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

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

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

Interview with Br Sean Quinn – 1963 – 1968
Br Sean first came to St David’s in 1963 and initially taught a primary school class. He thinks that Patrick
Quarmby was in that class, also Ivan Bensimon and Ian Skinner who is now married to Patrick’s sister.
Other names were R Adair, Clive Schoombie, N Jarvis, T Tribe.
Through his involvement with sport coaching many other names came to mind: Terry Rosenberg; Terry
Lavery; Errol MaCauley; Lee McGregor; G. Simaan. The latter’s father Mr Nassey Simaan helped with
coaching rugby and Sean learnt a lot from him and became a fanatic of rugby. He also said that Br Jude
taught him a lot in Maritzburg too. It was a game Sean never played in Ireland where G
gaelic football and hurling were the sports. He took cricket teams and umpired, and took students out on
Saturdays and Sundays with the “Cycling Club”. He never managed to lose anybody, thank God, but when
he thinks of it now, it frightens him. They used to go a long way sometimes and once through the city to the
southern suburbs and beyond, unknown territory.
Sean thought that we would know that some of the names mentioned went on to play at a high level ; Terry
Lavery represented the Springboks and Sean met him briefly at White City athletics stadium in London. Lee
McGregor was a Springbok swimmer whose parents were good people who helped Sean in his transition to
“civvy life’.
Remembering the brothers was easier for Sean in many ways – Br Anthony, Br Aidan, Br Lewis, Br Neil, Br
Andrew.
Br Neil was the nephew of the Br Provincial, family name McGurk. He and Sean once cycled to Pretoria
and back, very tired and thirsty at the end as one could imagine.
Br Ignatius, Br Aidan Burns and Br Sean once walked to Post Shepstone from Hibberdene along the
railway line. They got a few rand from the bursar to buy some food and drinks which they lost on their way
to Port Shepstone. They went back down to the beach and retraced their steps to the shop and eventually
found the money on the ground next to the door. Lucky! They then hitched a lift back to Hibberdene and
two men in the car took them right up to the door. Lucky again!
Br Sean liked distance running, having run up World’ s View in Maritzburg many times but Br Ignatius (aka
Paddy Collins) took it to another level later running the Comrades many times and he is still running full
and half marathons in Ireland now about 74 – 75 years old!
Br Sean stopped playing rugby at 40 and took up running – he completed 2 marathons and numerous half
marathons, but not in the same league as Br Iggy! It might say something about their lives with the Marist
brothers, but what it says, he is not exactly sure.
Another person that Sean remembers with great affection was a Zulu man. Piet, a big man who was in
charge of the kitchen, he was always cheerful and tried to teach Sean a little of the Zulu language and
talked proudly of Dingaan, Cetswayo and Shaka. Sean looked him up many years later on Google. When
Sean went to the kitchen for coffee, Piet would always address him as nKhosaan and Sean regrets not
talking to him more.
One funny incident Sean recalled was when they tried to hear a world title fight from America on the radio.
They tried to get it by rigging up the aerial on the tennis court net at some ridiculous hour in the morning
and by the time they got the broadcast the fight was finished. He couldn’t quite remember who was fighting,
maybe Joe Louis or Floyd Patterson. There were, of course no replays in those days!
On a more personal level, Sean taught Geography in the secondary school from 1964. He can remember
threatening his students that he would cane them if they failed. He now thinks that was a stupid thing to do
but he had seen this in Ireland as par for the course. He had to cane about 4 or 5 students and was sick of
himself by the time he had done two. One student, Gabriel Simaan cried and was still crying when they
went to Ellis Park for an inter-school tennis match. Sean thought that Gabriel liked him as a teacher and
was friendly with Gabriel’s family and was disgusted with himself and his stupidity. He never used the cane
again in all his teaching life of over 30 years. They were a very good family and Sean still has regrets.
Sean finished his degree whilst working on a mine in Rhodesia and later did his HED again at UNISA. He
went down to Johannesburg to do some teaching practice for exam purposes and did it at St David’s in
familiar surroundings and all that went with it.
Sean has some fond memories and some questions he would like answers too, but the past is the past and
he thinks it is not good to dwell on it too much.
After Sean’s wife died in 1996, he was at a loss and very disorientated. He quit his teaching job in a Jesuit
school in the north of England where he had taught English and Geography to “A” level for 10 years. He
went to Southern Ethiopia with the VSO for 2 years to work as a teacher trainer. He then had work at the
University in Newcastle upon Tyne after which he took off with a backpack to SE Asia, Australia and New
Zealand - a bit old for it at 60 but he didn’t care. Sean loved Thailand, the people, the weather and food so
went back and stayed. Sean had a TESOL diploma and an MA in Linguistics from Leeds, studying whilst
working. He developed an interest in the English language but all he did was work doing seminars for
teachers helping them with their methodology and English.
Sean’s son (who was born in Rhodesia) and 3 grandchildren live in Melbourne, Australia and Sean visits
them fairly regularly.
Sean currently lives in Thailand and has done so for the past 11 years, about 350kms NE of Bangkok in a
very rural area with a good wife who looks after him very well. He did some voluntary work teaching for 3
years but then had enough and now reads, works on his wife’s small farm, cycles a bit and relaxes. I gave Sean Gabriel Simaan’s email address and he got in touch with him. Gabriel had no recollection of
the incident and said he was caned on several occasions but it certainly didn’t do him any harm. (JLE)
JLE November 2013

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Interview with Craig Sagar – 1973
Craig doesn’t remember his first day at St David’s but enjoyed the sport and the interaction with the
teachers. Teachers who left a lasting impression were Mrs Schaafsma and Br Andrew (Drac) and in
particular his Maths lessons.
He played rugby, cricket and participated in the hurdles event in athletics. He also got a mention for
achieving Springbok Scout level and then the Chief Scout Award.
On leaving school he studied for an degree in agriculture at the University of Pietermaritzburg and then
went on to obtain a CA(SA) and qualified in 1985. He is married with two sons who attended St Charles
College a former Marist school. He is currently a partner with Deloitte & Touche, Audit, KZN living in
Pietermaritzburg.
Craig last visited St David’s in 1975 to play tennis and is in touch with MOBS.
J.E. October 2013

