Good Hope Adventist High School

Good Hope Adventist High School is a secondary school level educational institution under the auspices of the Cape Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in the Southern Africa Union Conference.

Development that Led to Establishment of the School

Almost as soon as the Seventh-day Adventist Church became organized in South Africa, it began to offer Adventist education. The first conference established was the South African Conference in 1892 under the leadership of veteran American missionary Pastor Asa T. Robinson. At that time, many of the children of the Wessels family, among the first families converted to Adventism in Africa, attended school in Battle Creek, Michigan, in the United States of America. Adventist missionaries who came to pioneer the church in South Africa also longed to have their children study in Adventist schools.

Soon after the arrival of Pastor Robinson, Claremont Union College opened in principle as a multi-racial educational institution in 1893 on Rosmead Avenue, Kenilworth, a suburb of Cape Town. The growing urbanization of Kenilworth threatened the provision of the Adventist education philosophy of integrating physical labor with learning that Ellen G. White, one of the cofounders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, had heralded. As a result, Claremont Union College relocated to Spion Kop, Ladysmith, in the Natal province in 1918. The college also assumed the name Spion Kop College. But the new location presented its own unique challenges which caused the college to move again in 1928.

When the college relocated to Somerset West, near Cape Town, it renamed itself Helderberg College and was established as a school for Whites only because of the racial climate prevalent in South Africa at the time. In the Eastern Cape, Blacks operated the Maranatha School and Mission Station. It became imperative, therefore, to establish a school for Colored¹ students.

Founding of the School

To meet the need for Adventist education for Colored members, a school began at the Salt River Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1929. Previously, an attempt had been made to conduct a church school at Parow in 1916. The program later started at the Salt River SDA Church, was a temporary arrangement until the church could find a suitable location with sufficient rural space. “The Sabbath School classroom at the rear of the church was used to accommodate approximately 30 students in Sub A-Std 7.”² Miss Adeline Victoria (Vickie) Sutherland, who had graduated from Claremont Union College in 1904, was the first principal and teacher. The following year, in 1930, the school added Standard 8, and Mrs. E. Heubner joined the infant institution as an additional teacher.

Not very far from Salt River, the church purchased a small six-acre (2 ha) pig and poultry farm on Klipfontein Road, Athlone, to establish a school. The farm was situated on the banks of the Elsies Kraal River and therefore leadership adopted the name “Riverside.” for the campus.³ The Salt River SDA Church School ceased on April 30, 1930, giving way for the opening of the new training school on May 1, 1930, at Riverside.

The school received the name “Good Hope,” after the Cape of Good Hope, the area in which it was situated. “Good Hope” also expressed the sentiments and confidence of the members in the future of Adventist education.⁴ Initial enrolment was 35. A special thanksgiving service convened Thursday, May 29, 1930, when students, staff, parents, and officers from the Cape Conference thanked the Lord for His marked favor.⁵

The Good Hope Training School began with three divisions: a primary school, a secondary school, and a training school. The primary school offered Sub A through Standard 6, the secondary school Standards 7 and 8, and the training school Standard 9.⁶ A three-bedroom farmhouse accommodated the principal and her boarders. Two of the three bedrooms served for boy and girl boarders respectively. The principal cooked their meals in a small kitchen.

In 1933, the South African Union Conference organized a separate constituency for Colored people, the Cape Colored Field, which also took responsibility for the Good Hope Training School. The same year “Gold Theunissen completed the 2-year post-Std 8 Normal-Theological Course and became Good Hope’s first graduate.”⁷

Important Events and Periods

In 1954 the school program qualified for college entrance, replacing Standard 9 which had been a pre-requisite for the training courses. “Good Hope students were entered for the examinations of the Joint Matriculation Board for the first time in 1955.”⁸ Then in 1956 the Good Hope Training School became known as the Good Hope Training College in line with the upgrade in its curriculum. Such developments required additional classrooms. The Cape Town City Council permitted the school to erect a pre-fabricated classroom that served for several years.

Shortly thereafter, college principal C. C. Marias spearheaded the construction of a new hall in 1959, named ‘Danie Theunissen Hall’ in honor of the first known Colored South African to become a Seventh-day Adventist.⁹

During the same period, it became apparent that the growing housing development surrounding the Riverside campus posed a threat to its rural location. Principal Marais inspired the students and their families with the vision of owning and operating a larger campus, one that he referred to as the “Greater Good Hope.” After determining a 73-acre (35 ha) farm in Kuils River as suitable, leadership bought it. The site was a big upgrade from the six-acre Riverside campus. The General Conference allocated one of the 1959 Thirteenth Sabbath Overflow Offerings toward the cost.¹⁰ It took three more years to fully relocate the Good Hope Training College to Kuils River. The first buildings erected on the new campus included a two-story dormitory and a dining room with an attached kitchen. On either side of the dining room were lounges for girls and boys respectively.¹¹

The high school and college transferred from Riverside to the new campus in Kuils River on January 1, 1963. “The term ‘Training’ was dropped in keeping with developments in the educational field, and the institution became known simply as Good Hope College.”¹² The elementary school remained behind on the Riverside campus and became the Riverside Primary School. A small primary school was also established on the new campus. Enrolment in the first year was as follows: college 2; high school 86; and primary school 14. The institution had a total student body of 102.

