MONUMENTAL: Trafalgar High School, based in the heart of District Six, has been a hive of political activity since opening its doors in 1912. Trafs, as it is known still today, was the first school built in Cape Town for coloured and black pupils. Picture: THOMAS HOLDER MONUMENTAL: Trafalgar High School, based in the heart of District Six, has been a hive of political activity since opening its doors in 1912. Trafs, as it is known still today, was the first school built in Cape Town for coloured and black pupils. Picture: THOMAS HOLDER
Lisa Isaacs
A SMALL classroom at Trafalgar High School was a revolutionary space where the basis of the Freedom Charter was discussed, and plans were made for a post-apartheid South Africa.
It was Room 23, now a blue-painted English classroom.
“Room 23 was a political desk,” says Principal Nadeem Hendricks.
“The basics of the Freedom Charter were determined at this school. And here they discussed the 10-point programme of the Non-European Unity Movement.
“Here they focused on debates about an alternative to the apartheid structure. That defining era looked at what would happen when South Africa was liberated.”
Based in the heart of District Six, Trafalgar has been a nest of political activity since it opened its doors in 1912.
It was the first school built in Cape Town for coloured and black students, and played a leading role in protests against apartheid policies, including the Group Areas Act, which saw upheaval of District Six residents surrounding the school.
By 1911, education for coloured pupils was limited to the mission schools, which catered only for primary education.
The need for a high school was actively propagated by Abdullah Abdurahman, president of the African Political Organisation, and Harold Cressy. The city council was forced to give the go-ahead, and Cressy was appointed Trafalgar’s first principal.
The school started with a roll of 60 pupils and a staff complement of five teachers. Today, more than 700 pupils walk Trafalgar’s halls.
“The apartheid structure didn’t want people of colour to be conscientised on political inequality and human rights violations. Trafalgar became an institution of intellectual development. It became a nest for political talk and debate, and everyone wanted to be at Trafalgar,” says Hendricks.
In 1957, Benjamin Kies was banned from teaching for life because he was the leader of the politically outspoken Teachers League of South Africa.
In 1964, Sedick Isaacs, who was the mathematics and physics teacher at the school, was sentenced to 12 years on Robben Island for sabotage.
“These people challenged policies of separate developments and amenities in this building. It was the only building where they could do this,” says Hendricks.
While the District Six community was uprooted, the plan was to move the school from its current location. However, similar to Harold Cressy High, the school felt strongly about its history and refused to be relocated.
Hendricks says that throughout its political activity, the school was monitored by the State Security branch.
Against the wall of the principal’s office are wires above the door, now painted over in red. These are wires which the State used to listen in on conversations. The school’s biology room was also home to the development of explosives used in political activities.
“As a consequence of all that, the students at Trafalgar became activists in their communities, in the trade union movements – they were made politically aware.”
Throughout its existence, Trafalgar, though lacking certain basic facilities, has produced names such as politician and former minister of justice Dullah Omar, anti-apartheid leader Cissie Gool, Judge Siraj Desai and composer Abdullah Ibrahim.