim. Earl was an
accomplished swimmer by the time he left St David’s.
The teachers he remembers are of course Willy Castle to whom he feels he owes a lot; Mrs Anderson, a
strict Afrikaans teacher; Mrs Bowles, standard 3; Mr Buchanan, standard 4. Mr Kotze, standard 5 ; Ms
Joseph –Art ; Mr Bronkhorst – Sport and in the high school he recalls Mrs De Wet, standard 8 ; Mr De
Sousa, standard 9; Mr Hill; Mr Van Rooyen, standard 7; Mrs Marais, standard 10; Mr Webster, standard 6 ;
Mr Finlayson, high school sport(rugby) and Mrs Trudy Elliott who was a magnificent English teacher. Br
Ephraim was a disciplinarian but very popular.
The paddock was where the Mini-Marist is now based and George the tractor driver working with Willy Van
De Merwe kept the fields in pristine condition. Willy was a mechanic, builder, canoeist and runner. Mr
Norton was also a canoeist and Willy Castle encouraged Willy to run.
The retreats were an eye opener and often quite difficult but the teachers handled the situation well. Movies
were always organised by Willy Castle on the last day of school and soccer clinics during the school
holidays which his sons now attend. Mass was held every Friday but that didn’t mean that Earl and his
brother didn’t have to attend church on Sundays as well.
Earl remembers the RAPS plays and that Mrs Elliott had a personal relationship with Atholl Fugard which
resulted in the boys performing one of his plays set as if the audience and cast were in church. The boys
won their round of the competition but were not allowed to go to Grahamstown because of the deemed
racist content of the play.
Earl also has fond memories of a “Can-Can” show in standard 3 where the boys dressed up as girls and
thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
Earl was a member of Osmond House, became vice-captain and played basketball with the courts situated
where the Champagnat hall now stands.
The matric dance was held in the school hall with the standard 9’s and 10’s. Earl is still friends with many of
his contemporaries and they intend to celebrate their 25 year reunion this year.
Earl’s biggest love was boxing from an early age but he still had to participate in other sport whilst at St
David’s. After leaving school he went to the University of Durban-Westville to study for a BSc for a year
until the family experienced financial difficulties. He went on to become a professional boxer and became
the South African National Cruiserweight Champion from 2000 to 2004 and the World Boxing Association
Champion from 2002 to 2003. He attributes his success to his upbringing at St David’s with teachers like
Willy Castle instilling the motivation and pride required. “Confortare esto vir” Take courage and be a man.
Seeing it as a means to an end, Earl retired from boxing in 2008. He is involved with auto-gas, refitting
taxis to use gas as a fuel and now owns his own company, Greennovation making buildings more energy
efficient and is involved with various government departments,
Earl’s father always dreamt that his grandsons would attend St David’s and Earl’s two sons are in grade 0
and grade 7 with a daughter who attends, Auckland Park Preparatory School carrying on the tradition set
by his parents.
His brother Kurt intends sending his boys to St David’s as well when they return from abroad. He currently
works at the World Bank head office in Washington.
JLE May 2014

