THE FIRST DECADE 1929-1940
Compiled by Desmond Koopman
THE CAPE FIELD 1933
Pieter Wessels from Kimberley was a pioneer of Seventh-day Adventism in South Africa. Danie Theunissen, a labourer for the Wessels family, soon joined those early Adventists. His fevour for his new found faith led him to be ordained as the first minister of the coloured community. In 1929 during the world wide Great Depression the South African Union of Seventh Day Adventists embarked on a venture of faith and racism by establishing a school for so-called coloured youth. At the time there were only five organized churches for coloureds with a membership of under 300. The first church was at Salt River where the first school was started with Miss A.V Sutherland, the sister-in-law of Pastor Theunissen, as its first principal. The aim was to expand Adventism among the coloureds by providing ministers and teachers for this mission. The next step was the creation of separate churches from the Cape Conference for “leadership opportunities.” Therefore in 1933 the Cape Field was organized with Pastor L.S. Billes as superintendent. Historically on the Cape Flats there has always been a close relationship between the church administration and the training school. Over the years Good Hope has steadily provided workers, ministers and teachers for the Cape Field and later for the Good Hope Conference.
GOOD HOPE TRAINING SCHOOL: RIVERSIDE CAMPUS
1. PRINCIPAL: MISS A.V. SUTHERLAND (1930-1932)
On the first of May 1930 Good Hope Training School opened on a six acre farm “Riverside” in Athlone with an initial enrolment of 35 pupils. This replaced the Salt River Church School. Miss A.V. Sutherland, a 1904 graduate of Claremont Union College, the first Seventh-day Adventist Tertiary institution in South Africa, was the first principal of Good Hope. She was ably assisted by Mrs E Heubner and Miss Mary Africa. The facilities for a training school were pathetic. A dilapidated old farm house served as classrooms and dining room by day and girls’ hostel and teachers’ home at night. The boys stayed in a weather beaten old tent. In 1931 a three roomed wood and iron building was erected for two classrooms and a boys’ residence. Good Hope Training School offered tuition from sub-standard A to Standard VII (Grade 9).
1931: Teacher Training Derrick J. Williams was the first graduate.
2. PRINCIPAL: R.A. BUCKLEY (1933-34)
During R.A. Buckley’s short term as principal a brick building, the principal’s residence, was constructed. Mr. and Mrs Jackson served as hostel parents. In 1932 American evangelist and Peninsula Pastor B.W. Abney conducted a series of meetings in a large portable wood and iron structure in Wynberg. This building grandly called the “auditorium” was erected permanently on the campus of Good Hope in 1933. The school became a major force in the progress of the work in the newly organized Cape Field served largely by graduates from Good Hope Training School.
Graduates
1933: Teacher Training D. Gold Theunissen
1934: Teacher Training Benjamin W. Abney, Victor Heeger, Alfred G. Kohen, Gilbert Marks and Peggy (Damon) Trichardt
3. PRINCIPAL: PHILIP P. MANTELL (1935 -40)
A number of husband and wife teams served on the staff: Mr and Mrs P.H. Mantel; Mr and Mrs A.B. Bristow; Mr and Mrs P.J. van Eck and Mr and Mrs J.R. Donaldson, the hostel parents. During Mantell’s principalship the first pupils were entered for the Junior Certificate (Grade 10) examinations. Standards 7 and 8 were taught in the same classroom. At the end of 1936 the first of many Cape Field camp meetings was conducted in the old wood and iron auditorium at Good Hope Training School. The next year the first section of the main school building was constructed near the Klipfontein Road entrance to the campus.
Graduates
1936: Theology/Teacher Training Kenneth L. Landers & Linda (Adams) Landers
1937: Theology/Teacher Training Leslie C. Hunter
1939: Theology/Teacher Training Ingram F. Du Preez & Isabel (Damon) Fortune*
*Isabel Damon, a qualified state-trained teacher from Upington joined Ingram du Preez in the second half of 1939 as a “special” student.
Appointments of Graduates:
Kenneth Landers - Teacher, Wynberg Church School
Linda Adams - Teacher, Wynberg Church School
Leslie Hunter - Teacher, Kensington Church School
Ingram du Preez - Teacher, Elsies River Church School, 1940
Isabel Fortune - Teacher, Wynberg Church School, 1940
