CREATING LEADERS FOR A TRANSFORMING SOCIETY
In the book, Hearing Grasshoppers, the Story of Raymond Ackerman, Mr Ackerman recounts that the Nationalist government came into power in 1948, under DF Malan. In 1949, they appointed the Eiselen commission to look into Bantu Education, and in 1953, the Bantu Education Act was passed.
The Minister of Native Affairs at the time, the "Architect of Apartheid" Hendrik Verwoerd, stated that "There is no place for [the Bantu] in the European community above the level of certain forms of labour ... What is the use of teaching the Bantu child mathematics when it cannot use it in practice?"
Mr Ackerman, President of the OD Union states in his book that this changed the course of his view on society. You see the Apartheid government had singled out Education as one of the best ways to suppress the Black child.
In 1983, John Peake arrived at Bishops from Eton, and was very energetic, he introduced the Black Scholarships, to accommodate deserving black Boys from South African townships who could not afford Bishops. As a result today we have the likes of Kk Mhlauli, Thobile Vumazonke, Luthando Matsaluka, Bulelani Calana, Arthur Mngxekeza and Unathi Diniso to name but a few, who play leading roles in society in various fields like Engineering, Manufacturing, Marketing and Petroleum. Kenneth Lukuko, one of the 1st group that arrived in 1984, leads the Project for the Building an Inclusive Society Programme’s Community Healing Project at the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation.
Hamilton Mvelase, arrived in 1988, and when he tragically passed away in 1991, - John Gardener, OD, and Principal at the time renamed the Black Scholarships in his honour and I was one of the first recipients of this scholarship.
I was born in 1980, in Gugulethu to poor parents. My mother was a cleaner at the Nico Malan (now Artscape) and my father a security guard. In 1992, I was invited to write a number of tests at a school in Rondebosch, where I would later be offered the scholarship together with 3 others. Today I am an inspired individual, I serve as a member of the esteemed Bishops Council- my parents would have never dreamt of their last born son coming to an institution such as Bishops. Bishops changed my life, and I know that through the Hamilton Mvelase Bursary Fund, we can continue to change the lives of South Africa’s children and create capable leaders we can be proud of.
Moshe serves on Bishops Council, is a member of the Bishops Trust and serves as the custodian of communications function for the Spur Corporation. In 2018, Moshe was one of 20 African leaders to be selected for the Advanced Business Ethics Leadership Colloquium held at University of Stellenbosch Business School and the Wittenberg Global Centre for Ethics in Germany. He is married to Matomelo and they have a son, Neo Ngwanya, who is 8 months old.