On March 23, 1963, church leaders dedicated the Kuils River campus of the Good Hope College to the cause of Christian education.¹³ Because of limited space, invited guests were restricted to church employees, church officers, and parents. Distinguished guests included R. L. Staples, the principal of Solusi College; G. S. Stevenson and D. K. Short from the Sentinel Publishing Company; P. J. van Eck, the principal of Helderberg College; J. S. Le Roux from the South African Union Conference; J. J. B. Combrinck from the Transvaal Conference; D. M. Baird, the president of the Cape Conference; and K. L. Landers, the president of the Good Hope Conference. Other individuals invited came from the surrounding schools which included Helderberg, Hillcrest, and Riverside. District pastors in attendance included A. G. Kohen, H. Lawrence, W. A. Turner, and S. Kritzinger. Two special guests of note included A. V. Sutherland, the first principal of Good Hope School, and A. B. Marais, the widow of the late former principal, C. C. Marais. The campus architect, John Boyd, and the contractor, P. Korsten, were also present. During the dedication service, I. F. Du Preez offered the invocation prayer. Principal van Eck gave a historical sketch of the institution and paid special tribute to Miss A. V. Sutherland. John Boyd presented a report of the projected construction plans. G. S. Stevenson gave the dedicatory address, and K. L. Landers offered the dedicatory prayer.

During its first year, the school conducted classes in the dining room and some of the hostel rooms and lounges. The initial year concentrated on erecting classroom facilities, completing a two-story building with four classrooms. It expanded in 1965 with the addition of a toilet and more classrooms.¹⁴ A college block constructed in 1967 was named the Cyril Bender Hall in honor Pastor Bender, a missionary in Tanzania when he died.¹⁵ The girls’ dormitory was built in 1968, and the following year saw a steel framed hall with a seating capacity of 1,800. A science block went up in 1972 behind the college block. In 1973 a well-equipped woodwork classroom was also inaugurated.¹⁶

The year 1972 marked a significant change for the future of the Good Hope College institution. Pastor T. Gunston, the head of its theology department, started to campaign for integration between it and Helderberg College. It made no sense for the South African Union Conference to operate two colleges just 22 kilometers apart.¹⁷ The General Conference education department recommended that when students had completed their first two years at Good Hope College, they should transition to Helderberg College to complete the third and fourth year of their theology diploma.

Discussions between the Tans-Africa Division education department, the South African Union Conference, and the two colleges continued for the next two years. Fourth year theology students who completed three years at Good Hope College could then attend Helderberg College for the first time in 1974. They included Daniel Douman, Ron Du Preez, and Calvin Plaatjes.¹⁸ In 1975, third-year students who finished their first two years at Good Hope College also transferred to Helderberg College. Good Hope College had its last graduation of theology students in 1974, and at the end of 1975, the theology department closed down.¹⁹ From then on, all theology students took their coursework at Helderberg College from their very first year. At the end of 1976 Good Hope College graduated its last student, although first-year classes still continued to enroll for the primary teacher’s diploma in 1978 and 1979. By the end of 1980, all college classes ceased, and Helderberg College became the sole tertiary institution under the administration of the South African Union Conference.²⁰

Good Hope High School

In 1974, administration separated the primary school from the college and appointed I. F. Du Preez as its first principal. With integration realized at Helderberg College, Good Hope College accepted the enrolments of Blacks in its secondary school section beginning in 1978.²¹ Then in 1981, Good Hope College changed its name to Good Hope High School as the successor of the college established in 1963 at Kuils River.²² The South African Union Conference phased out its subsidies during a period of five years as the Good Hope Conference assumed administration of the school.²³

Although Good Hope Adventist High School is not big on extramural activities, annual sporting events have kept students and teachers fit and raised campus camaraderie. While the school does lack a sports field, it has an athletic-size swimming pool constructed in 1990.²⁴ The swimming pool not only benefitted the students but also those churches who used the swimming pool for Pathfinder and Adventurer swimming honors.

