‘This school makes me proud’ - Education MEC on Mokopane Primary

“I was a little concerned when I heard they were going to change the name,” she told guests. “I thought to myself: Are we trying to sweep this part of our history under the carpet.”
Magadzi was referring to the racial tension that just-about tore the school apart when the first black learners were enrolled in 1996.
The school’s governing body (SGB) at the time refused the three Matukane children access to the school, but later had to accept their enrolment along with 25 other black children after the court ruled in the parents’ favour.
This caused an exodus of white lear-ners with the last white children to leave the school in December 1998.
Over the years the school’s buildings and grounds started deteriorating and by June 2011, Potgietersrus Laerskool was in its worst shape ever. Ockert Groenewald, the newly appointed  principal, knew something had to be done.
He has been involved with the school since 1965 when he was enrolled as a Grade 1 pupil. In July, the new head of the SGB, Maseba Lesebe, gave Groenewald and his personnel his full support to turn the school’s appearance around and to make it acceptable to the community again.
Since then the school has gone from strength to strength, boasting a new coat of paint, cleaned-up playgrounds, new gates and signage, new uniforms and a well-stocked library.
White children have returned to the school to join their black peers in the classes of the well-integrated group op teachers from various rare and language groups.
Magadzi praised the school on the progress it had made. She urged the
people of Mokopane to remember and cherish their history - from the iron age
activities in Makapansvallei to the coming of the Voortrekkers to the more recent
mining developments.
“Take pride in your languages,
Afrikaans and Ndebele. Protect them and make sure they don’t get annihilated in the name of progress,” she said.
She promised to look into the school’s requests for staff and classrooms and called on the community to let the department know what it needs to grow the school.
“We may have to look into the re-opening of the hostels to accommodate the children of farmers and farm workers in our rural areas,” she said.
The MEC then proceeded to unveil the plaque that was erected to mark the occasion of the school’s name change.
“I am proud to be here, and proud to be associated with this school,” she said.