Interview with Jean-Paul Renouprez – 1990
Jean-Paul came to St David’s in 1979 in grade 1 in Mrs Scaafsma’s class. Jean-Paul recalls she was a
combination of a battle axe and enforcer of the law being very strict with a good memory. Jean-Paul’s son
started his career at St David’s in grade 1 in the very same classroom.
As Jean-Paul suffered from bad asthma, he was not that good at sport and it wasn’t a big feature in his life
at that time, He played some soccer, was thrown into the baby pool and learnt to swim. There was he
recalls, a pecking order in the cricket practices which were held where the hockey field is now. He wasn’t
very competitive but remembers participating in the prep standard 5, inter-house general knowledge quiz.
He remembered Willy Castle and playing in an U7 D soccer match under threat. Mr Manolius was the prep
school headmaster, Mr Coetzee his standard 5 teacher who had a big, booming voice, Mrs Hurley taught
Music and organised the nativity plays in which Jean-Paul took part, Heather Joseph taught Art and Mr
Bronkhorst was the sports teacher for the C and D teams who took him under his wing, positioning him as
the goalkeeper.
Jean-Paul has memories of racing down to the tuck shop near the present D & T centre to buy some food
before it sold out.
On entering the high school, Jean-Paul had overcome his problem with asthma and made the 3rd team in
rugby, C and D teams for cricket and was a member of the swimming team.
Mr Olivier was a Maths teacher who made a difference; The Computer Science teacher and class teacher,
Mr Schafer died during his matric year; Mr Webster was the sports master and class master during
standard 6 and 7 and took great delight in holding water-polo practices in the unheated swimming pool
during August. Mr Finlayson was the History teacher and coached 1st team rugby, sport and PE, he was a
former Springbok, Zimbabwean squash player was absolutely feared in the high school and no-one wanted
to be in Benedict house. Jean-Paul enjoyed Religious Instruction which led the Brothers to, at one stage
believe that he may become a Brother. He enjoyed a trip to Slough meeting Br Anthony and used to help
make soup in the kitchen at St David’s .Mr Davies was the headmaster from 1989 until his matric but Mr
Murphy stands out as Jean-Paul was involved in a fund raising drive which entailed licking envelopes and
Mr Murphy told the boys that the resin was made from Camel’s hooves.
Richard Girdwood took over from Trudy Elliot in 1989 and Jean-Paul enjoyed helping with special effects
with various productions such as Hamlet and Julius Caesar and got in a lot of practice setting up lighting
and building sets in the area now occupied by the high school library. He was also involved with some
acting roles and put together a play for Osmond house for the inter-house plays competition. He also took
part in inter-house debating which he enjoyed. Apart from that he really enjoyed the war cries and attending
1st team rugby matches. A memorable and proud moment for Jean-Paul was when his uncle, a former
rugby Springbok and leading businessman, was asked to address the school at the prize giving ceremony.
A month into his matric year, Jean-Paul, together with Denis O’Regan was appointed a prefect and was
awarded a Champagnat Medal at the annual prize giving.
On their last day one of the boys went off in his car and brought back ciders which some of the boys drank
at the back of the pool. Jean-Paul went to the matric dances in standard 11 and in his matric year.
After matriculating Jean-Paul went on to study engineering at Wits University. Working for Altech he made
detonators for the mining industry, was active on the regulatory committee at Wits and in 1999 studied fulltime
for an MBA at UCT. He then spent 4 years with Dimension Data followed by a period in the
pharmaceutical industry and joined South African Breweries in 2007. He has four different roles within
operations and logistics management and is involved with packaging at the Newlands and Rosslyn
Breweries.
Jean-Paul felt that school was a good place, a safe place to be and gave him a special grounding. He
wasn’t particularly good at anything but would repeat his school career again. He is married and has a son
currently in Grade at St David’s, is a member of MOBS and is a member of the MOBS committee.
JLE March 2014

Interview with Chris Marsay – 2003
Chris joined St David’s in 1991 going into grade 0. He remembers a party that was held the year before he
came to the school with all the cool guys lying on the nets in the playground and Chris feeling quite
desperate as he was unable to find the toilets.
He will be forever grateful to Mrs Ansell, his grade 1 teacher who picked up that he had a squint. He was
very fortunate as he had to wear glasses for two weeks and then have an operation to correct the squint.
He has some good memories of the prep school one of them being the regular April holiday soccer clinics
run by Willy Castle. The East London train trip for the soccer tour was an annual highlight travelling
together with four of his best friends from grade 0 until matric, Sean Schoombie, Glynn Allen, Robert Smith
and Jason Simaan. Everyone had to particpate in the sport in the prep school and Chris joined in with the
swimming, athletics, cricket and soccer. As he was young for his year this put quite a bit of good pressure
on him.
Chris recalls Mrs Walton, his grade 0 teacher asking him when his birthday was, he wasn’t sure but said it
was on a date last year but he didn’t know when it would be this year – a lesson well learnt that his birthday
would always be on the same day every year. The infamous Mrs Scaafsma, his grade 2 teacher who drove
an orange beetle, Mrs Hurley, grade 3 who convinced all the boys that she was a witch and lived in a cave
on Northcliff hill. Dave Hosmer who came from St Vincent’s School for the Deaf and taught them all some
sign language. Mr Mitchley, the first male influence and Mandy Everson who was one of his favourite
teachers. The boys were all very sad when Greg Royce announced at assembly that he was leaving and
going to St Peter’s. Chris remembers him saying that St David’s is not a good school, it’s a great school.
Chris was friendly with Andrew Castle and often stayed over at their home and he remembers always being
very much in awe of Andrew’s father Willy Castle.
Chris had a unique entry into the high school with his older brother Michael being a prefect in matric. The
grade 8 camp to Glenmore was very different with all the new guys and the macho guys. Chris was a
member of The Bishops, a fun house to be in.
Chris played water polo in the high school, was vice captain of the 1st team, is still playing for MOBS and is
still friends with Kyle Biller who is in teaching for all the right reasons. He was selected to play for the
Gauteng U14 team but was dropped because of new quota requirements but nevertheless it was an
experience to remember.
There was also the Argentina rugby tour in 2003 with Gareth Kolkenbeck-Ruh, which set the tone for rugby
that year. Rod Smith, Bradley Ireland and Graeme Mcmillan accompanied them together with Gary
Hodgson who co-ordinated the tour together with Clive Gladulich and got sponsorship from Microsoft.
There was a great group of parents with them and a Uruguayan exchange student Nick Rosenti. Everyone
wanted to host Nick or the two black members of the team.
Champagnat day was always a good day with cokes and donuts after mass at the pool, getting extra
pocket money for a free day from school and he was often part of the team playing soccer against the staff
or parents. He remembers the day Mandela came to St David’s in 2002 and the photo taken with him
together with the 2002 1st rugby team – very special.
Chris remembers Marius Buys with affection and recalls great school tours with him. He gave the boys lots
of responsibility and always said ”What goes on tour, stays on tour”. Marius started a Friday afternoon
activity “Power of the Pen” and all the boys who attended had to bring R10, wear a funny tie and go with
him to Sandton City and read poetry.
On a cultural level, Chris was involved in the production of “As You Like It” in conjunction with Brescia
House and directed by Mrs Wylde. Because of inclement weather, the unconventional production took
place in the hall performing from the entrance and not the stage.
Academically Chris did well and achieved 1 A, 2 B’s, 2 C’s and 1 D in matric, he was awarded general
honours and was appointed prefect. 2003 was a good year and the boys stood well together as a group.
Sport was particularly good with the Cricket team winning the Johnny Waite Trophy and the 1st team rugby
beating both Jeppe and KES at away matches.
After leaving St David’s Chris studied for a BCom at Wits for a year then moved to Varsity College, Cape
Town and completed two years sports management winning an award followed by a year at Damelin doing
a course in events management. He then applied to complete a post graduate degree in marketing
management at UCT and felt that he learnt more in that year than the preceding four years. He then
worked for Dream Lifestyles, owned by Gareth Simaan selling shares in a lodge and vacation lifestyle
products. In 2010 he joined the family business Marsay Equipment as marketing manager and hasn’t
looked back since.
Chris is a member of MOBS and of the MOBS water polo team. JLE
March 2014