A few years later, a sponsor, named Dr. Parham donated funds for setting up a computer lab in the former college building. Completed and inaugurated in 1997, it broadened Good Hope High School’s course offerings to include computer and applied technology subjects.

In 2018, the Southern Africa Union Conference (SAU) took an action to implement a unifying marketing strategy for all schools in the region.²⁵ It required the term “Adventist” to be incorporated into the names of all schools. Good Hope High School consequently became Good Hope Adventist High School that same year.

Historical Role of the School

When the Good Hope College commenced its operation at Kuils River in 1963, the institution also managed a farm. Before the school relocated to Kuils River, Alwyn du Preez had managed the farm at Riverside campus. Then, Henry Bent became the first farm manager of the Kuils River campus. The Prins family from Paarl and later the Piedt family from Oudshoorn joined the farm staff. While the men tended the farm, their wives worked in the kitchen and laundry rooms of the hostels.²⁶ The large property gave opportunity for agriculture and keeping livestock such as chickens and cows. The kitchen used the vegetables harvested from the farm to feed the dormitory students and sold the surplus at the Epping market near Cape Town on Wednesday evenings. The surrounding community also purchased milk from the school farm.

In line with the Adventist principles of Christian education, the school has always sought to introduce students to Jesus and the teachings of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The number of non-Adventist students in the school usually surpasses those of Adventists. In a recent interview with former principals, they highlighted annual baptisms as one of the most joyful occasions on the school calendar.²⁷ The school endeavors to live up to the definition given by Seventh-day Adventist cofounder Ellen G. White that true education “is the harmonious development of the physical, the mental, and the spiritual powers.”²⁸

In the classroom and with every school activity, Good Hope Adventist High School challenges students to give their hearts to the Lord. While public worship and prayer have been prohibited in public schools in recent years in the Republic of South Africa, Good Hope continues to hold assemblies in the quadrangle on Monday mornings and chapel services on Wednesday mornings conducted by teachers or visiting preachers. Every other day of the school week, teachers lead morning devotions. The school also hosts an annual week of spiritual emphasis. Good Hope Adventist High School also offers Bible as a subject across all grades, so that students who have gone through the entire curriculum would have encountered the 28 fundamental beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church by the time they matriculate.²⁹

Chaplaincy ministries are also available and provided by the Cape Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Formerly, chaplains focused only on the spiritual needs of schools in a particular area, but in recent years, the district pastors in whose territories the schools are located, have been assigned to provide the chaplaincy ministry for students and their parents and teachers. This emphasis on Christian education has led to strong leadership within those local churches associated with the school. The relationship between the high school and the spirituality of the local churches is seen in that the strongest churches are those most closely connected with the school.³⁰

Good Hope Adventist High School’s choir has been another highlight. It has toured throughout South Africa, presenting concerts that drew large crowds and prospective students. Teachers such as Charles Africa, Gerrit Jordaan, and Ronald Pieterse conducted the choir. Mrs. Dawn Smith headed the choir until her retirement. In recent years, Romeo De Buys and his wife, Heidi, led the choir and continued to arrange its tours. The signature song with which the Good Hope Adventist High School choir usually ended their concerts, and is still sung at special programs including the annual alumni weekend, is “He’s Coming Back Again.”

The school is recognized by UMALUSI, the accrediting body of the Department of Basic Education in South Africa, and follows the National Senior Certificate (NSC) curriculum. The school is also approved by the Adventist Accrediting Association (AAA) and receives regularly scheduled visits from inspectors by both accrediting bodies.³¹ Such accreditations make students from Good Hope Adventist High School eligible for tertiary education in all universities in the Republic of South Africa, provided that they graduate with the minimum requirements for admission to bachelor’s degree programs. Consequently, those who have completed studies at Good Hope Adventist High School have entered a broad spectrum of careers, including law, accounting, education, pastoral ministry, piloting, medicine, nursing, business, and much more.

What Remains to be Done to Fulfill the School’s Mission

Students at Good Hope Adventist High School have gone forth to be successful professionals in almost every field. However, much remains to be done to increase the matriculation pass rate to be the desired 100 percent. Teachers are continually exploring ways to increase the pass rate, including offering extra classes for subjects such as mathematics and the physical sciences.

Good Hope Adventist High School also strives to be the educational choice in Kuils River and the northern peninsula districts of the Cape Town Metropolitan. Factors that have made prospective students reluctant to attend include the lack of extramural activities and limited subject choices. The school wishes to expand its offerings in terms of courses as well as its overall mission which emphasizes the development of all faculties, including mental, spiritual, and physical.

