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THE
GRAIN AND OILSEED INDUSTRY
OF SOUTH AFRICA – A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME
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High school (secondary farm school)
Although a large number of farm schools existed in the rural areas where farm-
workers’ children were educated, no single school offered instruction up to matric
(Grade 12). NAMPO identified this as a shortcoming and engaged in talks with the
government. The result was that approval was obtained to establish a secondary
school on the NAMPO farm. An amount of R20 000 was made available to establish
the school. This was totally inadequate and the management had to try and make
alternative plans.
Various enquiries by Van Zyl, General Manager of NAMPO, eventually led to
Eskom, which made a compound building that was no longer in use available to
NAMPO. It was an asbestos building in the Amersfoort area and was dismantled
by NAMPO and erected again at the training centre on the NAMPO farm as a
school building.
The school that was established with this initiative was very successful – to the
extent that even children from Bothaville later preferred to attend school there.
In 2001 its achievements placed it 11th in the Free State on the basis of its matric
pass rate.
The school grew so much that transporting of pupils to and from the school became
a problem in time. NAMPO’s management succeeded in acquiring a new Mercedes
Benz school bus with the assistance of a sponsor, but because pupils had to be
transported from all directions, it was decided to exchange the bus for three other
buses to meet the demand.
However, the three buses were in a very poor condition and NAMPO was forced to
examine other alternatives. The bus company Putco was contacted, and negotiations
entered into for them to donate old buses that they intended to scrap to the school.
NAMPO converted these buses into trailers drawn by tractors, and they could serve
as bus transport for the pupils. The tractors used to draw the converted vehicles and
the drivers were supplied by producers in the area.
Several years after the school opened, it was contracted to carry out certain clean-
ing and other services on the grounds during the NAMPO Harvest Day. For this
compensation was paid directly to the school.