Interview with Frederick Barnard – 1989
Frederick first came to St David’s in 1985, midway into standard 5 as his mother had moved to
Johannesburg from Cape Town. The religious aspect of a Catholic school was completely new to him
coming from SACHS, a large government school. The classes were much smaller, the boys had to line up
in the prep school quadrangle, it was mid-winter and very cold.
The teachers he recalled were Trudy Elliot, acting head between Boswell and Davies, she was a strong
teacher who Frederick liked and inspired him. She retired at the end of 1988. Also in the high school there
was Brian Webster who taught Science and Biology and who was the water-polo coach; Mr Hall; and
Father Brewer was very influential, everyone appreciated him as a fantastic human being. Frederick came
to his funeral in 1999. A number of the boys’ parents lived and worked on the school premises such as
Father Brewer, Brian Webster, Mr Finlayson, Mr Castle, the headmasters and the estate manager. Having
the teachers around was a good thing.
Another big influence in Frederick’s life was FatherTom Nicolson, based in Cape Town who led him through
his first holy communion, married him and has baptised Frederick’s children.
Frederick found that he thrived in a smaller community together with boys from different backgrounds which
included black children too. It was the first time that Frederick had encountered boys from other
backgrounds and different economic environments such as Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. The country
was not very stable during the late 80’s and some of the boys had problems getting to school and Fredrick
remembered offering Sophiso Ngwenya (the first black head boy) to stay with him. It was a family
community which was strong throughout his childhood years and even later on. It was such an influential
time in a child’s life and left a lasting impression on Frederick when he was trying to figure out who he was
and what he wanted in life. Frederick is still in close contact with many of the friends he made during this
time.
In retrospect, the religious aspect of the school also influenced and affected Frederick in different ways.
Some teachers also had the ability to inspire and motivate him. Frederick’s parents were not very much
involved with the school and some of his teachers became role models, which is very important in a child’s
development.
As the numbers were low, there were only two classes in matric, everyone participated no matter how good
they were. The school was very liberal in its approach and as to what was right and wrong. During the time
of the riots the school took the stance in what was believed to be fair and not along government lines.
In those days the school did retreats and socials at the Rosebank Convent and, whilst Frederick was in
standard 5, prefects’ tea still existed. There was huge respect for the older boys and all the boys underwent
an initiation in standard 6.
There were outreach activities in the prep school, in the high school, Frederick participated in debating, the
Stock Exchange Investment Game, was vice captain of Benedict house with Wayne Muller as captain, was
a member of the 1st team water-polo. He was awarded academic colours and received an Art prize in
standard 8, Heather Joseph was his Art teacher. In standard 9, Frederick remembers that receiving his
honours blazer from Trudy Elliott in assembly was very special and being made a prefect.
Frederick helped prepare for and attended the matric dance in standard 9 and again in his matric year. It
was a highlight and was held in the school hall which was decorated by the standard 9’s.
After matriculating, Frederick went to Wits University to study for a BComm Law and Business Finance. He
was also awarded a CFA – Chartered Financial Analyst (USA) which he did by correspondence. He then
went overseas and did an internship with UBS in Zurich and London. On his return to South Africa he
started to work in finance and now has offices in Switzerland and Johannesburg with his company Avance-
Suisse which was established in 2001.
All in all Frederick felt that the time he spent at St David’s was hugely influential and if he was living here he
would send his son to the school without any hesitation. Frederick instituted the MOBS water-polo team
first playing at the Wanderers and then St David’s.
JLE November 2014

Interview with Conor MacFadden – 1991
Conor began his career at St David’s in grade 0 in 1979.His first classroom was where the old swimming
pool used to be and Mrs Walton was his teacher. He was also taught by current teachers Willy Castle,
Carol Ansell, Heather Joseph and Belinda Marais.
The clergy still played a major role in the school at the time with Father Plestus being exceptionally kind
and caring. Father Brewer was also very special, a mentor and very close to many of the boys. He stood up
for the boys and operated in his own area within the school which meant he wasn’t always popular with the
teaching staff.
Conor was a member of The Bishops and his housemaster, who taught History was Mr Howarth.
The most significant memory he has is of the soccer tour to Belgium in 1985 with two teams, the U10’s and
U12’s. South Africa, because of apartheid was a pariah country and it was unusual to play any sport with a
foreign country. It was an amazing experience touring Belgium for 2 to 3 weeks and a very significant one
for the boys. Because of the rarity of such tours at the time, the SABC decided to do an insert on one of its
programmes Video 2. Martin Bailey was the host and came on the tour with the boys. Conor has a copy of
the broadcasted footage.
Conor also participated in cricket and rugby as well as soccer. He was the junior school cricket captain and
played rugby in high school. Other pupils such as Ivor Rugani played provincial cricket and Brad Rains
provincial rubgy in 1991. They both have sons at St David’s as does Conor. Conor also played golf at the
Wanderers. There certainly wasn’t the variety of sports that are available to the boys today and everybody
had to participate. Hockey had been introduced but was quite contentious at the time.
Conor remembers being a co-worker and was part of a group who visited Brother Anthony’s mission in
Kuruman.
The boys attended the matric dance from standard 9 and it was held in the school dining room. It was much
lower key than today with the boys decorating the venue themselves.
After matriculating, Conor studied law at Wits University and joined Bell Dewar and Hall which recently
merged with the Canadian firm of Faskin Martineau. Conor, a partner is involved with corporate and tax
law.
Conor has a son Liam at St David’s who is currently in grade 1 and is happy to see the Marist tradition
being carried through to the next generation.
Conor is a trustee of the St David’s Foundation and is a member of MOBS.
JLE September 2014

Interview with Allan Wotherspoon – 1980
Allan came to St David’s in the junior school but then left and went to the UK for 4 years and on his return
went into the high school. In principle he was put into the same class as people he would have been with in
junior school such as George Daras who was his closest friend in junior school, but had a different group of
friends by senior school, so Allan joined a new group of friends at senior school. Three of those five friends
now live close enough in Australia that they keep in touch on a regular basis.
Allan lived close enough to the school to be a day boy and saw his close friends out of school on a regular
basis but still had his parents and sisters around him. As he was one of the youngest in his class he had to
play sport with guys from the year below for many years.
He recalled Mr McFadden as he enjoyed History and remembered his favourite quote of “A for away and O
for Go”.
Allan enjoyed the sport, athletics 100, 200, 400 and 800m, physical education and especially games like
gaining ground, the odd game of cricket when he scored 50 runs or took a hat trick for the 2nd 11 team, or
played a good game of rugby. In athletics one year Allan broke a couple of school records and was victor
ludorum of both track and field, ending up with quite a few trophies and his father was asked to donate one
of them. Allan also ran in inter schools competitions.
He didn’t enjoy Afrikaans as he never had a good grasp of the language and struggled to pass the exams.
He disliked the sadistic canings by the headmaster and brothers and the attempts at bullying himself and
his friends.
Some disappointments included not being able to compete in running for athletics and not getting an
athletics scroll or honours blazer. Allan also had an accident which meant that he had to write his matric
exams with the wrong hand.
In standard 9 the boys decorated the hall and he recalled the difficulty and shyness of getting a date. His
matric dance was a great night out, the hall looked good and it was fun dressing up smartly.
On his last day he recalls all of the boys signing their school shirts, sneaking back in the middle of the night
and putting toilet rolls to stream all over the place.
After matriculating, Allan went on to Wits University to study BSc Commerce and completed many courses
throughout his business career. He is currently employed as an IT manager. Allan is still in touch with Lloyd
Wilkins (who he has known for 33 years), Brian Muller and Geoff Slaven, all living in Australia and literally
bumped into Gavin McLauglin who used to live in the same housing estate as his parents and went running
with him on weekends whilst he was temporarily staying in SA.