In the most recent years, the hostels have become empty, and all the buildings have deteriorated. In an attempt to attract students for hostel residence, the school recently initiated a project to refurbish the hostel rooms. In 2018, the first four rooms were renovated at a cost of R10 000 each. One was sponsored by alumnus, Dr. Elias Links, two by Dr. Cecil and Moira Beukes, and the final room by the Cape Conference education department under the directorship of Dr. Cecil Beukes.³² Two more rooms were finished in 2021 through the sponsorship of alumni whose identification could not be confirmed at the time of this writing. It is hoped that the remodeled hostel rooms will attract students from territories beyond Cape Town when Good Hope Adventist High School begins to offer boarding. It will increase the school’s enrollment and influence.

Annual Alumni weekend programs seek to encourage the alumni to financially invest in the school to improve its infrastructure. The Alumni executive committee, with the help of Godwin Bruinders, make continuous attempts to increase the interest of alumni in the school and to foster partnership between them and the school after their graduation.

List of Principals

Good Hope Training School

A. V. Sutherland (1929-1932); R. A. Buckley (1933-1934); P. H. Mantell (1935-1940); W. H. Hayter (1941-1943); G. S. Glass (1944-1947); O. B. Hanson (1948-1952); D. M. Swaine (1953); C. C. Marais (1954-1955)

Good Hope Training College

C. C. Marais (1956-1960); G. J. E. Coetzee (1961-1962)

Good Hope College

G. J. E. Coetzee (1963-1964); A. J. Raitt (1965-1972); W. A. Hurlow (1973-1975); B. H. Parkerson (1976-1977); I. M. Petersen (1978-1980)

Good Hope High School

I. M. Petersen (1981-1982); B. H. Parkerson (1983-1989); P. P. Plaatjes (1990-1994); J. Smith (1995-1996); W. Murray (1997); C. Lawrence (1998-2000); K. Langenhoven (2001); R. Links (2002-2017); S. Reuban (2017-2018)

Good Hope Adventist High School

S. Reuban (2018-2020); R. De Buys (2021–present)

Sources

Billes, L. S. “The Good Hope Training School.” African Division Outlook, June 30, 1930.

Cape Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. “Good Hope High School Alumni Worship Service.” November 6, 2021. Video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RLM7Z8hfiY&t=35135s.

Du Preez, I. “Dedication of Good Hope College.” Southern African Division Outlook, May 15, 1963.

Du Preez, I. F. and R. H. du Pre. A Century of Good Hope: A History of the Good Hope Conference, its Educational Institutions and Early Workers, 1893-1993. East London, South Africa: Southern History Association, 1994.

White, Ellen G. Education. Grantham, England: Stanborough Press, 1998.

Notes

1. Colored in the South African context is someone neither White, nor Black, but often thought of as mixed race.↩

2. I. F. Du Preez and R. H. du Pre, A Century of Good Hope: A History of the Good Hope Conference, its Educational Institutions and Early Workers, 1893–1993 (East London, South Africa: Southern History Association, 1994), 64.↩

3. Ibid., 75.↩

4. Ibid., 76.↩

5. L. S. Billes, “The Good Hope Training School,” African Division Outlook, June 30, 1930, 6.↩

6. Du Preez and du Pre, Century of Good Hope, 76.↩

7. Ibid., 79.↩

8. Ibid., 86.↩

9. Ibid., 87.↩

10. Ibid., 89.↩

11. Ibid., 92.↩

12. Ibid., 93.↩

13. I. Du Preez, “Dedication of Good Hope College,” Southern African Division Outlook, May 15, 1963, 7.↩

14. Du Preez and du Pre, Century of Good Hope, 101.↩

15. Ibid., 102.↩

16. Ibid., 109.↩

17. Ibid., 105.↩

18. Ibid., 112.↩

19. Ibid., 113.↩

20. Bethel College was under the administration of the Southern Union Conference.↩

21. Du Preez and du Pre, Century of Good Hope, 117.↩

22. Though the primary school exists on the same campus, it was established as a separate institution in 1974.↩

23. Ibid., 118.↩

24. Ibid., 121.↩

25. Cecil Beukes, email message to author, November 11, 2021.↩

26. Desmond Koopman, email message to author, November 22, 2021.↩

27. Cape Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, “Good Hope High School Alumni Worship Service,” November 6, 2021, video, 6:16, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RLM7Z8hfiY&t=35135s.↩

28. Ellen G. White, Education (Grantham, England: Stanborough Press, 1998), 13.↩

29. Cape Conference, “Good Hope Alumni,” 6:24 minute, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RLM7Z8hfiY&t=35135s.↩

30. Cape Conference, “Good Hope Alumni,” 1:16 minute, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RLM7Z8hfiY&t=35135s.↩

31. Cecil Beukes, email message to author, May 11, 2020.↩

32. Sophia Reuban, email message to author, November 11, 2021.↩