NEWSLETTER November 2017

The Johannesburg skyline provides a beautiful backdrop to the Jeppe campus. – Photo courtesy of Roy Goncalves (Class of 1990)

State of the School by Dale Jackson (class of 1990) I have had the privilege of being involved at Jeppe High School for Boys over the past 30 years. Initially, as a pupil and more recently an educator and member of the executive team. In my opinion, the School has never before been in as strong or as healthy a position in the 127 years of its history, as it is now.

Thanks primarily to the generosity and support of Old Boys and certain past parents, our campus has undergone a complete transformation over the past few years with in excess of R15 million having been spent on various upgrades and improvements during this time. This has had a positive correlation on the quality of enrolment into the School, our ability to attract and retain top academic and sporting staff, a significant increase in the number of boarders (currently 285 boys out of 1000 pupils), an exponential improvement in our academic performance and a well publicised and successful sporting and cultural programme.

From an extra-mural perspective, whilst the performance of the 1st XV was disappointing this past winter season it must be remembered that 12 of the starting fifteen were in Grade 10 or Grade 11 and next year should therefore be an exciting year, particularly when one considers that our U16 team were very highly ranked with 8 provincial players and that both our 1st XV coaches are also the coaches of the Golden Lions team that won the Craven Week. Hockey on the other hand, had a hugely successful season with Jeppe becoming the first school ever to win the Aitken Cup (third year in a row), Boden trophy (second year in a row) and U16 Top 8 competition in the same year. Our U14's were unbeaten and the future for Jeppe hockey thus looks extremely bright.

A young 1st team waterpolo side are expected to compete for tournament wins over the next two years, the rowing section continues to compete with the best private schools in the country, our Pipe Band narrowly lost out as SA Champions and will be touring Basel again next year, our choir and marimba band are growing and our cricket section, where our U14A's are unbeaten, is also continuing to show steady signs of improvement. On the soccer field, our U14's won the Parktown tournament and a young 1st XI are also highly rated whilst our athletics team came closer than ever before to winning inter-high and, with one or two world class athletes in particular, continue to close the gap on KES.

For those Old Boys who doubt the continued improvement and above successes currently being experienced at the School, I would like to invite you, on behalf of the School's Executive, staff and pupils to come for a visit to the campus and to experience first-hand the pride and joy which the boys have in their school and their desire to continue creating a future worthy of our past.

It has also been heartening to see, under the leadership, guidance and drive of Rob Katzen, the continued growth within the Old Boy structures with a number of younger old boys and experienced businessmen joining the Committee and a variety of Old Boys having pledged their support to the various future capital projects at the school.

The final term of the year sees various farewells for Mr Dempsey, our beloved headmaster of the past decade who has decided to take an early, and much deserved, retirement. Mr Dempsey has built on the successes of those headmasters who went before him and under his tenure the School has taken giant leaps forward in so many areas. A new headmaster will hopefully be in place by the beginning of 2018.

In closing, from a school management perspective, we would like to once again thank our Old Boy community for their ongoing support and generosity. As we have often said before, our Old Boys and the Jeppe family remain our biggest competitive advantage and are integral to the continued success and vision for Jeppe to lead the way in public boys' schools in both Gauteng and South Africa.

We look forward to you our old boy community joining us in the next phase of this exciting journey.

Mr Dempsey’s Farewell Mr Dempsey’s emotional and moving final formal assembly was held on Thursday 12 October, before the matrics officially commenced their year-end examinations.

The whole school, Mr Dempsey’s family and invited guests from the other Jeppe Schools and the Gauteng Department of Education were in attendance. It was a most special occasion, with one of the highlights for Mr Dempsey being, his son, Byron, experiencing for the first time, his dad in his work environment interacting with the boys.

Mr Jackson gave an incredible “true-from-the-heart” speech which justly honoured the man that is Mr Dempsey.

Joshua Harrison, Headboy of 2017, delivered a farewell on behalf of the boys. He also presented Mr Dempsey with a poem written by one of the boys, which had been engraved on pewter, his farewell gift from the learners.

Mr Dempsey then gave his final address to the staff and learners after which he received a standing ovation from all.

The assembly was concluded with the school war cry and a boys’ guard of honour.

It was a wonderful occasion befitting the farewell of a dedicated and committed Headmaster.

