The 177-year-old private school in South Africa that New York City’s new mayor attended
New York City’s Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani spent years of his childhood in South Africa, attending St George’s Grammar School in Cape Town.
Mamdani, a relative newcomer in the political space, recently won the New York mayoral race as a democratic nominee.
Despite facing fierce competition from former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, Mamdani won the latest election in a landslide, gaining more votes than all the other candidates combined.
Mamdani is a socialist immigrant whose upbringing in parts of South Africa shaped his views.
He was born in Kampala, Uganda, in 1992, and is the only child of the acclaimed director Mira Nair and the renowned academic Mahmood Mamdani.
His parents met when Nair was conducting research on Indian-origin Ugandans who moved to America for her film Mississippi Masala, starring Denzel Washington.
Mamdani then moved to Cape Town in 1996 when his father took a role at the University of Cape Town as the director of the Centre for African Studies.
While in South Africa, Mamdani attended St George’s Grammar School in Mowbray, one of the oldest schools in the city.
Although he was only at the school for a couple of years, it clearly had a lasting impact on him, as evidenced by his recent interviews, in which he still mentions it.
With two parents who were heavily involved in social justice, Mamdan said that his upbringing in post-apartheid South Africa heavily affected his own views.
The Mamdani family then moved to New York City in the late 1990s as the father got a job at Columbia University.
He would graduate from the Bronx High School of Science and receive a bachelor’s degree with a major in Africana studies from Bowdoin College in 2014.
He then worked as a housing counsellor, a rapper and as a campaign manager for other political campaigns in the New York area.
In 2020, he joined the New York State Assembly after defeating a five-term incumbent in the Democratic primaries – the first taste of his ability to defeat the politically established.
He represented Astoria, Queens and was reelected without opposition in 2022 and 2024.
He announced his plan to run for Mayor in 2024, running on a pro-poor campaign, which included rent freezes, a millionaire tax, universal childcare and free buses.
He defeated Cuomo in both the democratic primary and the mayoral vote (Cuomo ran as an independent candidate). He will take office on 1 January 2026.
His sudden rise has drawn international attention, with many hailing him as a success for rallying disenfranchised youth, while others have called him a radical communist.
The school
Returning to his youth, Mamdani spent some of his formative years at St George’s Grammar School.
The school was founded by Bishop Robert Gray in April 1848 on the grounds of the current St George’s Cathedral.
This makes the school the oldest independent school in Southern Africa.
The school underwent significant changes, with the first children of colour only admitted in 1978.
In 1989, another significant change occurred with the addition of girls to this previously boys-only establishment.
The proximity of the Cathedral in the early days meant that pupils could not only worship at the Cathedral but also be part of its choir.
A lack of space led to the purchase of the main house on the Bloemendal Estate, which provided the school with its own sports fields.
The school’s move to its present campus was gradual, and, in 1979, the school ceased to function in the double-storey building situated adjacent to St George’s Cathedral.
The school, currently located at its Mowbray campus, offers schooling for pupils from Pre-R to Grade 12.
The school is situated on a single campus, with separate buildings for the High School and Preparatory School.
However, there are shared facilities such as school halls, a library and sports fields.
The school strives to create a safe environment for its students while providing a strong foundation for learning.
The school’s computer labs and library are spaces that help its pupils to learn beyond the confines of a classroom.
The school offers a large number of extracurricular activities, including drama, a acapella, debating, contemporary dance, a green committee, coding, chess and more.
The school also has a host of sports offerings, including cricket, soccer, table tennis, swimming, badminton, chess, netball, athletics, tennis and many other sports.
St Georges’ Images
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