{"id":821530,"date":"2025-04-22T09:21:36","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T07:21:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=821530"},"modified":"2025-04-22T11:18:59","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T09:18:59","slug":"the-prestigious-school-whose-alumni-include-billionaires-springboks-and-prime-ministers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/821530\/the-prestigious-school-whose-alumni-include-billionaires-springboks-and-prime-ministers\/","title":{"rendered":"The prestigious South African school whose alumni include billionaires, Springboks, and prime ministers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Paul Roos Gymnasium, a leading public dual-medium high school for boys in Stellenbosch, has produced many of South Africa\u2019s top politicians, businessmen, and sportsmen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dubbed the Eton College of South Africa, its notable alumni include billionaire Johann Rupert, prime ministers J.B.M. Hertzog and D.F. Malan, and too many Springboks to mention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul Roos Gymnasium\u2019s history dates back to when the British Empire occupied the Cape for a second time after their victory in the Battle of Blaauwberg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many Dutch families, previously under Dutch or French rule, were not keen on the shift to English schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 29 January 1864, Rev. J.H. Neethling of the Stellenbosch Dutch Reformed church wrote to Dr. Langham Dale, Superintendent General of Education of the Cape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said on 28 January 1864, 30 inhabitants of the Stellenbosch district decided to erect a gymnasium or Latin School. They have guaranteed 465 pounds per annum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stellenbosch Gymnasium opened its doors on 1 March 1866 with 88 students. Its initial building was in Dorp Street, Stellenbosch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1879, the Gymnasium and College separated functionally, and in 1885, the school and College moved to new but separate premises between Andringa and Van Ryneveld Streets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stellenbosch College changed its name to Victoria College in 1887, and it became the University of Stellenbosch in 1918.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1910, ex-pupil, ex-teacher, ex-Springbok rugby captain, P.J. Roos, became rector. He captained the first South African rugby team to Britain in 1906.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roos directed the school for thirty years. Education was his life, and rugby was his first love. He retired as rector in 1940.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same year, the school’s name was officially changed to Paul Roos Gymnasium in his honour. Their famous fight song is “Old Boys of Paul Roos”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1946, the school moved to its current location on the south bank of the Eerste River in Stellenbosch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1951, the high and primary sections of the school were officially separated as Paul Roos Gymnasium and Paul Roos Primary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Paul Roos Gymnasium is a prestigious dual-medium school near the University of Stellenbosch. It shares many amenities, from sports to internet facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, some subjects are offered in conjunction with its two sister schools, Bloemhof and Rhenish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is one of only four schools in South Africa entitled to award a Rhodes Scholarship annually to an ex-pupil to study at the University of Oxford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considering its prestige and excellent educational standards, its fees of R63,000 per annum are considered highly reasonable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul Roos Gymnasium sports<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Paul Roos Gymnasium participates in numerous sports, including athletics, cricket, rugby, hockey, rugby sevens, tennis, squash, and swimming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also offers archery, chess, cross country, equestrian, e-sports, golf, hockey, mountain biking, soccer, table tennis, and water polo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The school is closely associated with rugby, and Paul Roos Gymnasium has produced more Springboks than any other school in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five Springboks from the school participated in the 2019 Rugby World Cup: Schalk Brits, Willie le Roux, Steven Kitshoff, Herschel Jantjies, and Damian Willemse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other notable Paul Roos Gymnasium Springboks include Francois Hougaard, Cobus Visagie, Andries Bekker, Cabous van der Westhuizen, and Hempies du Toit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other former pupils include Scottish international rugby player Josh Strauss and Tiaan Pretorius, South African Sevens player and Olympic Bronze medalist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notable professional sportsmen outside of rugby include Olympic swimmer Heerden Hermann and professional golfers Justin Harding and Garrick Higgo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South African Test cricket captain Peter van der Merwe and South African national outdoor hockey player Andrew Hobson are also former Paul Roos students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul Roos Gymnasium notable alumni<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Billionaire Johann Rupert<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Paul Roos Gymnasium produced many of South Africa\u2019s top politicians, writers, businessmen, artists, and actors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

26 Paul Roos Gymnasium old boys received more honorary doctorates from Stellenbosch University than any other school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its former students include former prime ministers J.B.M. Hertzog, D.F. Malan, and the globally renowned Jan Smuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Leon Schreiber, South Africa\u2019s Minister of Home Affairs, also attended Paul Roos Gymnasium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notable businessmen include billionaire Johann Rupert, Remgro CEO Jannie Durand, former FNB CEO Michael Jordaan, and Capitec co-founder Riaan Stassen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other notable businessmen who attended the school are Naspers co-founder Jannie Marais and former Mediclinic founder Edwin Hertzog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Stellenbosch school also produced many well-known artists, including Heinz Winckler, Koos Kombuis, Portchie, and Armand Aucamp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also produced top journalists and authors, like investigative journalist Pieter-Louis Myburgh, former Rapport editor Waldimar Pelser, and author Pieter du Toit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inside Paul Roos Gymnasium<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paul Roos Gymnasium, a leading public dual-medium high school for boys in Stellenbosch, has produced many of South Africa\u2019s top politicians, businessmen, and sportsmen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":821532,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[22352,4666,22351],"class_list":["post-821530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-d-f-malan","tag-johann-rupert","tag-paul-roos-gymnasium"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=821530"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":821638,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821530\/revisions\/821638"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/821532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=821530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=821530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=821530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}