Notice of Memorial Service for Mr Mark Grace It is with much sadness that we inform the Jeppe community of the passing of much loved Jeppe educator and Old Boy (class of 1974), Mr Mark Grace who passed away on Wednesday, 8th November after a short, but bravely fought, battle with pancreatic cancer.

Mark taught at Jeppe from 1980 until 2009 (unbroken except for a year long spell at KES in 2003) when he left to take up the headmastership at St James Preparatory School in Jeppestown. Mark was a legendary educator whom many Jeppe Old Boys cite as their favourite educator during their time at the School and who had a profound impact on the lives of so many within the Jeppe community.

The condolences of the entire Jeppe community go out to Mark's wife, Elize (who is still teaching at the school after 35 years) and children David (also an educator at Jeppe) and Diana.

In honour of Mark's contribution to the School, and at the family's request, there will be a memorial service in the Memorial Hall at Jeppe High School for Boys on Saturday, 18th November at 10AM. All members of the Jeppe family are welcome to attend.

Armistice Day Service

Reunion Weekend The weekend commenced with a special Old Boys Assembly. The boys sat in respectful awe as Derek Cooper (class of 1957) read the following poem that he wrote for the occasion.

“Forti Nihil Difficilius” For a hundred years and more We entered the Dashwood gates Sixty years must take its toll Jeppe High has proudly stood Shy, smiling, callow youths Time is the ultimate thief On its rocky granite outcrop We left five short years later In remembering first those dead A beacon of all that’s good Bearing bright universal truths Fond thoughts will ‘ssuage our grief

Through Highveld dust and storm What of those universal truths How they swam and caught and ran Summer heat and winter cold Which shone for us so bright? Made their mark each so unique South Africans by the score Are they still as true tonight Let their memory burn tonight Have been tempered in its mould Or stale, outdated trite? Well defined and not oblique

The sons of this great school Let us reflect on some of these Today we view our past Have carried its proud banner With full minds, not just a pose With its certainty not dimmed To fields of wide endeavour “Play the game and not the man Clothed in our present garb In fearless Jeppe manner Respect those that you oppose” With Jeppe values trimmed

This class of fifty-seven “Strive to win, not at all costs Will the future be as bright? It, too, has done its part They are rivals, not deadly foes” It’s not for us to know And played the game of life It is these simple maxims Only this tonight is certain With a truly Jeppe heart Which in us like fire still glows Our lives will ebb and flow

“Forti Nihil Difficilius” As we gather here tonight We, too, will leave the scene -Nothing too difficult for the brave- In warm, pleasant reverie To younger, stronger men Is a passionate rallying call Let us spare a wistful thought So farewell! Class of “57 We all carry to our grave For those we cannot see We’ll meet, we know not when

And when we do it’s certain The cry from all of us Will ring true then as it does now “Forti Nihil Difficilius!” The assembly concluded with the Old Boys joining the school in the war cry and were then given a guard of honour by the current learners as they left the hall.

The evening festivities kicked off with an address by Anton Dempsey, Dale Jackson (class of 1990) and Rob Katzen (class of 1986), highlighting recent achievements, challenges and future plans for the school.

The Old Boys from the years of 1957, 1967, 1977, 1987, 1997 and 2007 then moved to their respective venues to enjoy some much needed refreshments while catching up with old friends

The class of 2007 below left and the class of 1957 with invited guests on the right.

The 2018 reunions will be held on the weekend of 27 – 28 July to coincide with the home fixture against KES.

Some of the classes have already started planning for the event and have appointed organisers in this regard: Class of 1958 – Andrew Henson, Conrad Haikes and Dudley Boyd Class of 1968 – Puppy Penhall Class of 1978 – John Gomes Class of 1988 – Organiser to be confirmed Class of 1998 – Organiser to be confirmed Class of 2008 – Craig Harty

Should you require the organisers e-mail addresses kindly contact Kevin Robins at [email protected]

Champions reunite

53 years ago, these four Jeppe oarsmen won the 1964 SA Rowing Championships. On Thursday, 10 August, they met for a celebratory row and a tour of the school campus.

From left to right: Warrick Silverthorne, Terry Marsh, Jopie van Honschooten and Nick Dennis.

Valediction 2017 Ian Forbes (class of 1966) was the guest speaker at this year’s Valediction. His talk, based on his personal life, titled “The genius in the average man” was inspirational and motivated boys, parents and teachers.

Like father like son In 1982 Martin Sanders (class of 1986) won the U14 1500m at Jeppe. Twenty five years later his son Caden wins the U14 1500m.