Brother Jude
Br Jude started teaching at Marist Observatory in 1963 and subsequently from 1965 until 1974, he was
stationed at Walmer, Port Elizabeth. He was appointed Brother Provincial at the end of 1974, at a time
in when the brothers were grappling with a number of issues. Among others, there had been a drop in
the number of pupils attending the schools, a declining number of brothers and discussion about the
possible consolidation of some schools. Already in the second half of the sixties, to assist with the
running of the schools, advisory committees were introduced. These were followed in due course by
administrative boards and finally the board of governors
In the early 1970’s there was discussion among the congregations of sisters and brothers running the
Catholic schools in South Africa about the desegregation of “white” Catholic schools .While already in
1957 the Catholic Bishops Conference had declared that “Apartheid was intrinsically evil”, other than
attendance at Church services and gatherings, Catholic institutions had, by and large, remained racially
separate.
While a few schools had already admitted black children at the start of the 1975 academic year, ironically
it was the South African government itself which provided a catalyst. In the early 1970’s,the government
was desperately trying to establish diplomatic relations with other African countries and eventually
managed to do so with Malawi. This however presented a problem for the government when it came to
considering where the children of diplomatic staff were going to go to school. They could not be enrolled
at a “black state school” because of the dire standard of schooling in these schools nor at a “white state
school”, something which would have been completely contrary to state policy. The result was that the
government gave “permission” for the children to be enrolled at “white “Catholic schools. As a
consequence St David’s and St Theresa’s Convent School, Rosebank, were among those who admitted
the children of Malawian diplomatic officials in March 1975.
See article “Focus on the black child in search of education” by Linda Vergnani -Sunday Tribune, 16
March 1975.
Attempts to meet with the administrator of the Transvaal, Mr Sybrand van Niekerk, to discuss the
admission of local black pupils to “white” Catholic schools proved futile. This resulted in Catholic schools
in the Cape and the Transvaal quietly admitting black pupils.
Early in 1977 the media broke the story about the number of black children that were being educated in
“”white” Catholic schools in the country. This resulted in the administrators of the Transvaal and Cape
Provinces both issuing statements that all children admitted illegally should be removed immediately and
the schools would face deregistration. The then minister of national education, Piet Koornhof, intervened
and a series of meetings followed. These finally resulted in a cabinet decision in December 1977 that
while the government could not condone what Catholic schools had done, the children who had been
admitted illegally could remain in the schools but there would be no more admissions without the
express permission of the provinces. Application with full motivation had to be made for each and every
pupil. The Catholic schools were informed of the cabinet decision and were encouraged to submit their
applications before the beginning of the new academic year in January 1978. In the Cape all but one
application, due to reasons of age, were accepted. In Natal there were not many applications but all
submitted were accepted. In the Transvaal, by the day before schools were due to reopen, no response
had been received from the provincial authorities. At a hastily convened meeting of the provincials and
principals concerned a decision was taken to go ahead with the admission of all pupils whose names
had been submitted. On the day that schools reopened, school inspectors descended on the school to
check on admissions.
This resulted in further meetings with both the administrator and the minister with the Catholic schools
standing firm on their admission of children regardless of racial classification. These meetings continued
over the next few years with the Catholic schools continuing to admit pupils with ongoing opposition from
the Transvaal authorities. Finally, towards the end of 1982 legislation was passed which allowed the
admission of black pupils to schools registered with the provincial education departments.
For years the private schools in South Africa registered with the provincial education departments had
struggled with the government for school subsidies, these were finally granted in the early 1980’s. Not
long thereafter the government attempted unsuccessfully to use the subsidies to enforce a quota system
on the admission of black children.
From mid-1980 opposition to apartheid and its structures increased significantly resulting in the
declaration of two states of emergency. In an attempt to crush opposition the state security forces
targeted the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the South African Council of Churches and the
Catholic Bishops Conference. Within a space of months COSATU House, Khotso House, the
headquarters of the South African Council of Churches and Khanya House, the headquarters of the
Catholic Bishops Conference were destroyed.
The 70’ were tough times for the brothers and the Marist schools in South Africa, times requiring much
consultation and discernment. The brothers looked at their number and ages (at the end of 1974 there
were 68 Brothers in SA) and realised that the majority were likely to lose, through death, the majority of
the brothers in the province at the time within the twenty years or so. The situation was aggravated by
the small number of local vocations and the fact that there were no longer brothers coming to South
Africa from Europe. They were also faced with the fact that there were fewer brothers available to take
on positions of responsibility. Also of concern were the very significant discrepancies in facilities between
black and white Catholic schools. They were also conscious of the call of Vatican 2 for lay people to be
given their rightful place within the church and church structures and felt the need to honour it and allow
lay people to take on positions of authority within their schools. This eventually resulted in the first lay
headmaster being appointed to a Marist school in South Africa, Linmeyer in 1977. This proved to be very
controversial and took some years before the appointment of lay people to senior promotional posts was
accepted. Another move was that of withdrawing brothers from senior Marist school positions and
making them available to work within black Catholic schools where there a significantly greater need.
Thus Br Anthony left St David’s and together with Br Christopher, went to set up a mission in Slough, a
resettlement area on the edge of the Kalahari. Some people incorrectly interpreted these initiatives as
signs that the brothers were abandoning the “white” community.
The brothers also had to face two other significant challenges besides the matter of opening all
promotional posts to lay people and the withdrawal of brothers from the other schools to make brothers
available in areas of greater need, namely the issue of co-education and the desegregation of the
schools already referred to earlier. With the pending closure of several convent schools in the 1980’s
because of the declining numbers of religious sisters, the question arose whether the brothers would be
prepared to admit girls to what were at the time their “boys” only schools. The brothers were open to the
schools becoming co-educational institutions, a position not shared by all the members of the Marist
family. The first of the Marist schools in South Africa to become co-educational was Sacred Heart
College, Observatory. This followed decisions taken by the Ursuline Sisters and Holy Family Sisters to
close their schools and link up with what was at the time Marist Observatory. When the La Rochelle
Convent school was due to close there was some initial opposition from the board at Linmeyer but this
gave way and Marian College, Linmeyer, became co-ed as well. In the 1970’s and 80’s pupil numbers
dropped at both St David’s and Rosebank Convent and the respective school authorities looked into
integrating the two schools. For a variety of reasons this was not pursued.
Brother Jude was Brother Provincial from 1974 until 1983. In 1985 he was asked by the Catholic Bishops
Conference to set up the Catholic Institute of Education which thirty years on, continues to provide a
great service to the Catholic schools in the country. At the time he was a member of the St David’s
community. In 1988 he was asked to take over as Secretary General of the Bishop’s Conference of
Southern Africa, a position he held until 1995 when he was again appointed as Provincial of South
Africa. In 1998 a series of consultations took place within the Southern African region to form a single
Marist Province in Southern Africa. In April 1999 these resulted in the formation of the new Province of
Zambia and Zimbabwe. A year later Angola became the sixth country to be a member of the Province.
Br Jude served as Provincial of the new province from 1999 until 2004.
The issue of the sale of land where the “Inandas” now stand was in reality necessary as the brothers and
schools were experiencing a very tough financial situation at the time. The school was only using a
portion of the land available to it and the question was whether the school would actually need the corner
section in the future. The property was in fact zoned as agricultural at the time with its corresponding
property evaluation. The brothers looked at various ways of handling the sale. What was finally entered
into was an agreement with a developer which allowed for the brothers to benefit from the progressive
development of the property. In terms of the partnership arrangement that was entered into, the brothers
gained not just from the initial sale of the property as agricultural land but from each successive stage of
the whole development process as the land was rezoned and the units were finally sold.
July 2015

