Stilfonteiners socialise

Five members of staff of the Puk Campus of the North-West University who grew up in Stilfontein, held their own mini-reunion.
  This five-man (and lady) crew were all in matric in Stilfontein. Prof Leon van Rensburg of the Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management is the youngest, and was in matric in 1984, followed by Prof. Esmé van Rensburg of Psychology in 1977, Prof. Carel Schoeman of Town and Regional Planning and Prof. Gerrit Ferreira of Public Law, both in 1968, and Mr. Tom Larney of the Ferdinand Postma Library in 1964.

 
In front are Profs. Leon van Rensburg (matric 1984) of the Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, and Esmé van Rensburg (1977) of Psychology. At the back are Profs. Carel Schoeman (1968) of Town and Regional Planning, Gerrit Ferreira (1968) of Public Law and Mr. Tom Larney (1964) of the Ferdinand Postma Library.

   One matter they agreed on was that at this mine town, they learnt how to get along with people from all walks of life and to not tax them on their qualifications or financial status.
  Larney says his and his friends’ parents were the salt-of-the-earth-people who often worked on the mines out of need with mainly one aim in mind – to shape a better future for their children than was allotted for themselves. He was one of the first standard sixes to attend the school. “My admission number was 7, a very lucky number.”
  Ferreira, on the other hand, says it infuriates him when people refer to others in a snooty manner as “common miners”. “Everyone I knew was salt-of-the-earth.”
  He adds that the Stilfonteiners were a close community and one of the most beautiful towns with the thousands of roses planted there in those days.
  Larney, again, relates the event of the Saturday evening in 1962 when they travelled to Potchefstroom in Vaatjie, the school bus, for an interschool debate at Volkies. The topics were “’a bunch of keys or a box of matches”. Stilfontein’s opener of the debate was Koos Robinson (later the well-known Cobus Robinson) who in those days already was a polished speaker. However, he was no match for the matric “lighty” from Ventersdorp, Eugene Terre’Blanche. He says their mouths hung open as a result of the manner in which he could rouse up a crowd over nothing.
  Van Rensburg, in turn, remembers the days of the “communist onslaught” when they had to practise emergency sessions at school. She says they had to go and hide during the sham attacks and this was the opportunity they grabbed to go and hide as far as possible. “The exercise had already ceased long before when we reappeared from our make-believe hide-outs.”
  She also tells of the days of PT during a first period on a Monday with bare feet on a white frosted rugby field, inspections for nail polish on tow nails and to check whether the dresses were long enough.
  Schoeman says what sticks in his memory about Stilfontein is that the human abilities knew no boundaries, irrespective of descent or circumstances. “The Stilfonteiners proved that good basic school education guarantees it - support and acknowledgement that each person has potential.”
  Larney and Ferreira both have been connected to the Puk for 34 years. Van Rensburg has been on the campus for 26 years and Schoeman a full seven years.