It’s pleasing to see the increase in the number of old boys that are enrolling their sons at Jeppe.

Old Boy Achievements We congratulate the following Old Boys whose achievements have been brought to our attention since the last newsletter:

Old Boy, Mpho Tladi (class 2016) on becoming hurdles champion at CAA African Junior Champs in Algeria in a time of 13.78 seconds.

While this year’s Tour de France may have been Daryl Impey’s (class of 2002) most productive yet, he still feels that we have not seen the best of him.

Congratulations to Trevor Hill (class of 1980) on his appointment as MD of Audi South Africa

Congratulations to Jethro Eustice (class of 2007), Owen Mvimbi (class of 2005) and Gareth Heyns (class of 2009) on their selection to the South African Men’s Hockey Team.

S’busiso Nkosi (class of 2014), has been drafted into the Springbok squad after a hugely successful season for the Sharks. Unfortunately an injury has precluded him from the tour to Europe. See article below which appeared in The Times.

We received the fantastic news that Rick Allen has been appointed District Attorney for Anchorage, Alaska.

The fact that Rick was an exchange student at Jeppe in 1991 certainly qualifies him as an Old Boy and we're chuffed to hear that he is proud of that fact!

“Scholarship takes Nkosi to Bok glory” This article by Nico Gous was published in The Times newspaper on Tuesday 26 September.

Jeppe Boys High School in Johannesburg taught Sharks winger S’busiso Nkosi to love the badge.

“That Jeppe badge was treated like it is everything in the world. That gave ne the platform to love the Sharks badge as much as I love the Jeppe badge”

His new love could soon be the Springbok badge. Nkosi was named this month in the Springbok squad for the Tests against Australia and New Zealand. Nkosi matriculated from Jeppe in 2014 after receiving the Clive Hatch Education Scholarship in 2013. This scholarship is for underprivileged boys from Mpumalanga to attend the Johannesburg school.

Nkosi went to the Sharks Academy after he matriculated and played for the Junior Springboks in the 2016 World Rugby Under-20 Championships in . Nkosi said Jeppe is a “world apart” from Barberton, where he grew up.

“We struggled with coaching in small towns such as Barberton. There is a lot of talent down there. The problem is developing the rock into a polished diamond.”

Clive Hatch said Jeppe has a tradition of good ethics, management and sportsmanship. Nkosi corroborated this view and said he applies the lessons learned at Jeppe in the “course of life”. The Clive Hatch Education Scholarship was started in 2012. It covers the tuition fees for boarders from Grade 8 to matric, which costs about R450 000.

Annual JBA golf day

The Jeppe Boys Association hosted another successful (some old boys said the best ever) golf day at Glendower Golf Club. Other than a magnificent golf course the organising committee also arranged a few surprises along the way.

Five interesting facts from the past

 Five old boys who became mayors in towns around South Africa in the same year - 1955  Leonard Hurd (1917) Eland Mayor of Johannesburg  Herbert Ostro (1918) Impala Mayor of Heidelberg  Solly Goldberg (1931) Koodoo Mayor of Viljoenskroon  Kenneth Munro (1935) Mayor of Uvongo  Cyril Hurvitz (1938) Duiker Mayor of Mafikeng

 Five old boys who have the title of either King or Queen’s Counsel  Leslie Blackwell (1902) No House King’s Counsel  Hendry May (1920) Oribi Queen’s Counsel  Simon Kuper (1921) Eland Queen’s Counsel  George Colman (1928) Eland Queen’s Counsel  Bob Hepple ( 1951) Roan Queen’s Counsel

 Five old boys who matriculated in the same year and became Professors  Gordon Nelson (1945) Impala Prof of Psychology  Lynne Baker (1945) Impala Prof of Surgery  Kurt Schwarz (1945) Eland Prof of Social Sciences  Robert Metz (1945) Tsessebe  Harold Seftel (1945) Koodoo Prof of Medicine

 Five gold medals won at the  Leonard Hall (1924) Impala Hamilton Ontario Canada 1930 – Boxing  Howard Payne (1948) Tsessebe Perth Australia 1962 – Hammer Throw  Howard Payne (1948) Tsessebe Kingston Jamaica 1966 – Hammer throw  Howard Payne (1948) Tsessebe 1970 – Hammer throw  Clinton Hill (1996) Impala Melbourne Australia 2006 – Athletics

 An old boy who attended five Commonwealth Games  Howard Payne (1948) Tsessebe Cardiff Wales - 1958  Howard Payne (1948) Tsessebe Perth Australia - 1962  Howard Payne (1948) Tsessebe Kingston Jamaica - 1966  Howard Payne (1948) Tsessebe Edinburgh Scotland - 1970  Howard Payne (1948) Tsessebe New Zealand - 1974

Selective school activities Jeppe Pipe Band had another fantastic season finishing second at the SA Championships by one point!