Interview with Tristan Schafer – 2010
Tristan came to St David’s in grade 0 in 1998, the year that grade 0 first started. A photo of himself and
Brendan Mitchell appeared in the local paper at the time.
On his first day he didn’t know anyone and Mrs Milne was his teacher. He remembers that Mrs Milne taught
the boys the alphabet with “Letter Land” and each week a new letter would appear on the chalk board and
one of the boys would be assigned to that letter. Tristan loved the twisty bread which he bought with
tokens and loved running around the playground and the jungle gym.
Mrs Nieman was his grade 1 teacher and he found all the teachers to be quite different, Mr Sinclair who
was extremely well read; Mrs McWilliams; Mr Thackwell an awesome English teacher; Gareth Dry who
brought a huge amount of professionalism and a completely different element to the school, Tristan was in
the choir and sang at the Linder auditorium in grade 6. He remembers the choir received a standing ovation
and also went on tour to the Drakensberg Boys Choir School. The headmaster, Rick Wilson used to come
and read to the boys regularly and his favourite story was that of “King Solomon’s Mines”.
Tristan was not a very good Soccer player but enjoyed the game and the Soccer clinics run by Willy Castle.
He got involved with Canoeing in Grade 5 and with other sport in Grade 7 and swam in the B team and A
team Water Polo until the age of 16 when he concentrated on paddling.
Tristan was an altar server for 5 years from grade 6 until grade 10, with Father Michael who was awesome
and also when Bishop Tigale came to the school. Tristan is not very religious but is a spiritual person.
Tristan connected more with the teachers in high school. In grade 9 he chose to do Business Studies but
hated it and then changed to Art with Anneke Carter, winning the Art prize 3 years in a row; Mohammed
Jena taught Maths and was an awesome teacher who gave a lot of his time and took the boys on a Maths
boot camp before matric; Gareth Kolkenbeck-Ruh was an old boy teaching English with whom you could
connect. Other teachers who stand out are Stephan Bauer and Bridget Fleming, Geography; Belinda
Marais who was kind hearted; Gareth Kolkenbek-Ruh and Gareth Dry with whom he did film study
“Shawshank Redemption“, “The Mission” and ”Tsotsi” incorporating visual arts, Music, and writing with all
art forms in one which was very creative.; Rod Smith was a cool guy, all the English teachers were good;
Simon Holderness was a great Maths teacher and rugby coach; Shane Lotter who took golf to a different
level; Will van den Berg; Dave Smith. The teachers were all there for the boys supporting a tradition which
holds the school together.
Tristan enjoyed the grade 8 camp, loved playing rugby and water polo and supported 1st team rugby. He
also enjoyed the weekly war cries practices. He still misses eating lunch at break with his pals, there was a
massive feeling of brotherhood and they all helped each other out. His best friends now are boys he got to
know in grade 0. A notable thing is that many of the boys in Tristan’s year went into diverse and
unconventional careers following their passion and included quite a few entrepreneurs. Brad Latilla-
Campbell went to Harvard, Barry Morisse studied Drama at Wits, Chaid White plays soccer for Jomo
Cosmos and Matthew Rigby studied Actuarial Science at Stellenbosch.
2010 was a great year for sport and gave something for the grade 8’s to aim for. The school needs that
kind of continuation. The negative thing that year for Tristan was that the prefects room and that privilege
was taken away and also that Chris Brown, climber who represented South Africa was not given an
honours blazer.
Canoeing or paddling was started at St David’s in 1995 by Willem van der Merwe a very kind hearted man
who helped many boys to find their niche in canoeing. Tristan went on prep and high school canoeing tours
which he found really cool and many of the boys became Springboks. In grade 10 Tristan was canoeing
captain with only 5 boys in the team but by the end of the year there were 25. Tristan firmly believes that
sport should be fun and is to be enjoyed.
Tristan became a prefect and was head of The Bishop’s with Gabriel Ally as head boy. Tristan was
awarded an honours blazer for canoeing and was a peer counsellor in grade 11. In 2010 for the first time,
all the prefects went on a camp with the grade 8’s and Francesco Mariano, head boy 2014, was Tristan’s
mentee.
After Matriculating, Tristan went onto study at Afda Film School covering acting, film and TV. He continued
to coach the school canoeing team for 3 years until Willem left. Whilst studying, Tristan won a few awards
with other students including the Ster-Kinekor Vision Mission award creating an advertisement for
disadvantaged children which he directed and wrote. Whilst on an exchange at Chapman University in the
US, Tristan was involved with a graduation film group that won pretty much all the categories.
Tristan has now started his own company “Old Soul Films” and is adopting that approach to storytelling and
is hoping to get into web advertising and web series especially in the US, Europe and the East.
Tristan was also involved in some charity work with Absa making 3 short films going into communities and
uplifting them. This included a bakery in Westbury that feeds the local children; a young artist in Alexandra
who was abused as a child; a woman from Somalia documenting her story and how life in Johannesburg
compares favourably to Somalia. He was paid for doing these films but then followed up on his own. Tristan
is also doing some pro-bono work for a girls’ orphanage in Malawi where the girls are taught sewing skills.
He will be filming a short documentary and will be involved in the building and construction of the sewing
room.
Tristan is a member of MOBS and would certainly send any sons he may father to St David’s.
JLE June 2015

Interview with Teresa Voorendyk - Staff – 1997 to date
Teresa joined the staff of St David’s in 1997 together with Dave Smith and Stuart Foulds. She was
appointed as librarian and English teacher by Paul Edey, the same position she had with her former
employer KES. She recalled being interviewed by Paul Edey, Gary Norton and the head of English, Richard
Girdwood.
In her first year she taught two English classes and MUG (media user guidance) to the grade 8’s and 9’s.
Teresa shared the library facility together with the prep school librarian, Mary Clover. With the different
teaching hours and timetables, the conditions were not ideal however she enjoyed the freedom to buy
books and encouraged her library monitors to select books within an allocated budget she set them.
Teresa eventually moved into teaching English full-time and was peripatetic for a few years until she
inherited her present classroom from Liz Sheratt.
Teresa has filled a number of roles in her time with the school being, head of English, housemistress of
Benedict, mentor to the matric group and now being head of Life Orientation, she has enthusiastically run
the long distance running activity at the school and also takes the boys on corporate relays and other runs
outside of school.
She has seen people come and go with many changes some good some not so good. She has so many
memories of events, individuals, matric groups, and the long distance runners and now some of the pupils
she taught are colleagues such as Matthew Schneider, Richard Carey and Kyle Biller. She recalls the
matric group of 2005 as being very special, they were an odd ball bunch of characters but she had a close
bond with them. She still sees some of “her” runners, many of whom have continued to compete after
leaving school.
Teresa has been very happy at St David’s. It has become a very busy school and initially she and other
colleagues were able to attend all the events and functions but now there are too many to cope with. In
1997 there were 42 boys in matric which are now 112 and with 610 in the school. Previously there was time
to talk to each other and the boys, now it is not quite the close knit community it used to be. The school is
competent in so many areas and so many things. Teresa knew not only the names of the boys she taught
but of all the boys in the high school, now there are far too many. She realises that St David’s has to move
with the times and has to compete with other schools.
Teresa prides herself on being the only high school teacher who still has a blackboard in her classroom.
This doesn’t mean that she doesn’t use technology and is not IT illiterate but she prefers the old way of
teaching.
For sometime Teresa was responsible for the school’s trophies, taking over from Father Brewer when he
became ill. This has now been taken over by Karina George and Teresa is grateful that she no longer has
to track down and ensure the return of the many trophies, ensuring they were in good condition and
engraved every year in time for prize giving.
Teresa always enjoys seeing the old boys and there are very few of whom she has negative memories.
She helped many of the boys without charge, some appreciated this and others took it for granted.
Of her colleagues she remembers Paul Edey who made people believe in themselves, he was warm and
kind and made her feel special and she valued that she mattered. Although she initially didn’t get on with
him, she ended up teaching grade 10’s with Rod Smith and he was immensely supportive when she was
made housemaster. She regards Willy Castle as very special and she would run through a brick wall for
him. During her bleakest year in 2005, he encouraged her to run the Comrades marathon and she hasn’t
looked back since. He has been her mentor, friend, running partner and has the ability to make people
believe in themselves.
Teresa has changed direction in her career and is happy to remain at St David’s until she retires; she
regards St David’s as her home. St David’s is a special place and the pride and tradition doesn’t just belong
to the men and the boys and old boys. She was greatly affected by the “bus incident” and how it impacted
on the school and finds it difficult to understand the mentality of the matrics and their expectations of how
they want to treat the grade 8’s.
Teresa believes that the school needs staff that understands and relate to what the staff actually do here
and are prepared to contribute. One has to believe in what one is doing and that not every day is going to
be fun.
JLE February 2014

