Cancele Secondary School (1929–1999)

Cancele Secondary School is a former educational institution of the Cape Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in the Southern Africa Union Conference.

Development and Background of the Establishment of the School

Around seventeen miles (c. twenty-eight kilometers) from Mount Frere lies Cancele Secondary School. The land where the school is situated used to be grazing land for the Baca tribe, having a few significant buildings, such as a post office, a chapel, and an ever-green garden. The land previously belonged to the Salvation Army.¹ In 1925, it was offered to be purchased by Bennie Bros, as the only person approved by the natives to merit the offer to buy and own that piece of land.²

Unfortunately, the government blocked the purchase offer to stop any further extension of European land ownership in the territories belonging to the natives.³ In 1927, the Salvation Army and the Seventh-day Adventist Church entered an agreement to transfer ownership of the land to the Adventists. On August 30, 1928, the transfer was completed, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church paid 3,000 pounds for the purchase of the farm from its previous owners.

Founding of the School

The farm’s location is secluded and lies in a quiet, remote area surrounded by beautiful rolling hills. Such a description was ideal for establishing a Christian school envisioned by Ellen G. White. However, building such an institution was not a small feat, considering that the Adventist church’s lack of financial stability at that time as it significantly relied on donors. In 1927, J. N. de Beer arrived on the farm as the first medical missionary. He erected temporary houses under the leadership of O. E. Shreves, a seasoned builder who was sent by the church.⁴ The African Division Committee sat in Claremont on February 9, 1926, and voted to send 500 pounds to Cancele to assist with the construction of the hospital and school buildings.⁵

Several names of people who served at Cancele come to mind when one talks of the history of this institution. At the time, European institution leaders were known as directors, while African institution leaders were called principals. Black African principals often served under a director and reported to him. This system of establishment operated under such colonial circumstances and dynamics.

Important Events and Periods

In 1929, a church building was built with the help of the African Division, the Southern Africa Union (now the Southern Africa Union Conference), and the local field under the leadership of R. Ansley. From 1966 to 1967, thatched roofs were replaced with iron sheets under the leadership of A. B. Koopedi.⁶ Later, a dining-room building, which had been started by Dr. I. J. van Zyl, was completed by Mr. Koopedi. The African Division further voted 1,000 pounds to assist the Cancele Mission with building the dormitories. The Southern Africa Union also assisted the mission with 300 pounds from the Harvest Ingathering Comeback fund.⁷

Additionally, a group of students and teachers were eager to lend a hand supporting the development of the school. They formed a singing group known as “Solid Rock Singing Group,” which in 1958 helped raise 2,000 Rands for the construction of the girls’ dormitories.⁸ The building of the boys’ dormitory, a hall, and the classroom blocks were part of the four-year term projects of R. E. Ansley’s tenure.⁹ Staff cottages were built during the leadership of J. J. Mdakane and P. M. Ntshangase.

Historical Role of the School

Cancele School was opened in 1929, and Kim Benwell and Penelope Gacula were the first teachers. At this time, J. D. Harcombe was the director of the school. The secondary school level was introduced by Dr. Izak van Zyl in 1956, and it ran until 1962, although he left the school to go to Helderberg College of Higher Education to head the Ellen White Research and Heritage Centre in 1959. Dr. Izak van Zyl had been both a farm manager and a director at Cancele Secondary School.

It was unfortunate that a large chunk of the farmland was sold to the African Native Trust in 1961. The South African Union president, Pastor G. S. Stevenson, confirmed in a letter circulated in 1960, saying, “The honourable Minister of Native Administration and Development has approved the purchase on behalf of the African Native Trust of the Cancele Mission Farm in the Mount Frere district from the Seventh-day Adventist Community of Africa for the sum of 19,578 pounds.”¹⁰ This move resulted in many other losses as it ended the food production program which had been the source of life for the school and the surrounding community.

In 1962, the school’s status was lowered to grade eight, forcing students to go and complete their high school education in other places. Then, A. B. Koopedi arrived from the Transvaal to become the first black African principal and serve from 1964-1965. Later, he served as the Education Director of the Southern Union. His successor, B. Mafuya, worked under Dr. Izak van Zyl before becoming the principal from 1968 to 1971. After becoming the principal, Mabuya re-opened the high school level. This was considered a great development for the church and the mission station in that region. It was believed that it gave the Seventh-day Adventist Church an opportunity to fulfill its missionary role in the region, that of offering quality Christian education and ministering spiritually to the region.

The good news, however, did not last because in 1969 the Cancele Board of Trustees voted to no longer offer high school education due to financial constraints and personal issues. The principal ignored the board’s decision and continued to run the high school program till 1985 with all classes from grades 1-12 being offered.¹¹ Others who served as principals for the school were O. K. Magenu, J. B. Jakavula, and B. B. Mafuya, respectively. G. B. Yaze and S. Baduza were the last principals to serve in the 1980s, ushering the school into the new South Africa after the end of the Apartheid era. This era gave black parents more options for private schools, such as Cancele, where they could send their children.

