School projects in Zululand, South-Africa (Start-up)

Hi Brian,

I hope you are well.  Sorry I have been slow to write.  Donna and I have been preoccupied with urgent actions trying to protect an historic farm here from being turned into a high density housing development!

Anyway, I have not forgotten your interest in Ncepheni School. I still think the best idea would be to avoid all the disasters that can come from attempting providing technology and go for books from the S.A. Department of Education for the classrooms.  Not only is the Department of Education's Endumeni district office in Dundee (on Ann Street), but since your school may be just outside the Endumeni District, the larger Umzinyathi Regional offices are also in Dundee (in the Forestdale area). Your school would definitely be in the Umzinyathi region.

My contact there is Fred Masondo.  I forget his title, but I believe he is the regional head. He is a very friendly older gent, but I think not very pro-active and waiting for retirement around next June. So I would not expect much of a response from him.  But you might like to meet him.

A person who works with the education department and with Fred Masondo and is more dynamic is an environmental educator, Kevin Burge. I find most South Africans are not very responsive to email (or any other form of communication) but you might try contacting him. Try emailing him at burge@kznatal.co.za    He should be able to guide you about sponsoring educational books. You can of course refer to my name.

I think books are more likely to actually benefit students than other things. As I mentioned before, the government has developed some very good ones.  Technology is more likely to be stolen or taken for personal (or professional) use (or non-use) by administrators.

If you are interested in visiting a "good" school near Dundee, I would suggest Enyanyeni School, which is maybe 5 kilometers down the road towards Nqutu (maybe a 15 minute drive from Dundee).  The principal is Matthew Mpila, and he is a rare principal in that he is selflessly devoted to the school and spends after hours and weekend time at the school. I don't know if his email is still up and running, but you could try him at: Enyanyeni School learners@dundeekzn.co.za

Quite a bit further down the road towards Nqutu is Maceba School, which is also well run. The principal is Mr. Mweli.

you could try contacting Bhekinkosi Sikhakhane, principal of Thalana High School, Dundee.  He is hard to reach and can't be relied on to carry through with everything, but if you are in Dundee in particular, it would be worth chatting with him.

Jacob ,
How are you? Just back from safari and to the school in Zululand. Did you meet David Rattray at his lodge when you stayed there at Raukes Drift ? Well some Zulus came into the lodge later in the day that we left and shot him .They were mad at him for some reason. Hope to see you soon.

Brian


Rattray's killer 'ordered to finish the job'
Legendary tourism personality and Anglo-Zulu War expert David Rattray's killer entered his house and fired a single shot before being ordered to re-enter the building to fire another two rounds, according to a source close to the scene. Sapa heard on Saturday morning that the leader of the gang had ordered the killer to go back inside Rattray's home, close to his Fugitive's Drift Lodge, near Dundee, after the first shot was fired.

Only one of the gang had entered Rattray's home while the others, including the man who appeared to be the leader, stayed outside. The attackers then fled. The Witness website reported that according to a close family friend saying he had learnt from Rattray's wife, Nicky, right after the incident, that the couple had been in their bedroom, with Rattray changing to go cycling, just before 6 pm when they had heard their domestic worker screaming.

KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Superintendent Muzi Mngomezulu, said nothing appeared to have been taken from the house. He said the gang had first held up the receptionist at the lodge. Rattray was instrumental in putting the province's battlefields on the international tourism map. Nicky Rattray said in a statement on Saturday morning that South Africa had lost a man who spoke to an international audience about, "not only the history of his beloved South Africa but also about the miracle that he saw us living through today".

"Tens of thousands of people from HRH, Prince Charles to KwaZulu-Natal school children have listened to this unique South African deliver his message of nation building and reconciliation. "This famous son of South Africa now joins the unacceptable list of citizens who have lost their lives to senseless banditing that is engulfing this." Another well-known KwaZulu-Natal historian and raconteur, Kingsley Holgate, said Rattray had been a huge inspiration to him. "We've lost a true son of Africa - and these people aren't many," he said. "How tragic that a man who gave his life to preserving the Zulu culture and bravery old Zulu order ended his life at the hands of the Zulus.

"There will only be one David Rattray. He's a true icon." He added that Rattray had a way with the local people of his area and was very well respected. He had also been close to Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini. Head of the Royal Household department - responsible for affairs of the royal house - Dr Vusi Shongwe, said he did not know of Rattray's death as the king was abroad. "I didn't know, I am shocked, I will wake the king," he According to the Conference Speakers International web site, Rattray was born in Johannesburg in 1958.

He completed his schooling at St Alban's College in Pretoria, and studied entomology at the University of Natal before managing the Mala Mala Game Reserve. In 1989, he and his wife, Nicky, moved to his family's farm to start Fugitives' Drift Lodge from where they hosted a constant stream of visitors around the battlefields of Isandhlwana and Rorke's Drift.

"His exposure to Zulu oral tradition and his studies of his excellent library have left him uniquely equipped for his vocation as a raconteur, and he has entertained many audiences in South Africa and abroad," read the web site. It added that Rattray was a trustee of the John Voelker Bird Book Fund and the Siyasiza Trust. In December 2001, Rattray's contribution to tourism in South Africa was recognised at the Tatler Travel Awards 2002 ceremony and he was awarded the Tatler/Gordon Campbell Gray award for vision in tourism, according to the Witness web site. Rattray wrote the David Rattray's Guidebook to the Anglo-Zulu War Battlefields and had just completed another book, A Soldier Artist in Zululand. In January 1998 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. - Sapa