A5 Booklet compiled by the Marist Brothers

Rules compiled by Willy Castle for the Port Elizabeth football tour 2000

A5 programme 5 pages

5 colour programe. 12 pages

2 pages of school stationery

Prospectus compiled by Marist School, Atlanta, USA

A6 Boooklet

A3 newspeper cutting

1 page from Finance Week 22-28 August 1985

Programme for the Marist Quasquicentennial Mass 3 copies

Prospectus

Programme of Cricket Festival 2014 compiled by Bradley Ireland

Interview with Carol Ansell – Staff – 1975 - 2016
Carol was interviewed by Brother Mario at the end of 1974 as there was a new grade 0 position
available and Brother Anthony (who was headmaster at the time), was on leave. In fact Br
Anthony had gone to see the Brother Provincial as he wanted to work in a less privileged
environment. Carol was John Jamieson’s sister, John had matriculated from St David’s, and she
was immediately appointed and told to start the following year – 1975 with no indication of
where she would be located. Carol recalls that she asked if she could see her classroom and if
she could please have a key. Carol and her family lived in the same road in Parkwood as Mrs
Kempster who had alerted her to the fact that this new position was available. Carol had initially
wanted to teach at Keps, which was her father’s old school and she was offered a job there but
decided to go to St David’s.
Mr Manolios was head of the prep school and Br Timothy was appointed head of the high
school in 1975.Carol’s classroom was next to the old swimming pool which had been filled in to
make a playground for the new grade 0 class. She was given free reign with the grade 0 class
with Br Timothy visiting her on a couple of occasions. Some of the boys were intrigued with him
and one asked him why he was so hairy and another, whether he was a boy or a girl as he was
perceived to be wearing a dress!
There was a large sandpit in the playground, which Carol used for some of her outside
activities. Sadly it had to be covered up as some cats began to use it as a cat box! She recalls
that the school, was very contained and she likens it to a village which has now grown into a
city. Carol had no supervision at all, everything was based on trust. She was only twenty years
old and in charge of 25 young boys. Carol visited other nursery schools and spoke to the
teachers to gain a further understanding of 4/5 year olds; she was also greatly assisted by Jack
Friedman of “Play and Schoolroom” who helped her a lot. It was quite lonely but the parents
were fantastic and supportive. There were two cousins in the class Brian De Decker and
Michael Luyckx whose parents took her under their wing and helped her. Michael Luyckx now
lives in Australia and Carol is still friendly with the mothers. Parents in those days didn’t
challenge teachers at all and tended to have a huge respect for them.
At the end of 1975, the grade 0 class was declared a tremendous success and the school
decided to open another class. Mrs Carolyn Hughes joined her and became the other grade 0
teacher. They had a good relationship with each other and could feed off each other’s ideas and
support.
One of the parents pointed out to Carol that one of her pupils (eye) was larger than the other
and suggested she have it checked. It was discovered that she had a tumour on the pituitary
gland, which was operated on and she subsequently had to have three months leave. A feisty
boy, Fabio Morettino had told his mother that Carol had died; so on Carol’s return the poor
mother saw Carol and thought she was seeing a ghost. Marilyn Middlewick decided that she
would like to swop from grade 1 and Mr Manolious was fully in agreement so Carol moved from
grade 0 to grade1.
Carol, had a good relationship with Darryl Boswell, Heather Joseph, Trudy Elliot, Prue Johnson
and many others. Another headmaster she worked with, Mr Freilich was a good man. As for Mr
Murphy, Carol didn’t get off to a good start with him as, at his welcoming cocktail party, Carol
was laughing together with some colleagues and for some reason Mr Murphy thought they were
laughing at him. The next day she was called into his office where he reprimanded her. Murphy
was eventually found out to be a professional wrestler and vacated his position as headmaster
of the College.
Carol was married to John Ansell in her fourth year at the school. Some years later she was
sadly diagnosed with a second tumour and left as a full time teacher, although she stood in for
teachers on long leave etc, filling in for Sue Harwood, the remedial teacher, in 1985. When Sue
returned from leave she resigned and being concerned about having 3 different teachers in a
remedial class Carol was asked to return. Carol was pregnant with her son Nick and returned
when Nick was 6 weeks old. Andrew Castle was born in the April and Nick in the June and the
two maids looking after the boys would get together and have fun with the boys. The boys were
often seen in the back of Julius’ trailer behind the tractor. A space was made in a corner of an
office for Nick whilst Carol was busy and Nick grew up at St David’s going on to a play school
for two years then to Limber Lost in Rosebank.
Carol eventually came back full-time although she had in the meantime franchised the
“Bookworm Bookshop” in 1985 when Nick was born. She recalls Cynthia Hildyard advising her
to move her classroom to the warmer one where she remains now.
Carol remembers brothers such as Br Bernard who was very artistic, a photographer and
woodcarver and together with Carol and Heather Joseph had pottery classes with one of the
mothers, Mrs Heather MacLeroth every Friday afternoon. By the end of the class it was late
and Carol and Heather were very hungry. Br Aidan was in charge of the stores and had a
wonderful, dry sense of humour and would tempt Carol and Heather with a packet of marie
biscuits, trying to satisfy their hunger, giving them one biscuit at a time. Carol remembers Br
Aidan embarrassing Heather with the story that he was present at Port Alfred beach when
Heather lost her green crocheted bikini top at Kelly’s beach. Carol and John had been invited
there and Heather was also holidaying there at the same time. Br Aidan had in fact overheard
Heather recounting the story to Carol whilst they were in earshot of his office. Br Aidan also
nicknamed Heather “Queen of the Visigoths”.
There were good memories of Jackson the cook who cooked for the brother’s community. One
day a divine smell was circulating around the brothers kitchen and Carol asked what he was
cooking and managed to get Jackson to write his recipe for ox-tail stew out for her. Carol
forwarded this recipe many years later to Br Aidan. She still has the recipe today. The
groundsman Barney Erdis had a wife who used to cook/bake a variety of muffins or scones with
cream and jam at first break and then make mock crayfish and avocado or pumpkin fitters or
fish and chips for the staff to enjoy at second break.
JLE May 2013