A remarkable hockey season Pictured below is the under 14 A team that went unbeaten in 2017. Played 28, won 27, one draw. Goals scored – 157, Goals conceded 9! – Well done to the boys and coaching staff. The future of Jeppe Hockey looks very bright. Throw in the Aiken and Bowden Trophies and 38 boys representing various Southern Gauteng provincial teams – a truly remarkable hockey season.

Sable are winners of the 111th inter house athletics event - retaining both the Spirit and Dudley Wallendorf trophies. Tsessebe finish 2nd.

Tough season for the First XV The First XV ended off, what has been a difficult year in terms of results, with a hard fought 20-18 win over Parktown. With 12 of the 15 players currently in grade 11 and the superb season that the under 16 side had this year Jeppe Rugby is looking forward to a successful 2018 season.

Cast of the major production “Clue” – Hilarious, mysterious and loads of fun.

New online database Recently, the JBA acquired an online database package which will enable Old Boys to register and update their details directly which we hope will help to improve the accuracy of our records – currently we have the names of 8,000 boys on our database but only 4,500 emails and of these some 1,400 are bouncing. Some of the other benefits of the new system are:

 More effective communication of information regarding school events and functions;  Simplifying the arrangement of reunions;  Tracking of your school friends;  The option of networking with other old boys in the same occupation as you; and  The ability to place advertisements which will be seen by the database.

If you have not registered on the database, please go to https://jeppe.alumnet.co.za, sign in with your email address and then click on forgot your password and an e-mail will be sent to you with instructions for you to follow. If you are unable to register or sign in, kindly e-mail Kevin Robins at [email protected] and he will update the details on the system.

Obituaries: It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of the following Old Boys.

 Prof Lynne Baker (class of 1945 - Impala) February 2017  Gary Kietzmann (class of 1971 - Impala) May 2017  Evan Rabie (class of 1961 - Oribi) May 2017  Alex Hay (class of 1964 - Eland) 23 June 2017  David Savage (class of 1950 - Duiker) 23 June 2017  John Gething (class of 1962 - Impala) 15 June 2017  Siggie Rautenbach (class of 1969 - ) August 2017  Eddie Golding (class of 1967 - Tsessebe) 22 August 2017  George Roe (class of 1955 – Impala) 09 October 2017  Colin McFarlane (class of 1975 – Sable) October 2017  Robin Kempler (class of 1984 – Impala) October 2017  Mark Grace (class of 1974 – Impala) 08 November 2017

News from the chapters The KZN Chapter will be hosting a lunch on Sunday 26 November at the Mount Edgecombe Country Club. Kindly advise Roy Carrick by e-mail at [email protected] of your attendance.

The Australian Chapter have kindly agreed to fund the new entrance to the school which will incorporate the existing Dickie Fritz gates. The work has commenced and will be completed during the December school holidays.

Sable/Thabana Old Boys reunion breakfast Sable House and Thabana House have long played an important role in the history not only of Jeppe but the greater Johannesburg community. Over the years and with the schools change in fortunes the house has been both a day house, private boarding house and a school boarding house. In the past seven years, the house has seen unprecedented growth both in terms of the facilities and the achievements of the boys and staff in the house.

The staff and boys have made massive sacrifices in strengthening the image of the house in the school. We have recently elected a Sable Parents Committee (SPA) to assist the masters and school in providing even greater opportunities for our boys. There is also a need to ensure that we keep our old boys updated of the success of the house as they have paved the way for the current generation. We must strive to update our data base and provide our old boys with opportunities to visit the school and boarding house.

To this end all Sable and Thabana old boys are invited to a champagne breakfast on Sunday 26 November at 10:00 am.

You will get to experience first-hand, the world famous Jeppe Pipe Band and the brand new Jeppe Marimba Band, as they provide some background ambience whilst you enjoy some eats and drinks kindly donated by the Sable Parents Association.

FOR MORE INFORMATION or to RSVP PLEASE CONTACT: Bryan Hillock (senior house master) on 076 705 7075 or on [email protected].