Interview with Allan Schwarer – 1941 – 45
Allan and his brother Paul attended Saxonwold Primary until Marist Inanda opened in 1941 and
were pupils at the school until they were relocated to Kimberly.
Allan recalled that Br Urban was the headmaster and a Br Pius was the eldest brother and well
liked by the boys. Br Urban came from Australia and Allan’s father helped him with regard to
local regulations etc regarding building work. As far as he can remember the school started with
standard1.
Allan’s family lived next to the Killarney golf course in West Street and he remembers playing in
a lane than ran alongside their property. To get to school they caught a bus as far as Dunkeld
and from there the school provided a taxi. All the roads to the north were dirt roads and Inanda
was very much in the country.
Other boys that he remembers being in his class were Michael Clarke, Steve Muller and Carl
Vermeulen. They used to play marbles in the quad and cricket although there was no soccer.
The school’s chapel was upstairs,
Allan currently undertakes legal work for the Catholic church.
JE July 2012

Interview with Nicholas Haralambous – 2002
Nicholas’s first memory of St David’s was the entrance exam which was held in what was a small theatre
by one of the science labs. He was 13 in grade 7 and had come from Crawford Prep where anything goes.
He had long hair, was shaving and wore civvies. All the other boys taking the exam were straight shooters.
School uniforms all done up and they knew each other. He was the only person from his school applying so
he kept himself to himself, wrote the exam, finished early and left.
When Nick was at S David’s there was no option but, given the choice he would have liked to board and
thought it would have been great. He spent so much time at school that maybe a bed was placed in one of
the classrooms. In any event he also remembered wanting to spend as much of his time messing around at
school as was possible.
Nick enjoyed the people most whilst he was at St David’s. At the time they were the best guys he could
have wanted to know and he enjoyed the well rounded nature of the school.
On the down side, Nick was always looking for more from St David’s in the way of choice – languages, arts,
drama and better coaching. There was always a bit more that could have been done. However it is good to
know that these things have been mostly addressed and that the school now offers a vast amount of
choice.
Nick will never forget the grade 8 camp at Glenmore, that year prefects attended a portion of the camp.
Nick played 1st team rugby in grade 11 and 12.
An occasion which stands out was when Nelson Mandela visited the school in Nick’s matric year. It meant
that he, as head boy had to give a speech to the school, guests and attendees. It was a daunting task at
the age of 18 to have to stand up and introduce an icon like Madiba. It was without doubt the most
memorable day that Nick had at St David’s.
Nick also had the pleasure of sitting close to Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State while he gave a
speech in the school’s amphitheatre and Bobby Skinstad was the guest speaker at the annual ruby dinner.
Nick couldn’t remember any “worst moments” but thought that it’s always rough dealing with school politics
and the most difficult period for him was grade 11 when prefects are announced. There was a lot of
pressure to be someone that you weren’t. Everyone has heard the PFP (pushing for prefect) taunts and for
whatever reason Nick felt a lot of stick for that in his year.
Mr Edey was without doubt the most memorable teaching figure Nick had ever encountered. He really
understood the school, its ethos and all the boys individually. He had it. Nick will never forget his booming
voice in the History classes and the empathetic assembly speeches. The most memorable speech he
recalled Mr Edey giving was in 2000 after a particularly bad week where St David’s boys were singled out
for something stupid. Mr Edey stood in front of the school and reminded the boys , as only he could, that it’s
the 5% of boys that let the other 95% down and they shouldn’t let them define who they were.
The matric dance was an interesting one. The dance Nick’s year threw in grade 11 was epic and was
hosted at the Sandton Sun Towers in Sandton City. They had an amazing Venetian theme and kitted
everything out in incredible style and they expected the same for their matric year but didn’t get it. Nick is
not sure whether the grade 11’s in 2002 were pranking them but the dance was hosted at the Wanderers
Club and the theme was “Aliens”. Nick felt it was cringe- worthy but in the end entirely memorable because
of how bad it was.
On his last day Nick remember being quite relieved to have made it through matric. It was difficult to
imagine a world without the other 90 or so guys in his class. They did what every matric does, the hazing
on their way out, the pranks and the traditional breakfast in the pavilion. Then it was over, just like that.
Nick was a prefect and head boy and was awarded a general honours blazer, the Old Boys Trophy for
Leadership and Promotion of the Marist Spirit and a Champagnat medal.
In Nick’s speech at the annual prize giving he said “Tradition has and will always have a place in our
school”. The single most moving experience of my life was walking down the 1st XV rugby steps in my
tracksuit with 400 boys sitting in front of me and cheering the first team on”.
After matriculating, Nick attended Rhodes University and received an undergraduate degree in journalism
and politics. Nick is currently a consultant and the owner of the men’s fashion brand Nic Harry.
Nick is a member of MOBS and last visited St David’s in 2012.
JE 2014

Interview with Duncan Hunter – 2006
Duncan’s first day at St David’s was in grade 4 and he remembers it as being completely different from his
previous school in that there was a feeling that excellence was important along with discipline. He found it
to be a rather overwhelming experience.
The best part of school for Duncan was having his mates with him most of the time, in class, during breaks
and then playing sport in the afternoons together. Duncan is still in contact with them and even now, almost
ten years later they all miss sitting on their specific bench in the quad during breaks. Other aspects he
enjoyed were all the sport on offer and the fact that his whole year was very much planned in advance by
somebody else. There was a lot less to worry about back then!
As with most boys, Duncan did not enjoy the homework and the studying for exams.
An occasion that stands out was the new boys “initiation” and prefects’ test that they did when they arrived
in the high school. Having to remember all the prefects’ names and various other random facts about the
school was, looking back, quite funny. Another weekly event the boys had when they were in matric was
the prefects’ assembly. Duncan can remember some of what was said being hysterical and probably not
repeatable! Another event which stood out was the time the boys travelled down to Durban for the Westville
gala over the Midmar weekend in 2002. They were quite out-classed at the time, but the schools’ swimming
went from strength to strength after they had seen the level they needed to be at to compete across the
country.
One of the funniest things the boys used to do at break at one stage during high school was to play an
interesting variation of soccer. The person who scored used to have to try to run away from everyone as
the aim was to all “pile on” the scorer. It made no sense then and still doesn’t but most of the grade used to
get involved. They also played various other versions of rugby and soccer throughout their time, most of
which were banned very quickly.
There were many teachers over the years that made lasting impressions. That is one of the qualities of the
staff at St David’s; they take a genuine interest in the boys they are teaching. In the prep school, Mrs
Everson made a lasting impression in terms of her guidance and some of the perspectives she shared. In
high school, Mrs Kennedy taught Duncan’s Maths class for three years and he ended up in her matric
class. She got to know the boys over the years and on top of being an excellent teacher she supported
them and gave them guidance when needed. On a personal level, Duncan was involved in tutoring Maths
classes during university which he felt was due to Mrs Kennedy.
Duncan swam and was in the A team swimming throughout prep and high school. He played water polo for
the 2nd team, rugby for the 2nd team and thought that the annual Midmar trip with the swimming team was
always memorable. The Ken Short Shield under 14 water polo tournament played in East London was also
a great trip. On a provincial level, Duncan was selected for the Gauteng lifesaving team.
Duncan was a prefect and deputy head of College house in 2006 and his twin brother was also prefect, so
two out of twelve wasn’t bad going for the Hunter family. Duncan received specific honours for academics
as well as general honours and also won various academic subject prizes over the years, the last being the
Maths prize in matric. He also received team awards for swimming and water polo.
Duncan remembers the last day of school quite clearly. He and the matrics organised a braai in the
morning in the quad to celebrate. One of the guys ended up bringing a whole bunch of chickens with him
that they let run around during the day. This was a great source of entertainment for all the boys. The same
day his twin brother, Malcolm climbed out of the window of Mrs Kennedy’s 2nd storey Maths classroom and
climbed down the side of the building. Mrs Kennedy got quite a surprise when Malcolm came back up and
knocked on the door asking to be let in!
After matriculating, Duncan went on to study Bachelor of Accounting Science at Wits University and then
completed the requirements for CA (SA) in 2013. He is currently a manager at PWC London in the
assurance practice.
Duncan is a member of MOBS and visits the school when he can.
JLE March 2015