Newspaper cutting

2 A4 pages

75th Jubilee Circles of Friendship
The 75th Jubilee Circles of Friendship campaign was designed to link the parents, staff, boys,
and Old Boys as a community in long-term relationship and giving campaign, to
commemorate the 75th Jubilee year and carry through to the 80th Jubilee.
The aim of the Circles is to connect the entire St David’s community through interconnected
circles of giving reflecting all the areas of connectedness and involvement at St David’s; the
Montagne Day Pledge was the start of initiating the boys’ Circles of Friendship which will
continue.
The Campaign was initially introduced towards the end of 2015 when the entire School
received the Circles of Friendship Bracelet with an accompanying explanation, the campaign
was promoted through various forums and mediums to parent, staff and Old Boys throughout
2016 (including throught the Coffee and Donuts Sessions – each of which covered a different
area of interest and activity at St David’s), with the final ‘activation’ being with the St David’s
boys through the Montagne Day Pledge initiative. A google form link was also shared with
the community where circles could register and indicate their area of support and how they
would be contributing to their Circle (ranging from monthly to annual contributions or
contributions on an ad hoc if they had decided to engage in fundraising activities – which
some Circles seemed to favour). The Willy Castle Marathons Campaign (which this year will
enter its third year) also became a focus for a Circle amongst those who support this initiative.
Montagne Day Pledges
The 75th Jubilee year celebrations formally concluded with the celebration of Montagne Day
Mass on Friday 28 October which marked the 200th Anniversary of the visit of St Marcellin
Champagnat to the bedside of the dying 16 year-old Jean-Baptiste Montagne, an incident
which profoundly affected St Marcellin and inspired him to found the teaching order of
Marist Brothers. Each boy was asked to make a Montagne Day Marist Pledge, and to
accompany this by donating R 75 towards the 75th Jubilee Circles of Friendship Campaign,
raised through his own efforts and acts of service. These donations form the start of each
year group’s own Jubilee Circles of Friendship as per the Matric Years that they will
eventually become, for example, those boys who were in Grade 6 last year will be the
Matric Class of 2022. The funds raised go towards a bursary for an underprivileged boy (a
modern-day Montagne) – the Grade 5s, led by Mr Byron King, decided to take part in the
94.7 Mountain Bike Challenge on 13 November 2016 to raise additional funds in support of
their Montagne Day Pledges towards this bursary.
As part of the Mass the photo composite of St Marcellin Champagnat was unveiled and
blessed – below is the explanatory speech that I gave at the Montagne Day Mass:
Montagne Offertory – Photo Montage Explanation
Friday 28 October 2016
Last year, whilst Mrs Klement and I were contemplating ideas and doing online research for
the St David’s 75th Jubilee Circles of Friendship campaign and the Jubilee Bracelet, I came
across a beautiful photo composite of St Marcellin Champagnat that had been created by
Marist High School in Chicago, USA. The face of St Marcellin had been created using
photographs of the students and staff of the Marist High School and I loved the idea and
thought that this would be an excellent way for us at St David’s to celebrate and remember
our 75th Jubilee Year for many years to come and to reflect the Circles of Friendship that
were formed at this time. To have the face of our Founder made up of all of our faces also
reflects where our Marist roots come from and how we, as the St David’s community,
continue to carry forward the ethos, vision, work and legacy of St Marcelllin Champagnat
200 years after he founded the Marist Brothers teaching order. We used the Chicago
photograph on the cards that accompanied the Jubilee Bracelets that we all received last
year and then spoke with Mr Rose-Reddiar to see if he could work his photographic magic to
create our very own St David’s image. He has been working throughout this year to compile
the photo montage from our individual photographs and photos taken at the Jubilee
celebrations and other events through this year, for which we most sincerely thank him –
and today we get to see our very own montage for the first time, which will be blessed and
then permanently displayed at St David’s.
Fiona Budd
Foundation Manager
St David’s Marist Foundation
(The St David’s St Marcelin Photo Montage can be seen on the wall in the foyer of the
Champagnat Hall)
Original Introduction to the 75th Jubilee Circles Campaign (comms from January 2016)
Become part of the legacy of the St David’s Marist Inanda 75th Jubilee by joining the St
David’s Marist Inanda Circles of Friendship Initiative
As part of the 75th Jubilee Celebrations St David's has launched the '75th Jubilee Circles of
Friendship' Campaign - Connecting our Community. One of the aims is to explore and map
how the entire St David's community is connected, through a network of individual circles of
mutual interest to form an interwoven 'tapestry' of connection, reflecting and
commemorating the 75th Jubilee Community.
The St David’s Marist Foundation Trustees have begun the first Circle and you are invited to
initiate or join a Circle of Friendship at St David’s, with relevance to you.
The 'Circles of Friendship' initiative has also been established as a form of Giving Circle
participatory philanthropy where each Circle will be invited to agree to a monthly, termly or
annual giving commitment of their choice to the St David's Jubilee Fund (connected to an
area of common interest, for example, cricket development at St David's) and to honour this
commitment for the next five years, until the 80th Jubilee. As an illustrative example, if a
Circle commits to a joint giving contribution of R 1 200 per year over 5 years this will amount
to R 7 500 - a lovely 'echo' of the Jubilee Year number.
The Jubilee Fund will primarily support Bursary and Development Funds (including sports,
cultural, academic and leadership development) with the major capital development
fundraising drive being in support of enabling the building of 'The Maristonian' - a multipurpose
Education facility, which will include a 'home-base' for our Alumni (Old Boys, Past
Parents and Past Staff).
You can form or join as many Circles as you wish to reflect your involvement at St David's - a
giving commitment is only required for the initial Circle that you join or form.
75th Jubilee Circles in place as at 31 December 2016
St David's 75th Jubilee Year Circles
50 Circles
General Circles
St David's Book Club Circle (Cultural Development)
St David's Friends of the Arts Circle (Maristonian)
Tuckshop Mom's Circle
Mothers' Prayer Group Circle
Hands of Champagnat Circle (Community Development)
Basketball Parents' Circle (Sports Dev)
Foundation Trustees Circle
Staff Giving Bursary Circle
Christmas Giving Campaigns Circle (2015 & 2016)
Willy Castle Marathons' Circle 2016
Montagne Day 2016 Pledges (Matric Class Year Circles)
Grade 00 (Class of 2029)
Grade R (O) (Class of 2028)
Grade 1 (Class of 2027)
The Story of the
St David’s 75th Jubilee Bracelet
The disc:
Depicts the Marist Symbol for Ave Maria, St David’s name
and 75 for the Jubilee Year
Three ivory beads:
Represent the Three Characteristics of the Marist Way:
Simplicity, Modesty and Humility
Five Navy blue beads:
Represent the Marist Values of Presence,
Love of Work, Simplicity, Family Spirit, in Mary’s Way
The Green, Red, Blue and Yellow beads represent the four houses of St
David’s: Benedict, College, Osmond and The Bishops
The three sets of alternating blue and yellow beads represent the three
terms of the year at St David’s, and together represent the full year
(and a full year of Circle of Friendship Giving)
The five large black beads represent the Boys, Parents, Staff,
Old Boys and the St David’s community
The pale blue beads in the medium and large bracelets
represent excellence - the colour that is used in the
St David’s Honours blazer
Grade 2 (Class of 2026)
Grade 3 (Class of 2025)
Grade 4 (Class of 2024)
Grade 5 (Class of 2023)
Grade 6 (Class of 2022)
Grade 7 (Class of 2021)
Grade 8 (Class of 2020)
Grade 9 (Class of 2019)
Grade 10 (Class of 2018)
Grade 11 (Class of 2017)
Grade 12 (Class of 2016)
Class of 2015
Maristonian Class Year Circles (Old Boys)
Class of 2010
Class of 2008
Class of 2006
Class of 2003
Class of 2001
Class of 2000
Class of 1996
Class of 1995
Class of 1988
Class of 1987
Class of 1986
Class of 1985
Class of 1980
Class of 1974
Class of 1973
Class of 1972
Class of 1971
Class of 1970
Class of 1968
Class of 1966
Class of 1963
Class of 1962
Class of 1958
Class of 1957
Class of 1950
Excerpt from the Advancement Manager’s Report (November 2016)
Lara Klement
Coffee and Donut Circles of Friendship Mornings
Fiona successfully organized seven Coffee and Donut mornings through the year, each with a
specific focus e.g. Sports and Cultural Activities, Outreach, Old Boys, etc. A number of Circles
have been initiated this year, with some being more ‘fundraising’ focused than others.
However, the idea of connecting around something parents feel passionately about has taken
root in all of them and the ideas of how to raise funds through these have been very
innovative. The process has been an interesting and informative one with some important
learnings:
For many of the people who have come to the coffee mornings, the primary motivation is the
desire to connect with others in the St David’s community or with the School itself. They are
looking for ways to be ‘closer’ to the School (for various reasons) and be involved in one way
or another. We believe that if we (the Foundation) can facilitate this ‘connection’, this
strengthened relationship between parents and school will translate into benefit for the
Foundation over time as well as reap rewards for the school in the shorter term, if managed
effectively.
The true definition of philanthropy is still new in our community’s space. A number of people
have approached the Circles of Friendship with either a charity or a purely fundraising
mindset, each of which brings a very different ‘energy’ and different set of expectations.
Managing this understanding and process as well as the expectations has been very time
consuming, but has given us valuable insight into the mindset of some of our community and
has also allowed us the opportunity to try and shift the mindset to one that is more
philanthropic.
Most Circles have preferred to raise funds rather than just commit to a monthly giving
programme. We think that the reasons are two-fold:
 There is still a strong resistance to committing financially over a long period of time.
We think that the uncertainty in our country is contributing to this as families are
preferring to keep as tight a control over their daily finances as possible.
 The need to ‘connect’, as mentioned above is a motivating factor for many of the
members and the fundraising projects allow them to do this. However, one of the
Circles, who definitely understand philanthropy, are using this to great effect from a
crowdfunding perspective.