The Demise and Closure of Cancele

The selling of the Cancele School land to the African Native Trust in 1961 was a huge mistake, as many admirers of the school think, who still have rich memories of the faded institution. Cancele was a warm nest for many African students who traveled far and near to seek quality Adventist education. But after the Cape, Good Hope, and Southern Conferences were merged in 1996, the new Cape Conference could not afford to support both Bethel College and Cancele School, since they both relied heavily on subsidies due to the significant decreases in enrolment. Cancele experienced a serious decline in its ability to retain students who were in the hundreds initially. But later, just a handful were left in the classroom, and the impact of this decrease was felt even by the nearby towns because students had supported the economy of the region. Most parents in the surrounding area chose to send their children to private European schools opened to all races. This change negatively impacted the school since about eighty percent of the funding had been from the Cape Conference.¹²

It became difficult to continue to run Adventist schools after the dawn of democracy in South Africa in the post 1994 era due to the socio-political changes that empowered students to exercise their rights in speaking against Adventist ethos and values. The Cape Conference could not continue to keep the school open as the fees could not sustain the school or even pay teachers. When the Cape Conference made the call for the school’s closure, it was due to the reality of being unable to maintain Bethel College and Cancele School at the same time. One of the schools had to be closed. It was decided to close Cancele School because all the efforts to increase its student enrolment had failed. In 1999, the Adventist educational program ended at Cancele, and the government’s Department of Education was interested in taking over the school, but the plans did not materialize. Not very long after, the once-hallowed ground of Cancele became a historical memory. The buildings that once housed the school currently remain depilated structures near the sweet waters of Cancele River.

List of Directors and Principals

J. N. de Beer (1929-1936), C. Tarr (1937-1939), R. E. Ansley (1940-1941), G. S. Glass (1942-1943), B. Ellingworth (1944-1945), J. J. Oosthuizen (1946-1947), J. D. Harcombe (1948-1949), R. E. Ansley (1950-1953), G. S. Glass (1954-1955), I. J. van Zyl (1956-1959), G. Magee (1960-1963), A. B. Koopedi (1964-1965), O. K. Magenu (1966-1967), J. B. Jakavula (1967-1968), B. B. Mafuya (1968-1971), P. M. Ntshangase (1972-1975), J. J. Mdakane (1976-1979), G. B. Yaze (1980-1983), S. S. Baduza (1984-1988), J. M. Skosana (1989-1990), E. T. Kwanini (1991-1992), H. K. Kachoka (1991-1996), J. Kanyile (1997), M. Mafuya (1998), H. K. Kachoka (1999)

Sources

Buwa M. I. The Seventh-day Adventist Work in EAst Griqualand: A Brief Overview of CAncel Mission-Founding, Growth, and Potential 1925-1983. Michigan: Andrews University Thesis, 1985.

Cancele Board of Trustees, Minute 204 of Committee of June 10, 1979.

Cancele Residents. “Petition on behalf of Messrs,” Bennie Bros, n.d., File “Cancele Farm.”

Gus Trollip and Cleghorn, Cape Town Attorneys to Secretary for Lands, Pretoria, 15 June 1928, File “Cancele Farm.”

Howard, E. M. “Cancele Mission.” African Division Outlook, 1929.

Secretary for Natives Affairs, Pretoria, to Chief Magistrate, Umtata, 30 May 1925, File “Cancele Farm.”

South African Division of Seventh-day Adventist, Minute 1606 of Committee of November 1957.

Stevenson, G. S. to the Secretary for Bantu Administration and Development, 13 May, 1960, File “Cancele Farm.”

Swanepoel, L. F. The Origin aand Early History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in South Africa, 1886-1920. UNISA Thesis, 1972.

Thompson, R.C. S. A History of the Growth and Development of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Southern Africa 1920-1960. Grahamstown: Rhodes University Dissertation, 1977.

Notes

1. Gus Trollip and Cleghorn, Cape Town Attorneys to Secretary for Lands, Pretoria, 15 June 1928, Umtata, File “Cancele Farm.”↩

2. Cancele Residents, “Petition on behalf of Messrs,” Bennie Bros, n.d., Umtata, File “Cancele Farm.”↩

3. Secretary for Natives Affairs, Pretoria, to Chief Magistrate, Umtata, 30 May, 1925, File “Cancele Farm.”↩

4. R.C.S. Thompson, “A History of the Growth and Development of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Southern Africa 1920-1960,” (Ph.D. Dissertation for Rhodes University, 1977), 284.↩

5. African Division of the Seventh-day Adventist (Claremont, Cape) Minute 251 of Committee of February 9, 1926.↩

6. E. M. Howard, “Cancele Mission,” African Division Outlook, May 23, 1929.↩

7. South African Division of Seventh-day Adventist, Minute 1606 of Committee of November 1957.↩

8. Cancele Board of Trustees, Minute 204 of Committee of June 10, 1979, 38.↩

9. L. Francois Swanepoel, The Origin aand Early History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in South Africa 1886-1920 (UNISA Thesis, 1972), 255.↩

10. G. S. Stevenson to the Secretary for Bantu Administration and Development, 13 May, 1960, Umtata, File “Cancele Farm.”↩

11. M. I. Buwa, “The Seventh-day Adventist Work in East Griqualand: A Brief Overview of Cancele Mission -Founding, Growth, and Potential 1925-1983” (Thesis of Master of Arts in Religion, June 1985), 55.↩

12. Jongimpi Papu, interview by Hlanga Mafani, Hermanus, Western Cape, September 3, 2022.↩