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

Interview with Derrick Schoombie – 1967
Derrick came to St David’s in grade 1 as a day boy living just down the road with his family. On his first day
he sat next to Gabriel Simaan and Peter Wright with whom he is still friends. Mrs Brick was their grade 1
teacher. He remembers Br Mario; Br Vincemt; Br Andrew “Drac” – all the boys were scared of him but
loved him and he drove the school bus to all the sporting events; Mrs Knesovitch who had three sons at the
school; Mrs Buckle who taught English and Mrs Hartmann who all the boys were in love with.
St David’s was a small school with about 300 pupils and Derrick knew everyone at the school. Br Anthony
was the headmaster for most of Derrick’s school life who was a strict but lovely man who really changed
the school for the better.
Derrick loved his sport and was an active sportsman playing 1st team rugby and cricket and hockey from
standard 8 and played for the Transvaal B and Sub Union rugby team once he left school. He participated
in three SA Marist school cricket tours and was chosen for the Marist side for two of the three years
attended. He knew Willy Castle who was also a member of the 1st team rugby and in a class below him. In
his final year, Derrick was captain of 1st rugby; vice-captain 1st cricket and vice-captain 1st hockey and a
member of the schools swimming team.
Derrick recalled the school musical “Pirates of Penzance” produced by Mr Drummond-Bell. Derrick
participated although he was not a good singer. He took Val Jackson as his partner to his matric dance.
Derrick was very happy at school, became a prefect with Peter De Kock as head boy in his matric year. He
was vice-captain of Benedict house, was awarded an honours blazer and received scrolls for prefect, rugby
and cricket and was awarded the Victor Ludorum in his final year at the school for study, sport and
leadership.
After achieving a university pass for matric, Derrick spent 9 months in the army and then went on to Wits
University, where he studied for a BComm degree, and thereafter completed his CA and a Diploma in
Taxation. After completing his BComm he was articled to Vaughan, Key and Payne which is now Price
Waterhouse Coopers and after qualifying as a CA, Derrick and his wife travelled around the UK and Europe
in a VW combi for 16 months living on $10 per day. On his return to SA, Derrick and his brother Clive joined
their father in a small auditing practise until 1983 where after he and Gabe Simaan formed a small
pharmaceutical company called Garec (a combination of the names of Gabe and Derrick) which company
was later acquired by SA Druggists and now forms part f the Aspen stable. Derrick now works for Actavis
Inc, part of one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Derrick will retire in July this year.
Derrick is a member of MOBS but has no sons at the school having fathered three daughters (with one of
them now teaching at St David’s; however his two grandsons will become pupils at St David’s. Derrick’s
younger brother Clive matriculated in 1968 and died in 2011 having fathered three sons who all attended St
David’s for their entire school life.
JLE May 2015

