Setotolwane Alumni Association
Pre Apartheid Era:
Setotolwane College (aka Grace Dieu)
Setotolwane College was founded in 1906 under the auspice of the Anglican Church as a missionary training college for ‘native’ teachers that were to staff the many Anglican Mission Schools in the then Transvaal under the supervision of the Diocese of Pretoria as Grace Dieu. The school was founded by Bishop John Latimer Fuller aka ‘Mafakudu’ -name given by the locals) and is situated in a farm called Jakhalsfontein, about 29km by road from Polokwane (then Pietersburg) town.
Grace Dieu attracted many students from all over the country, Lesotho and other neighboring countries. Of record, Chief Leabua Jonathan from Lesotho was among those students.
Training activities in Grace Dieu included strong practical functions on carpentry for boys and home craft/housewifery for girls.
The products of these trades were distributed across the Anglican branches in the country. Madikoti and Aambag vocational schools of excellence began as branches from Grace Dieu background in the early 70’s.
Among others, Grace Dieu was famous for its sporting competitions. The ‘Pathfinders’ (Scouts) boys movement had its origin at Grace Dieu in 1922 and later the equivalent girl’s movement, called the ‘Wayfarers’ came into being. These movements became popular in most Transvaal ‘native’ schools until the 60’s. Bishop Fuller died in 1950 and was buried at a cemetery near the school, together with his wife. To date their graves are still forming the important heritage structures of Setotolwane.
During Apartheid Era:
Setotolwane College
Due to financial constraints to run the school, Grace Dieu was bought by the Education Department in 1958. The school was renamed Setotolwane, named after a hill in the farm called ‘Sweet Home’. Setotolwane College, like other missionary schools were struck by the Apartheid regime, targeting the African children with its Bantu Education Act. Grace Dieu did not survive the onslaught.
During this era the medium of instruction was mainly Afrikaans. Subjects such as Mathematics, Sciences, History, etc. were taught both in Afrikaans and English to accommodate other learner’s that joined the school only for matric (Std. 9 and Std. 10). Setotolwane had a wing for teacher’s training, as Junior Secondary Teachers Course (JSTC aka JSOK) and another wing for high school (Std 6 to Std 10).
Setotolwane students, like students from other schools, also questioned Bantu Education. In 1972 the students embarked in a strike that ended up having some students arrested and some expelled. The main challenge was regarding the quality of food and lack of hot water. The struggles to fight the system continued until 1976 when students embarked on another strike. This time the cry was against the use of Afrikaans as a main medium of instruction. This resulted in having the school’s two thatch roof buildings (landmark) burned to ashes (i.e. the library and the typing room).
(More details will follow in the Setotolwane Documentary soon to be released)
Post-Apartheid Era:
Setotolwane Eslen Secondary School (for children with special needs)
Setotolwane became a special school for the disabled children until the school was relocated to Mankweng due to unsuitable environment for children especially with visual challenges. Unfortunately during this period the school’s infrastructure was severely neglected for habitation of children with disabilities. Broken windows, non-functioning toilets, lack of hot water and dangerous pathways. The safety and security of pupils was threatened by holes in the perimeter fence.
As a result, the Department of Education was forced to relocate the school children.
Conclusion
Setotolwane College today (Feb 2023), is in a terrible state. The buildings are currently in inhabitable and unusable condition. They are vandalized by criminals. Setotolwane Alumni group in collaboration with the Department of Education and the local community are hoping to revive the school for community development activities with earmarked projects such as heritage site, museum, center for technology etc.
