Wynberg Boys’ High hails courage of past pupils
Wynberg Boys’ High School looked back on 182 years of history as it celebrated its founders’ day last Friday with special guests, members of the school governing body, staff, parents, pupils and old boys.
The day was not only meant to celebrate the school’s establishment in 1841 but also to remember those who have devoted their lives to its development, said principal Deon Scheepers.
The legacy of the founding headmaster, John McNaughton, and those whose names are inscribed on the plaque in the school's garden of remembrance for fallen soldiers gave guidance for the youth of today, he said.
“John McNaughton reminds us to strive to get a good education, to rely on our communities for support and to make use of every opportunity to develop physically, morally and intellectually.
“He also reminds us to think for ourselves, to be solution driven and to also train our minds by becoming resilient to the challenges that we are facing.
“Our fallen soldiers remind us to protect the rights of those who also wear our blue blazer but who might be a minority group or perhaps previously oppressed and disadvantaged, or socially frowned upon.”
In his speech, Keith Richardson, who was headmaster from 1999 to 2015, spoke about pupils and former pupils who had displayed great courage, including Derrick Fine, who was in matric during the Soweto uprising of 1976 and returned to the school as a young SRC member at UCT to speak about the real reasons behind the riots and the injustices pupils from schools on the Cape Flats endured under apartheid; Andrew Feinstein, who blew the lid on the arms deal; and Garreth Bloor, who led a few boys to join former mayor Helen Zille’s call for men to march against gender violence.