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Speech at the 70th Anniversary Gala Dinner, St David’s Marist Inanda
Sim Tshabalala
No product of the Marist Brothers could fail to be beleaguered by tremendous feelings
of humility, privilege and gratification at a function such as tonight’s; humility for being in
the presence of luminaries of Catholic and Marist education as well as immensely
successful products of St David’s; privilege and gratification at the knowledge that one
is counted as a friend of St David’s.
I was lucky to have had parents who had the means to be able to send me to Marist
Observatory in 1978. I was fortunate to be nurtured by the Marist Brothers in joint
venture with the Holy Family sisters, the Ursuline sisters and the laity in an environment
of love, fairness, equality and care.
I have always been struck by the intensity of the Marist faith. The sheer power of this
faith reminds me of some famous lines of the great Catholic poet Gerard Manley
Hopkins. He wrote, ‘The World is charged with the grandeur of God, It will flame out, like
shining from shook foil.’ The Marist brothers in joint venture with the Holy Family sisters,
the Ursuline sisters and laity who taught me at Sacred Heart College did indeed seem lit
up from the inside by their faith; charged full of imagination, hope and energy. They
shone with an unshakable determination to side with the underdog in pursuit of equality
and fairness
I always felt at home at Sacred Heart. Though I was a little boy from Soweto, I always
remember how special I was made to feel. And there I was given gifts beyond price: an
excellent, fully rounded education and the skills and values I draw on every day as a
professional and as a citizen of South Africa.
My mentors from this community included Brother Mc Cartin. Memories of him talking to
me in the quad at Obs after school are indelible. I remember distinctly stories of his life
in Ireland, his journey to South Africa and his Marist work. Because of listening to him, I
even considered becoming a brother! How lovely that would have been instead of being
a member of one of the ten most hated professions: banking. I remember fondly Brother
Paul as he would walk to his room with his dog Susie, stop, and chat about this and
that. I remember well brother Raymond with his strong Irish accent. He was our under
13 rugby coach, and that was the only year my cohort beat Inanda during the ordinary
season – although, of course, we drew with them during the Inter Marist rugby
tournament which was held at St Josephs Rondebosch in our matric year. That draw
was sweet and it is unforgettable. I am on dangerous ground here, but I attribute our
string of losses to Inanda from under 13 to our final year entirely to the fact that we
became co-ed in 1980 whereas the Inanda leadership had the good sense to remain a
Single sex school, one of whose benefits was the preservation of a strong rugby
tradition. Neil Mc Gurk is unforgettable. I learned a huge amount from him: commitment
to community combined with a deep desire to transform it; the love of philosophy; and
an abiding adoration of St Thomas Aquinas’ work and natural law.
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It seems to me that nothing has changed since I devoured Brother Mc Cartin's immortal
words, grappled with Brother Neil's incredibly complex ideas and got routinely trounced
by Walter Cronje's men. I have a tremendous love for the Marist tradition, and a
permanent admiration for St David’s.
Ladies and gentlemen, when I was asked to speak tonight on the topic: ‘Confortare esto
vir’ – ‘Take courage and be a man,’ I was immediately filled with trepidation. Was this
some kind of coded message about a resurgence of the global financial crisis? Were
the Marist Brothers trying to tell me something?
But once I had calmed down, I remembered that this isn’t actually a financial forecast.
As you know, it’s really the inspiring motto of this great school, founded seventy years
ago as an act of bravery and optimism in defiance of the surrounding horrors of the
Second World War.
The motto comes, in fact, from the First Book of Kings, Chapter 2. They are King
David’s dying words of advice to his son, Solomon, who was to become the wisest and
best of the biblical kings of Israel. David said, ‘Take courage and be a man. Observe
what the Lord your God requires. Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees.... Do
this so that you may prosper in all you do.’
What I find most interesting about this text is that it says that courageous, wise and
good people have to be observant and obedient. In a foreshadowing of the Marian
tradition of striving always to be consciously present in the world and to heed the call of
duty, these verses call upon us to look carefully around us; to work out what is required
of us by our religion and our values; and to take steps to fulfil those requirements.
What do we find when we look about us in South Africa? I think we find many good
things - including a democracy that has just reaffirmed both its vibrancy and its stability;
an economy that is clearly on its way to recovery; and this attractive and excellent
school. There’s much to be proud of, and certainly no need for gloom.
But we also observe a great deal of poverty and that we are the world’s most unequal
country.
65% of the population live on less the R550 a month – less than a monthly satellite TV
subscription. 12% of South Africans are desperately poor, struggling somehow to
survive on R150 a month – less than the cost of a very modest lunch for two in Sandton.
In other words, those of us who are lucky enough to be celebrating this anniversary
here tonight live on a small island of prosperity in a sea of poverty.
South Africa is so unequal because we have one of the world’s highest unemployment
rates. The unemployment rate for black South Africans under 30 is over 50%. Twothirds
of 15-to-30 year olds who want work have never been able to find a job. The
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reason why these millions of young people can’t find work - or create it for themselves -
is simple. They have been failed by our education system.
Admittedly, there are some bright spots in the education landscape, and last year’s
matric results may signal some improvement - but the overall picture remains extremely
bleak. Two facts I find particularly telling are that the average Grade 3 literacy teacher
can barely pass a Grade 6 test, and that the average South African maths teacher –
teacher, not student – scores 39% on a test of the material they are supposed to be
teaching. If the teacher can’t properly understand the work, how on earth are the pupils
supposed to learn?
Our educational deficiencies look even worse in the light of global standards. This year
the Global Competitiveness Report found that our inadequately educated workforce was
the second biggest constraint to doing business in South Africa. (Our inefficient
bureaucracy was first – and much of that inefficiency is also explained by poor
education.) South Africa ranks among the bottom 10% of countries on the quality of our
education system. We do far worse than many much poorer African countries, including
Mali, Tanzania and even Cote D’Ivoire, which is just emerging from a decade of civil
war.
The abject failure of most of the education system is not merely tragic and wasteful– it’s
also very dangerous. This is because unemployment and inequality fuel crime and
instability, and create an enthusiastic audience for destructive populist politicians.
Our motto tells us that good and wise men observe, and then obey.
I believe that this means that we are called upon by our faith and by our ethics to take
active steps to improve South Africa’s education system. But what steps? I submit that
the answers have been given to us – very appropriately – by two great Catholic
educationalists: St Marcellin Champagnat and Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman.
St Marcellin founded the Marist Brothers nearly two hundred years ago in order to bring
education and religious enlightenment to poor children in remote rural areas of France,
and to ensure that they were taught with humility, modesty, simplicity and love. With the
passing of time, Marist Inanda now finds itself in what is probably the most affluent part
of South Africa’s little island of prosperity. The school therefore attracts most of its
pupils from prosperous and sophisticated families. Through no fault of your own, St
David’s is significantly less diverse in terms of both race and income than it could be.
I know that you are very aware of the tension this creates: How best can St David’s
reconcile its present affluence with the Marist mission to the poor? More generally, how
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can those of us perched on the little island of prosperity respond with honour and
courage to the sea of poverty and inequality around us?
It is entirely right that St David’s should continue to stretch itself to reach and serve
disadvantaged pupils and badly trained teachers. I know that the boys at St David’s do
a lot of outreach work. I can only say to them, ‘Thank you – and do more!’ And, of
course, one of the main purposes of tonight’s event is to raise funds for the Marcellin
Champagnat Campaign to establish an endowment that will provide pupil bursaries and
the teacher learnerships here at St David’s. Again, I can only say, ‘Thank you – and be
even more generous!’
I hope you won’t mind if I make a banker’s suggestion? From my perspective, St
David’s Marist Inanda looks like a particularly successful ‘business unit.’ If we were
looking for resources to, say, expand our branch network into new territories, we would
have a debate about transferring some of the profits from the successful units to fund
the expansion as this would be in the interests of the entire enterprise. This would not
be an easy or a comfortable conversation. It would be necessary to avoid unfairness,
and to think carefully about how much money and other resources could be transferred
without damaging the profitability and sustainability of the successful business units. I
believe that St David’s is called upon by its Marist values to keep on having this
uncomfortable conversation. Please ask yourselves very regularly whether St David’s
can do more to cross-subsidise other Marist and Catholic education.
Cardinal Newman was a leading figure in the campaign to achieve social and political
equality for Catholics in Britain and Ireland in the 19th century. A former Anglican, he
was the prime mover behind the establishment of the Catholic University of Ireland,
which was to become the University College, Dublin, today, Ireland’s premier university. He
argued that one of the most important tasks for Catholics was to create centres of
unabashed educational excellence. At the time, almost all Catholics were very poor.
But, Newman argued, this did not mean that the community should focus exclusively on
immediate poverty relief and basic education. Instead, it should also aim to create
centres of unashamed educational excellence, which could produce a new Catholic elite
to lead the community and to influence society in general.
Newman was very interesting on what this new elite should be taught. He argued that a
significant proportion of their education should be in the liberal arts and humanities. His
view was that - even more than their specific professional training - leaders need the
ability to think critically and clearly and to argue logically and persuasively. This has
certainly been my experience, and I entirely agree with Newman that one of the
characteristics of an elite school like St David’s should be a concentration on literature,
history and debating – especially since the South African university system encourages
most students to specialise in professional subjects from their first day at university.
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I would urge you, therefore, to follow the Blessed Cardinal Newman as well as St
Marcellin. As you stretch out to do more for the disadvantaged, do not lose focus on
your core mission of empowering every St David’s boy to develop all his talents, to
achieve all-round excellence, and to grow into men who are both wise and good. Also –
and this is very important too – I hope that the school continues to ensure that every
boy enjoys himself and is happy here.
On second thoughts, perhaps the boys shouldn’t enjoy their time here too much.... I’m
thinking here of one famous Marist Old Boy – he knows who he is – he is the
personification of the Marist way and the quintessence of the St David’s motto, he is a
carrier of this institution’s values and beliefs and he has motivated and inspired
thousands of boys in his long history with the school. He loved the school so much that
he found it necessary to do matric twice, and then to stay here for another 40 years. He
has given his name to a bursary which “is awarded to a boy who shows sporting
promise and who will be able to maintain the required academic standard.” He is loved
and revered and is prototypical of what St David’s boys ought to be, what they can be,
what they will be.
Finally – and I know Willy Castle will agree with me about this - I’d like to say
something about the merits of St David’s as a boys-only school. Certainly, there are
dangers to be avoided in a boys’ school and such dangers are avoided in co- ed
schools such as my alma mater, Sacred Heart College. These dangers include the risk
of becoming obsessed with sporting success to the exclusion of other achievements, or
of creating a culture which regards women as ‘a different species.’ But I know that St
David’s avoids these risks, thanks to its emphasis on all-round achievement and to its
thoroughly Catholic insistence on treating everyone with dignity and respect.
South Africa desperately needs more courageous and responsible men. At present,
only 36% of children are being raised in a home with a father. Far too much of our social
and political life is shaped by immature and irresponsible boy-men, whose paths to
fame, wealth and power are littered with broken promises, risky personal behaviour and
thoughtless or even cruel treatment of the poor, the weak, children and the elderly. St
David’s is performing an extremely valuable social service by fostering a brave, wise
and responsible masculinity that defies these trends and shows what being a man –
esto vir - truly means.
Long may you continue to do so!

