In 1940 there were only two ‘coloured’ high schools in the Cape Peninsula – Trafalgar High in Cape Town and Livingstone High in Claremont. By 1949 two more high schools had been established – Athlone High and Arsenal High, in Simonstown. Before 1950 therefore there was no high school in the Southern Suburbs between Claremont and Simonstown. The Cape Education Department then decided that another school should be established in the Southern Suburbs to help to cater for the increasing number of students desiring a high school education.
This new high school for the Southern Suburbs (the fifth in the Peninsula) was started in a church hall in Princess VIei Road, Southfield, in January 1950. At first referred to as Southfield Secondary, this school was to develop into the well-established and highly esteemed South Peninsula High School, officially known as South Peninsula Secondary. (The hall in which the school started still stands today, although a fly-over bridge now passes over it, and is known as The Red Barn).
The first principal of S.P. was Mr F Hendrickse, retired principal of Battswood Training College, Wynberg. The first teachers on the staff were Mr P Siegelaar (who remained with SP until his retirement In 1970), Miss Fuchs, Mr FP Joshua and Mr Lochner. When the school started in 1950, 124 Std 7 students were enrolled and divided into four classes. All four classes were housed in the hall and were separated from one another by means of curtains. Instruction was therefore given under very difficult conditions.
July 1950 saw the beginning of a new phase in the history of South Peninsula. Having completed all the preliminaries and formalities of starting the new school, Mr Hendrickse left (with Miss Fuchs) to start the Harold Cressy High School in Cape Town (in a similar way that he started SP.) Mr Joshua left to become the first principal of Alexander Sinton High School in Athlone.
A new principal for South Peninsula was appointed in July 1950. This was Mr AG de Villiers, who remained principal until his retirement through ill-health in 1967. Mr de Villiers brought with him from the school in Genadendal two new teachers to replace those who had left. They were Mr A Daniels and Mr RC Hepburn.
Mr de Villiers, a strict disciplinarian, and dedicated to the academic advancement of the underprivileged and the unprivileged, was to develop a tradition (the indefinable S.P. tradition) among staff and students, which to a great extent still exists today.
The student pioneers of 1950 had to continue receiving instruction in the adverse conditions in Southfield for another twelve months before any relief from the cramped and unsuitable conditions was forthcoming. This came about in July 1951. A building which had been designated for use as a ‘white’ primary school in Kendal Road was standing vacant. For various reasons, the ‘white’ primary school did not materialize and the Cape Education Department agreed that South Peninsula Secondary should occupy the premises.
When the students moved from Southfield to Kendal Road, they were overjoyed at being able to receive lessons in real classrooms (with writing boards!). One of the students, Eileen Savage, told Mr Siegelaar: “It’s like moving to Heaven out of hell!”
By the time the school moved to Kendal Road, two more teachers, Mr WB Daniels and Mr EW Adams, had been added to the staff. (Mr Lochner left in 1952 and later became the first principal of Steenberg High). Up to 1953 there was only the main building as it stands today. There were no pre-fabs, no Woodwork, Needlework or Home Economics rooms. For practical classes students had to walk to a primary school In Diep River (Diep River Central) to receive instruction. (This was organized efficiently and with the minimum waste of time.)
During these formative years the main emphasis was on discipline and academic work. Even during intervals, students had to have a book with them for studying purposes. Control over students was so strict that S.P. was referred to by many as ‘The Concentration Camp’. In those very early years, sport played a minor role. In 1953, the school took part in the inter-schools and colleges athletics competition for the first time and scored a grand total of 9 points – but changes were in the offing.
The year 1954 was the year of change. In that year, the first Std.6’s, totalling 81 students, were enrolled. They were divided into two classes. Two teachers, Miss E Haggis and Mr DF Thebus, were appointed for these new classes. By 1954, the pre-fabs had been built and the school now possessed its own Needlework, Woodwork and Domestic Science (Home Economics) Rooms.
An important tradition was started in 1954. As a result of the humiliating defeat in the 1953 athletics competition, the staff decided to introduce the inter-house system in order to select the best athletes for the school team. However, this was not to be a slip-shod affair – it had to be properly organised and of a high standard. Within the space of four weeks, students were organised into houses, houses were named, war cries were composed, songs were practised, colours were chosen, eliminations were held and the athletes were trained. Teachers were allocated to houses by drawing lots. The allocation of teachers to houses, which depended on the luck of the draw, was as follows:
Principal: AG de Villiers (neutral)
Azalea (red): A Myburgh, C Ravens, P Siegelaar, Miss J Goliath (Mrs Petro)
Kendal (blue): WB Daniels, RM Rive, A Daniels, JA Beets, Ms E Slamet
Mimosa (green): MN Moerat, O George, W Myburgh, RC Hepburn, Ms E Haggis
Protea (yellow): RS Lesch, DF Thebus, EW Adams, D van Niekerk
[The houses were named after the roads surrounding or in the immediate vicinity of the school. To this day, the placing of students into houses is a totally random process, with the house leaders drawing slips of paper with students’ names on them from a box. The only departure from this was in 2021, with a computer-generated selection because of concerns related to Covid-19].
The first inter-house meeting, held late In February 1954, and won by Mimosa House, was a rousing success. It started a tradition which has become a highlight of the school year.
As far as selecting the best athletes for the school team was concerned, the inter-house system paid off handsomely. In the 1954 athletics competition, SP scored the most points and won practically all the sectional trophies. In fact, the points scored by the SP girls’ team only were more than the total points scored by the school which was placed second! South Peninsula had proved that she could excel in academic work as well as in sport after only four years in existence.
[This article, written by Ms L Fleurs after interviewing Mr DF Thebus, appeared in a commemorative magazine celebrating SP’s fortieth year of existence.]
Mr de Villiers, sadly, passed away while still principal. He was succeeded by Mr RC Hepburn in 1969, who retired in 1975. Mr MN Moerat then became principal until his retirement in 1984. Mr BB Isaacs was then appointed in 1984, until 2016.