1 A6 Booklet

1 A6 colour Booklet

1 A6 Booklet

Interview with Pam Groenewald – Staff 1998
Pam came to St David’s in 1998 to work as the prep school headmaster, Rick Wilson’s PA. She found Rick
to be an unbelievably, kind and well organised boss and really enjoyed working for him. He was incredibly
supportive and was amazing when Pam went through her battle with cancer five months after joining the
staff.
Pam is a very focused, well organised individual who believes in doing everything correctly and has been
involved with schools for some time. Her parents were part of the struggle, a strong Methodist family and
they often had black ministers and ANC members stay with them which has given her a great insight and
empathy with people. This is essential as part of Pam’s job has always been to calm parents down when
necessary.
She remembers her first day very well and couldn’t believe her office, which was originally the brothers’
toilet and wondered if she would cope. To gain access she had to walk through Rick’s office and on one
occasion when he had a number of visitors and she urgently needed to get out of her office, Cheryl helped
her squeeze though a tiny window in order not to disturb Rick. Pam got on very well with Rick, Cheryl King
and Robbie Orr, they all had a good sense of humour and to this day Rick will still mischievously hide the
mouse to Pam’s PC.
Pam did all the admissions to the prep school which was a heavy load but she coped. Unfortunately Pam
needed to earn more money and left after 5 years only to return again after 3 months in 2003 to work as PA
for Malcolm Williams, the headmaster of the high school. Pam coped well with Malcolm and his flamboyant
style of leadership and found him to be a very private person. She found him to be highly intelligent with a
very good brain and good heart and has a lot of respect for him.
Pam’s children have also been associated with St David’s, Craig has been involved as swimming coach for
the past 15 years and Cathy worked in the pre-primary for 10 years until last year.
JE September 2003