Ryan Roseveare – Marist Old Boys – Speech – 05-06-2015
Thanks for having me here today,
The last speech I gave at this school was a “how to speech” its Title was “How to successfully Bunk school” – it was greeted with mixed reviews.
I will dispense with the normal formalities by greeting everything based of a social hierarchy, because I want to speak to you guys one on one in this massive gathering, so too all of you thanks for having me here today.
Who am I – Ryan Roseveare class of 1990 there were 29 of us - been married for 14 years to Gayle have 3 children Regan, Connor and Emma, no you can’t date any of my daughters.
What have I done, who is this guy!
I am famous for IT nerd but you have NEVER heard of me, work has made me well off but I dress like this, it’s given me choices and made me able to do things in life, but it all started right here !
When I was attending school our English teacher Mr Morgan gave us three pieces of critical advice, he said boys
 Rush – I did not follow that one
 Wife – I did not follow that one
 Speech is like a Cat – Let’s give it a Go!
I pass this advice onto you now, to do with it, what you want – Probably just ignore it
So faithfully following Mr Morgan’s advice - Why am I here? I am here to confess - It was me who threw the phosphorus in the pool ! But it was Gary’s idea and it had to be done !
I matriculated 25 years ago for those who can do basic maths, When I look back it seems far shorter more like 10 years’ time does fly so use your time wisely
I got my old school tie out last night and counted the number of jacks I got “elaborate” from Grade 6 to 12 it was the impressive number of 76 that’s one caning every 9.7657 repeating naturally - school days
So what’s changed? Well there are no more jacks and my record will stand into eternity – But in one word “everything” but actually “nothing”
 Apartheid,
 Tell Wing bus story,
 Internet it connects everyone,
 The power actually never went off,
 Tuck shop was under R 5 for a toasted ham and cheese, coke and packed of chips.
But what has not changed, is something all of us here have in common, we are all have attended this school and you know what - it makes us special !
But a quick story to demonstrate this – as fate would have it I was in a very high level meeting a few weeks back and during a break we got talking as you do about school, life, university and the like.
When one person asked me “Where did you go to school” and said St David’s and they said….
I knew it ! – It made me think…. Erm, why and I have been thinking about it for a while
We are DIFFERENT! – Use It !
You are right now part of a small social group or a community made up from people from different walks of life, in which you may have friends, Fren-A -me’s maybe, “guys you know”,
As the great MC Hammer once said “let’s stop”…. Look to you left… and right…. See these guys!
You will probably know them for the rest of your life, when you are half grey like me these guys around you will be in your life if you want it! How do I know… because that’s my experience!
You are all lucky to be here in this environment, IT makes you special in the race of life, you have a head start use it to make a difference in this world !
QingQile (Wing), Jean Paul (JP), Peter (Landdale), Gary (Gster), Adrian (The Lady), Brendan (OB), Chris (Wart)
I see these guys all the time, we are each other’s children’s god parents, we have walked log roads together, driven Bikes across Africa, walked across Europe, literally climbed mountains, drank too much, Raced fast cars across Europe - in the case of Wing and JP walked the road with serious things like cancer, Gary and Brendan virtually for every Springboks rugby game and many times travelled and watch games live, going to weddings and let’s not forget the bachelors in countries all over the world –
Keep these connections it’s what makes you great!
To get serious for a bit:
Look around at this place we are in… what has been given to you has been given to you for a reason, life if hard right… you will experience some pain and hardships will happen to you.
These things believe it or not happen to everyone, but it’s how you respond that makes you stand out, this school taught me to respond with power, passion, pride and energy!
Pause
Your times short, Matic’s soon you will be “free” some of you will be in university some might be going overseas, gap years, jobs, all of you
These people here right now (Your teachers) who are the people you should leverage from as much as possible.
People will pull down, but it’s in the getting up that you become a success, never giving in always pushing to the end this is something I learnt at this school ! – Writing lines for being a little naughty
All of you don’t forget – the lessons you have and will learn here! They will stand you in good stead and make your shine!
There are two types of people in this world when it comes to attitude and thought process
Now the first set of people – Wait for opportunities to come to them so they can “Quote un Quote” take them and they wait endlessly for some mirage or oasis to magically appear yet it never comes!
And they end up in some job they have no need to be in - doing some tinny task they have no desire doing
All because they were not willing to – Risk It or even Try
And the second set of people, these are the ones who find a way to create opportunities, these are the ones who make their own luck “so to speak”
 Live life on your terms
 Live life as you want to
 Live life as you envision
 Failure is a step forward, not backward
And what I have become to understand is the only difference is fear because those who are not afraid to go after something are the ones who turn out to be successful,
Success in life, school and relationships Whatever ! is often a result of not being afraid to accomplish Anything it’s going to be the guys you would never expect that make the biggest difference!
You are your own driving engine and your own break.
To the matric’s –
PAUSE !
Make a statement to the universe I am capable and powerful, there are gifts you have in your life that only you can tap into - Use them.
Have a irrational, illogical, passion in what you do ! I don’t know what your passion is but believe in it
You have the strength and the passion inside of you NOW to change the world.
Pause
Soon you will be an Old Boy! Remember what you have learnt here apply it keep your connections.
Thank you for your time!
And in conclusion!
Remember! - 76!

Interview with Derek Mandy – 1963
Derek thought that school was one of the best things that ever happened to him and enjoyed his
time as a boarder at Inanda. His parents lived in Brakpan, hence he was a boarder from
standard 5 but was at CBC Boksburg before. His parents wanted him to participate more at
school. He felt that it was all pro’s regarding boarding – companionship, structured study, food
wasn’t too bad, sport at weekends and he played rugby and was vice- captain first rugby,
hockey, soccer, volleyball, athletics and received the open 880yds trophy. The only con was
the dorms – 40 beds in each. In standard 8 his brother Dudley was prefect of Derek’s dorm. His
main complaint was that there was a total lack of privacy, they were noisy and no radio was
allowed after lights out. The brothers had a room in the corner.
He was reasonably good at sport and was generally in the A team.
Academically he achieved a second class JMB matric, he wasn’t a boff but didn’t struggle, with
the exception of Maths due to the brothers teaching and a university student eventually helped
him with the subject. He received the SA Marist award in 1963 and was head prefect and house
captain for Benedict, vice-captain first rugby, secretary of Sodality and chairman of the MDC.
Derek, as were many of the other boys, was unaware of what was happening in South Africa,
they were apolitical and had no knowledge of apartheid. It had no bearing on their lives. He
does however recall that the government were not too happy to allow new brothers into the
country.
He remembers his first day or two and was initially homesick but soon settled in and it helped
having an older brother there. He remembers Brother Anthony, “Oranges” as being quite a
character.
His older brother Dudley was head boy in 1961 and who is now living in Texas. One day he was
called out of class and in front of the school, with the matrics in a semi-circle, they were told that
his brother was going down to Natal to become a Brother, this was just prior to writing matric.
Having written matric, Dudley gave it all up and reunited with his girlfriend.
His last day was a happy one it was time to move on even though he was unsure whether he
had been accepted at university. He also had originally wanted to become an American field
student but he couldn’t do that and study in the US, he eventually went to UCT to study
psychology but ended up studying law. Derek is the father of two sons who went to Bishops and
a daughter who attended Herschel. Had he been living in Johannesburg he would have sent his
sons to St David’s. He served Bishops Council for 10 years and was chairman of the parents
association during this time. Derek has competed in 27 Cape Argus events and is a keen
mountain biker. He has recently retired and is looking into getting involved in some charity work.
Due to his location, he lost contact with his contemporaries. He did attend two reunions, one
after 25 years with a number of old boys from Johannesburg who had not seen each other since
matric. The next one after 30 years, he was the only old boy not living in Johannesburg who
attended. He felt that perhaps the reunions should be less structured with more time, not like the
dinners of the past. He would be interested in the book and would be prepared to pledge/buy a
copy.
JE October 2011

