THE HISTORY OF KALAHARI HIGH SCHOOL
STRUGGLING TO ESTABLISH KALAHARI HIGH SCHOOL
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The interests of the child at Seodin always came first for Mr. Fanie Botha, so he was not afraid to oppose the then department education. Nowhere does it emerge stronger than in Mr. Fanie Botha's decision to hire a teacher at his own expense to teach the Grade 9 students without permission from the department education. He couldn't throw the kids to the wolves because the education laws of that time forbade children to stay in the hostel after Grade 8. Nothing can stop him and his school board, he makes a plan and education for Grade 9 students continues during the day in a garage and at night in the lounge at the hostel. Mr. Fanie Botha continues to fight with power and opinion to obtain a High School in Seodin, he believed problems and obstacles are stepping stones to success. It was not only the English in Kuruman who opposed the plan, nor certain farmers who did not realize the value of further education.
Mr. Fanie Botha.
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Many parents and students remember this dream won by hard work, for in 1924 Mr. Fanie Botha was granted permission to retain that year's Grade 8 class as a core of a future ad hoc high school. Meanwhile, it was decided to name the new school Kalahari High School, which opened in 1927 with 97 students and 4 teachers at Seodin.
Two years later, a school hall is being built on Seodin with around 700 seats, the department gave the project £1,000. A dream came true, on the site of the Moffat Institute, Seodin Primary School and Kalahari High School in harmony side by side, complementing each other in the historic stone buildings on Seodin, where the teaching dream and vision of Mr. Fanie Botha are still intertwined every day.
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Due to lack of space, children attend school under the tree.
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New school built shortly after its inauguration in 1924.
​Mr. Fanie Botha and Staff.
THE COAT OF ARMS FOR KALAHARI IN 1943
The school coat of arms dates back to 1943 when Mr. Fanie Botha and his staff requested suggestions for a school coat of arms. Various designs were received and A J Scholtz's design was accepted; the original was processed in the arms of Seodin Primary School and Kalahari High School. Over the years, the name, position, and way of writing on the coat of arms have been changed, but the basic concept remains the same.
Speaking images such as the open Bible, pitch and shovel, the thorn tree with Gamohaankop in the background and the motto, "Werk en Wen" stood the test of time.
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PREACHER WRITES THE SCHOOL ANTHEM THAT
WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN
On 21 May 1928, 74-year-old Rev A L J Hofmeyr became preacher and minister in Kuruman, someone with a dynamic work force and an instigation for youth.
He pays much attention to both schools, his extraordinary eloquence, and the gift of captivating people carried along the young and old. He was extremely musical and usually had a foldable organ with him and then played music for the children.
Rev Adriaan Hofmeyr writes and sets a school anthem still used by Seodin Primary School and Kalahari High School at the turn of the century. This school anthem with its immortal words always brings a lump in the throat, it still binds students and old students across the country together to Kalahari.
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