3 small cards with prayer on back

A4 paperback published by Marist Brothers 3 copies

1 p
A5 programme 4 pages

A5 programme 4 pages

A5 colour programme. 12 pages

Interview with Jock Loseby 1951
MEMORIES : ST.DAVID’S MARIST , INANDA : 1946 TO 1951
On a mild August day in 1946 I came to St. David’s (SD) for the first time. Not only
was I to attend school there – I was also to be a boarder as where we stayed, on a
timber farm near Sabie, was about 6 hours drive away.
Attending school was quite a pleasure. I moved into Mrs Stirton’s grade 2 class
immediately. The rage of the day there was the percussion band with triangles, bells,
drums, clappers and goodness knows what. We even attended an Eistetford at the
city hall and were highly commended. My part was, with others, to ring our bells at
the right time.
Mrs Brophy, in standard 1, almost immediately passed me on to Mrs Walsh in
standard 2. I felt most comfortable with Mrs Walsh and prospered under her watchful
eye. She was also my teacher in standard 3 where I managed 100% at year end for
Arithmetic – the best in all the South African Marists. I got a similar prize, in standard
4, for Afrikaans under Mrs Kempster – a very disciplined and kind person .
Mr Bishop, my standard 5 teacher, was the hero of many – he managed the under 11
and under 12 soccer sides!
Mr Hoare, in standard 6, was a perfect gentleman.When we did something silly, he
would press his index finger on our temples, saying “dear me boy”. For more serious
offences, we got strapped on our behinds, in private, in the classroom, during the
lunch break. When we thanked him for the strapping, he seemed confused.
In standard 6 Brother Joseph was our Latin teacher. It was rumoured that he used to
be a Spanish wrestler – so we generally learnt our Latin grammar!
Boarding was of course, something new. I was immediately allocated to the most
junior dormitory. Brother Michael was the dormitory master.
He used to read to us each night, in the dormitory, before bed. We listened to the
Hardy Boys and Biggles et al and even got a sweet each half way through the
session.
I was the 2nd smallest in the dormitory, (and probably in the school) the smallest boy
slept next to me and sometime later he became my brother – in – law.
We had to keep our clothes lockers neat. After locker inspection, we received one
strap (cut) for each untidy item of clothing. We also had to send our dirty clothes to
the laundry. When my mother heard that I had been criticised for sending too many
clothes to the laundry, I was told to tell the brother – in – charge that “cleanliness is
next to godliness” I did not obey this instruction!
We also had to polish our shoes every evening – monitors inspected our efforts.
Sport played a big part in our lives – even at primary school.Cricket and soccer were
the main sports with swimming not far behind.
We had PT during class hours – probably up to standard 1 or 2.We sometimes had
boxing during PT and at other times there were adhoc tournaments. I hated boxing
especially being hit on the head and even more so if it was the smallest boy in the
school doing the hitting (my now brother – in – law). Harry Best was our PT
supervisor and he was also Johnny Arthur’s boxing trainer. JA was the South African
heavyweight boxing champion.
When I arrived at SD there were sand fields on the right of the entrance gate (as you
entered). On these both juniors and seniors played cricket (on matting wickets) and
soccer. In ca 1947, a grass rugby cum cricket field was built below the tennis courts
and in 1949, the old cricket/soccer fields were replaced by 2 grass rugby fields with a
turf wicket – between them I think. There were still some sand fields for cricket and
soccer on a piece of land that may have been acquired (or was it just left over)while
the grass fields were being constructed – these fields bordered the grass fields but
were further away from the school complex.
2
So with the grass fields rugby began in earnest. In 1950 or 1951 I played rugby at
scrumhalf for the lowest team in the school – under 13B. In our first game we lost to
KES 15-0.
The turf wicket was also a great improvement. I watched a senior school practice
where Brother Benedict hit many straight sixes.
I was lucky enough to captain the U13 cricket team.
At this stage Brother Urban had been replaced by Brother Edwin as principal.
During the school féte held at about this time Vickie Toweel defeated Manuel Ortiz to
become Bantamweight champion of the world and also
 Leon Norgarb and Eric Sturgess played an exhibition tennis match (Mrs
Strauss, our coach, often told us how she had played tennis with these
gentlemen)
 Sid Brews hit some towering drives on the upper grass fields and also
amused us with some trick shots and
 We could win money by scoring goals past Phil Snoynan, the SA goalkeeper
And now something about the food.
There was no white bread in the first year or two I was at St David’s and sometimes
for tea we were given thick brown bread sandwiches with peanut butter in them.
Many times the day boys gave us some of their lunch. Enrico Giglioli, the Italian
ambassador’s son, was particularly generous to me in this regard.
Some interesting parts of our menu were
 Frogs eggs – particularly sticky sago pudding
 Army biscuits with weevils in them and
 Lumpy porridge.
But before our longer holidays we had beanos – lovely food, ice cream cool drinks
and sweets.
Of course, I did have some heroes:
Brother Urban, a charismatic, dynamic person.
Brother Edwin, a deep person
Brother Benedict, a man’s man
Michael Clarke, a friend of Cor? Vermeulen, played first team cricket, got 6B’s in
matric, became a schoolteacher on leaving school.
Ian Irvine and Grisdale, prominent athletes
Roy Gibson, good boxer, flyhalf for first rugby team
Setti? Risi, scrumhalf for first rugby team
Johnny Westwater, very dynamic, eventually became a champion jockey
Bobby Perinho, hit 5 fours in one over
Rosmarin made a century for the first team
Buffa, a good high jumper and
Asher Swede, a generous patron of the school.
Our religious upbringing was taken very seriously.
Catholics had Mass about 3 times per week including Sunday, Confessions were on
Thursdays, there were daily? RD lessons and we were prepared for 1st communion
and confirmation – I was confirmed by Bishop Whelan at the Rosebank Parish in
1951.
My non catholic friends were encouraged to be committed in their specific faiths.
What an unforgettable and happy experience I had at St David’s!
Jock Loseby
28 April 2007