Interview with Darryn Haltman – 2008
Darryn Haltmann came to St David’s in grade 4 and remembers the anxieties and excitement of
walking into the school leaving his mother and meeting his soon to be friends.
The teachers he remembers are Mr Rod Smith, Mrs Glanville, Mr Reichart, Mrs Fleming and
Mrs Marais.
He enjoyed the sport and played 1st team rugby and cricket and was involved with soccer and
athletics.
He was most unhappy when they lost any of their sports fixtures, but thoroughly enjoyed the
rugby tour to New Zealand and Australia.
Darryn participated in the Advanced Maths programme and felt it was especially helpful for both
1st and 2nd year Maths and Stats at university.
He is still in touch with a number of his school friends and they are all members of MOBS.
He is currently studying for a Bachelor of Business Science: finance and accounting at UCT. He
was awarded a faculty scholarship and has appeared on the Dean’s list and received the
Kopano award for academic excellence.
JE May 2013

Pdf File

Interview with Alex Quail 1962
Alex started at St David’s in 1958, came into the high school straight from the bush –
Carltonville. There were no English high schools in the area at the time and Bishop Wheelan
helped him get into St David’s.
Johannesburg ended at the entrance to the school . A Dairy Den was about 1 kilometre down a
dirt road and Sandton City did not exist, the area was just veldt and the occasional farmhouse.
Alex was a boarder and remembers everyone being very competitive in sport and with each
other. There was a boxing ring and the “Beak” Br Benedict would organise the boys to sort out
their grievances in the boxing ring. The school was tough and there were very real fights
between the boys especially the Lebanese and the Jews. There was iron discipline and boys
were caned for any reasonable misdemeanour, however it did them no harm. The discipline was
fair and not vindictive, some old boys found it unfair and were very bitter about it. It was rather
like being in the army and the boarders became a band of brothers and those that saw it
through became very good friends often for the rest of their lives. On one weekend per term, the
parents were allowed to visit their sons on Sunday and they went home during the school
holidays.
The boys were very cruel to Mr Bishop the only lay teacher, who was tormented by the boys.
There were 60 boys in a class which reduced to 17 by Matric. All the brothers taught,one
brother was Spanish, another Afrikaans, quite a good mixture. Brother Bonaventure, “Bonnie”
was a big tough guy who used to sit on his desk and fall asleep. He was very laid back teacher
and Alex can’t remember what he taught. Br Anthony taught Afrikaans and Maths but he was
always so busy so the clever boys in the class ended up teaching them. Br Edwin became too ill
to run the school in 1958 and Br Benedict “Beak” took over followed by Br Anthony.
In 1962 there were 17 matrics in the class and they beat Observatory in rugby. Those were
harsh days without the rules and regulations that protect the players now. There were 200 boys
in the high school competing against other schools with over 1000 pupils for example, KES,
Jeppe, CBC Boksburg, CBC Pretoria. One of the boys Chris Dempster, lost a kidney after he
was badly tackled and the teachers pumped his legs. Darko cracked his skull in one match. Alex
was too small to make the 1st rugby team but played in the 2nd. He played cricket and was
captain of the 1st hockey team. His father was captain of Transvaal in the late 30’s and got
together with the brothers to help develop hockey.
He could not swim but was dragged into the inter-high gala. The school pool is where the prep
playground is now. He was in Benedict house and was a prefect..
The cycling club was good for them and they were able to bring their bikes to school. The golf
club was formed and the first golf tournament held, Alex was involved and his brother Michael
was a good golf player. Unlike today he well remembers walking out to the cricket pitch without
a hat.
Alex feels strongly that the boys who became Springboks should be honoured with a school
honours board. The first Springbok was Ray Bischoff for swimming and Gavin Webster for
hockey. John Daley was a very good tennis player.
As far as academics went, St David’s was a seven subject school with three languages English,
Afrikaans, Latin, Geography, History, Science and Maths. He was an average pupil who wrote
the JMB matric. The clever boys did Add Maths.
There was an incident in the eary 60’s. NASA had just got going and the boys wanted to
develop a solid fuel rocket. Alex had a recipe and they used the Science lab on the second
floor, brewed some stuff up which then exploded! Br Anthony flew up the stairs to see what
damage had been done, but no-one was injured and Br Anthony was relieved. Eventually a
rocket was built by one of the geniuses of the school – Hawkins who is now Professor of
Applied Maths at Wits. Another pupil Bernard Haakman, seemed dopey, but became a vet.
David Sole, went on to study chemical engineering and worked for the government developing
rocket fuels or something similar.
He recalled an incident during study time in the standard 6 classroom that accommodated 60
boys. There was very little swearing in those days and debating was popular as the boys got to
get out of school occasionally. Doug Wickins stood up to make a speech and asked the
question “How can you call George that name, he is a boy”? (cunt). Br Dennis (Tickey) blushed
a deep purple, but Doug continued with his speech which was honest and full of integrity. He got
a round of applause and was not reprimanded by the brothers.
After matric he went to the Pretoria Technikon and did a National Diploma in Civil Engineering,
Land Surveying and remained mainly in Johannesburg.
He has no memories of his first day at the school but would have had to be there a few days
early as a boarder. On his last day he was so pleased to get out into the big wide world and was
very confident. He remembers walking into Barclays Bank, an uncle was a director, and asked
to open an account.
He says the boys were not prepared for the outside world due to the essentially classic
education they had received (No “life skills taught in those days”) but the fact was that they were
able to cope with whatever was thrown at them. Some did very well and most not too badly.
Once a year a Marist recruiter (crow catcher) used to come along and they all avoided him. He
was aware that Michael Heubeck, an American became a brother, he was with them until
standard 9.
Alex’s brother, Michael (deceased) was a really good cricketer and fast bowler. In those days
the cricketers wore boots. Michael played in a final and took 5 wickets against KES. A nonconformist,
he was presented with a cricket ball at assembly whereupon he promptly threw the
ball at Br Anthony. Needless to say, he was expelled but allowed to write his matric. He went on
to become a doctor.
Alex felt that the boarding was where the spirit of the school lay and that the character of the
school changed once the boarding facility was closed.
JE June 2011

Interview with Max Leipold - 1959
Max started as a boarder in Std 2 in 1951. His parents lived in Standerton and in Std 9 they
settled in Illovo and then became a day student. He was very unhappy and missed the
camaraderie of the boarding school so went back as a boarder in matric. Brian Nicol was head
boy and the Joint Matriculation Board exam was written.
Max played 1st team rugby and was in the team which beat Obs for the first time despite Obs
having future Springbok Sid Nomis in their team. A tour had been arranged for Obs to visit Port
Elizabeth and play against Marist Walmer in 1958. Due to the very poor season Obs were
experiencing it was decided that Inanda, who were having a good season, should travel in their
stead. Br Bonaventure and the boys travelled by train. The team lost to Victoria Park and Grey
College but beat Walmer 11-3.
Max enjoyed the boarding system and in those days there were two dorms with 44 beds in
each. Max enjoyed collecting the pictures of girls on the back page of the Sunday Times in
those days and made a scrapbook. On this occasion the boys were all sitting round looking at
the pictures when Br Ephrem came ‘gliding’ by. Not wanting to be caught they threw the book
out of the window but it fell near to Br Bonaventure’s window. His parents were called in to see
Br Benedict, the headmaster to discuss this.
Max was born in 1941 and retired at the age of 53 and moved to the house they had built in
Hermanus. He originally worked for IBM but then moved to Ellerman shipping company where
he was a director. Max’s hobby is photography and he and his wife travel extensively in pursuit
of this hobby.
Interview: 12 October 2010