The Afrikaans public school that was once the best-performing in the country and produced the CEO of the largest private security company in South Africa
Hoërskool Florida in Gauteng has achieved years of strong results among its learners and produced the man who dominated both international rugby and the private security industry, Wahl Bartmann.
The school was founded in 1944 and opened its doors to learners in 1946, initially as a dual-medium English and Afrikaans school.
Eleven years after its founding in 1955, the school officially adopted Afrikaans as its medium of instruction.
In the beginning, Florida Hoërskool had only 15 staff members, which increased to 28 by the time it shifted its medium of instruction to support its 635 students.
Since then, the school has gone through several major upgrades and renovations, with amenities such as a music centre being added.
In 1958, the Hendrik van Coller School Hall was unveiled and was significantly enlarged in 1994 to accommodate the school’s growing number of learners.
In 2013, the school completed construction of the largest indoor shooting range in South Africa and the second largest on the continent.
Florida Hoërskool’s history is still present in the school today, such as through the nickname given to the school’s pupils, “florries” (flowers).
The school’s crest has a rose at its centre, and it had a garden of over 1,000 roses in its early years, with each pupil assigned a rose bush to care for.
In academics, the school has historically excelled, producing the highest number of top matric achievers in South Africa in 2007.
Hoërskool Florida was also previously ranked both first and second nationally for academics, alongside several provincial distinctions.
The school has maintained its strong academic performance to date, with a 99.5% pass rate in its 2025 matric cohort.
80% of its learners also achieved bachelor’s passes in 2025, while one learner achieved eight distinctions and two more achieved six.
A notable alumnus
One of the school’s most notable alumni is Wahl Bartmann, a former Springbok rugby flanker and the current CEO of Fidelity.
Bartmann matriculated from Florida Hoërskool in 1982 and moved on to play for the Transvaal Rugby Union, which was nicknamed “transwahl” at the time due to Bartmann’s dominance.
During his career, he also played 79 matches for the Natal Sharks, scoring 21 tries during his time with the team.
Along with provincial teams, Bartmann featured in seven test matches for the Springboks, scoring one try for the national side.
He was also part of the Springbok side that beat New Zealand in 1992, during a fixture in Johannesburg’s Ellis Park.
Bartmann was also voted South Africa’s rugby player of the year for two consecutive years, in both 1990 and 1991.
After retiring from professional rugby, he joined his father’s private security business, Springbok Patrols, full-time.
He and his siblings had all been involved in the family business prior to this, often helping during the holidays.
He previously told JacarandaFM that, “During the holidays, including the December festive season, when everyone went on holiday, we worked.”
Bartmann soon became the Chief Executive of Springbok Patrols, which evolved into Fidelity Services Group under his leadership.
In 1999, Fidelity completed the security industry’s first Black Economic Empowerment deal, forming Khulani Springbok Patrols.
This was later sold to Fidelity, along with a substantial deal in 2017, where the company acquired ADT Security South Africa, becoming Fidelity ADT.
The acquisition included all of ADT’s residential and commercial operations, as well as the ADT Kusela Guarding business.
This acquisition, and the purchase of Protea Coin in the cash-in-transit industry, made Fidelity Services Group the largest integrated security provider in South Africa.
Today, Fidelity operates through 32 brands and employs over 71,000 people across its 281 points of presence in South Africa.
Photos of Florida Hoerskool
Photos of Wahl Bartmann
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