Digitsed copies of official photographs of the various heads, etc. of the school

Interview with Chris Busschau – 1965
The Busschau family association with St David’s and the Marist schools began in 1889 when
Peter Busschau was the first boy to arrive at the Marist School at Koch Street, Johannesburg. In
those days Johannesburg was a mining town and Peter Busschau lived, like most of the
inhabitants, in a tent. Peter was the third of three sons and the older boys went to CBC in
Kimberly whilst the family was living there. When his father was transferred back to
Johannesburg, Peter went first to the End Street Convent until Koch Street was opened.
Later Observatory, now Sacred Heart was opened as an off-site campus and his father went
there as did Peter’s four sons. St David’s initially was not a separate school but rather an
extension of Observatory and Koch Street which closed in 1964.
Chris only attended St David’s for two years as his father was based in Port Elizabeth and he
went to the Marist school in PE. When father was transferred to Johannesburg and Chris came
to St David’s he was at the outset very intimidated coming from St Patrick’s, a poor relation to St
David’s. St David’s was regarded as a vastly superior and wealthy school, with a very high
standard both academically and on the sports field. At that time all the Marist boys in standard 6
wrote the Marist school exams and St David’s always had a disproportionately high number of
boys who achieved high marks.
On Chris’s first day, aged 16, his parents dropped him off at the main gate. He made his way
into the school and ended up next to the auditorium and was asked by Terry Ray if he was a
new boy and chatted to him about the class he was going to. This was quite a coincidence as
Brother Vincent had previously suggested that he meet up with him and a number of other boys
including Terry Rosenberg, Drummond Robinson and Tony Wickens. Chris’s fears were
immediately dissipated and he settled in very quickly. Now years later he is still in touch with
Terry Ray, now living in Toronto and Terry Rosenberg living in Durban, and he regularly sees
Tony and Drummond.
The head of the school was Brother Anthony who was very much the king during that era. Br
Anthony had formerly been the head of the prep school in PE and was a strong leader, very
astute and had the skill of being able to harness both educational and administrative skills. He
had the firm commitment from the parent body and others outside of the school and of course
the boys too. His nickname was “Aunges” because of his Scottish pronunciation of oranges.
Chris a day boy, played cricket, was very keen, a member of the first team. He went on to play
serious cricket when he left school. Due to a knee injury he did not participate in rugby but
played hockey and tennis, ran the mile and represented the school in cross-country but was not
a good swimmer. He recalled a chap in his class Roy Hutton who gained Springbok colours for
swimming. Chris was steady academically and achieved a first class matric, B level.
The main events that stand out, were the mass on the closing of Koch Street and the launch of
Marion College. Several thousand pupils wearing the Marist uniforms and what seemed like
hundreds of brothers were around, and photos of the event were carried in the local press. The
Mass was held in the Catholic Cathedral near to Koch Street.
In 1964 he recalls the first St David’s Old Boy to be ordained as a priest – Michael Linden who
celebrated his first mass in the old chapel.
Chris Terreblanche was the head boy in 1964, he became a doctor and died tragically on a run
5 years ago (2006). He was an extraordinary boy and man, handsome, charismatic,
intellectually gifted and a great athlete, sprinter. He recalled him beating against all odds, Paul
Nash, the glamour sprinter from Michaelhouse, at nationals.
In standard 9 he remembers a guest speaker at prize giving, Prof Bozzolli who was then the
vice-chancellor of Wits University. He made a powerful speech in which he said that the word
school is a collective noun as a school is made up of pupils, teachers, ground staff etc. This
speech probably coloured Chris’s attitude and loyalty to St David’s.
On leaving St David’s he went into the army, completed his army service and went on to study
economics at Wits University. His first job was with Anglo American as a junior economist. At
that time he was involved in politics, Zac De Beer being his boss, who later became a member
of parliament for the Progressive party. Chris stood as a candidate and experienced problems
with the security police spending a night in police custody. Much to his relief he was released
the following morning, unlike many other hapless individuals who were held for much longer
periods. Later he worked as a financial journalist and met his wife Pam who was a ballet dancer
with Pact, as was his sister Ann. He had 3 sons and 2 daughters. He ended up in the financial
world with the Standard Bank Group for many years and now does consultancy work for the
financial services board. All his 3 sons taught at St David’s at some stage in their careers and
currently Ian is still teaching here. His grandchild, Owen is registered to start in grade 00 and
will carry on the Busschau tradition now 5th generation.
Chris has continued to be involved with the school and was a member of the old boys on
leaving. There was a monthly pub night at the old Balalaika Hotel, stag dinners, dinner dances
and he watched the rugby matches and attended some of the athletic meetings. He became
more involved when Patrick started at the school. The infamous John Murphy was head when
he started in the prep school. Chris eventually was invited onto various committees and was
involved with fund raising activities and the Busschau family traditionally ran the hamburger
stand. He was eventually elected onto the PTA in 1989 until 1999. He was
vice-chairman for 5 -6 years and then became chairman from 1995 to 1999 and, as result also
served on the board of governors. He has been a member of the old boys committee for the
past 10 years.
Chris is also a member of the Liturgical Executive of the SA Catholic Bishops Conference, and a
member of the finance committee that handles justice and peace programmes. He is also
chairman of the board of Radio Veritas.
Other items of interest:
Br Edwin, head from 1950 until 1957, had family connections with Neil McGurk, who is now
living in Durban. Neil was extremely talented, an SA schools cricketer who became a brother.
He has doctorate in nuclear physics and used to fly to Harvard every year and oversee a final
programme for the students there.
In the old boy’s Magazine, about 3-4 years ago is an article about the legendary matrics who
stole exam papers.
Darryl Boswell had a nervous breakdown and couldn’t cope and hence Trudy Elliot was
appointed Acting Head for the final term in 1988
JE August 2011

Interview – Gary Norton – Staff
Gary was a member of staff at St David’s from 1989 until 1996 when he was acting headmaster.
He then went to Oakhill in Knysna before returning to take up his current post as headmaster of
Marion College.
He recalls that his sons Ryan and Shaun, together with the Edey boys started cleaning up the
reservoir adding fish and feeding the ducks.
In 1994/5 there was a combined Biology/Geography trip for the grade 9’s (then standard 7) that
he made together with Father Brewer to Groot Marico. They used a farm as their base, it was
very wild and the boys had to make their own toilets and wash their utensils properly. Gary told
the boys that they had to have a knife and to make sure that they didn’t get hurt as there were
no facilities or anaesthetic if needed. On the Saturday, early evening he and Father Brewer
were relaxing when Gareth Simaan, Robbie Tait and Murray White came to them. Gareth said
Murray had cut his hand. Thinking that the boys were conning them, it didn’t look real, they told
them to go away. However, when they had a good look at the hand they saw how serious it
was. They bandaged him up as best they could, got on the bus and, with Father Brewer got to
Ventersdorp where they got directions to a doctor. They had to open a gate and two large
alsatians came running toward them, they managed to get past them and find the doctor who
wasn’t impressed saying “You guys from town don’t know anything”. So the hand was stitched
up without anaesthetic just as Gary had warned the boys!
There was another memorable trip to Hoedspruit, Blydepoort, also a Biology/Geography camp.
On the Sunday the boys were playing touch rugby by the pool and Bradley Geldenhuys
managed to break his foot. During this camp an impala was shot and the boys had to cut it up,
bleed it and make a potjie. They also went hunting as a part of a culling exercise. One of the
boys was stung by a scorpion, very venomous with urotoxic venom; fortunately they managed to
treat it. Bradley Geldenhuys then disappeared, at 3am, he saw a zebra and went to pat it and it
promptly kicked Bradley on the head. On leaving they had a chicken parade, checking no
rubbish was left behind when Bradley called out that he had seen something in the grass – Gary
promptly told them all to get on the bus!
On another occasion, one of the teachers, Robin Henderson took the grade 8 boys to the
weather station; he came back in tears as they had been so badly behaved. Gary summoned all
the boys and asked them to write down who was really naughty. He then dismissed the boys but
told them that if they had been naughty they should come to his classroom. Out of 75 boys, 72
went to his classroom and when he asked one of the smaller boys why he was there to get a
hiding, he replied that he thought he had better come just in case his name was on the list.
Another pupil, Kieran Rowan was diagnosed with leukaemia and Gary remembers telling him to
think that, like Pacman, his cells were gobbling up the cancer – he survived and is still alive.
On a Friday afternoons Gary would take some of the boys fishing and many of the naughty boys
would come along. Gary recalls asking one boy why his father never came and fished with him,
he replied that his father did spend one afternoon with him but told him he had given up
R15 000 he would have earned had he been working instead. Needless to say the boy didn’t
ask his father again.
Gary’s wife Alison is a prep school teacher at St David’s
JE August 2011