Celebrating 60 years of education excellence at Phahama Secondary
Phahama Secondary School celebrated not only its 60th anniversary but also generations of tradition and excellence.
A spirit of camaraderie prevailed as alumni across generations exchanged anecdotes and pleasantries during Phahama Secondary School’s 60th anniversary held in Mohlakeng recently.
The occasion was marked by a plaque unveiling by current principal Sandile Siko and Livingston Ndlovu, a former learner and teacher at AB Phokompe and principal at Matlapaneng Primary School who was also distribution manager for Beeld and Daily Sun newspapers.
“Phahama’s existence comes as a result of elaborate community efforts,” emphasised guest speaker and former learner Dr Robert Moiloa.
According to the school’s official website, the school was established on October 15, 1964, and officially opened on October 29, 1974. Read more here [https://phahamamsict.co.za/about/].
During the occasion, many were honoured who played a vital role in its birth. Among them were Arthur Sepanya, who was pivotal in the establishment of the school as well as Nehemia Ramasia.
“It was difficult back then. There was lots of hard labour from learners while Ramasia, who was principal then, had to clean the school,” said Frank Matshuisa, a former learner who went on to be a teacher at the school.
“We are what we are because of Ramasia’s leadership. At first, we saw it negatively but it did pay dividends,” elaborated Vincent Kgaje and Hugh Phokojoe.
“Phahama was born out of the necessity for the community to have a high school,” said Livingston, who was the programme director.
Dr Robert also paid tribute to Ramasia and the late Arthur Sepanya who was an Alderman in the then Randfontein Local Municipality and one of the founding fathers of the Randfontein Transitional Council.
“It was especially difficult since learners had to travel to areas for education, as far as Bethel and Thabanchu. Although there were high schools in town, they did not allow black learners,” Robert added. He was one of the first learners who went on to study homoeopathy and also went abroad.
“Thank God for this day. At first, it was just planned for the Phahama pioneers. We later threw an invitation to other alumni across generations. We had one of the Phahama pioneers, Lizah Kepadisa, who played a big role in setting up the WhatsApp group to communicate what we intended to put across in our endeavour. Even when we had some challenges along the way,” said Milton Marite, another Phahama pioneer.
