{"id":823402,"date":"2025-05-08T12:42:22","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T10:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=823402"},"modified":"2025-05-08T12:45:59","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T10:45:59","slug":"the-famous-school-that-nelson-mandela-desmond-tutu-and-walter-sisulus-children-attended","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/823402\/the-famous-school-that-nelson-mandela-desmond-tutu-and-walter-sisulus-children-attended\/","title":{"rendered":"The famous school that Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, and Walter Sisulu\u2019s children attended"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Waterford Kamhlaba United World College of Southern Africa (Waterford) outside Mbabane, Eswatini, is a cornerstone of South Africa\u2019s liberation struggle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Waterford was the first school in southern Africa open to children of all colours, and many of South Africa\u2019s leaders\u2019 children attended the school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They include the children of former South African President Nelson Mandela, struggle hero Desmond Tutu, Albertina and Walter Sisulu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The school\u2019s close ties to these families are no surprise. Waterford was created in direct opposition to the apartheid regime in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Waterford School was established on a mountainside at the edge of Mbabane in 1963, following the six-year tenure of founding headmaster Michael Stern in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Stern became dissatisfied and frustrated with the pervasive environment of racial intolerance, he committed himself to the idea of a multiracial school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, he could not teach and live his ideals in South Africa, which is why he decided to launch Waterford in neighbouring Swaziland, now known as Eswatini.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart from needing money to build the school, the founders wanted all students who qualified academically to be able to attend regardless of their ability to pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1963, Michael Stern established the Waterford School Trust in London. The chairman was Eric Abbott, Dean of Westminster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early donors included the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Wolfson Foundation, and the Anglo-American Corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harry Oppenheimer, chairman of Anglo-American, funded the science laboratories, which are still used today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The campus was originally designed by Portuguese architect Pancho Guedes, who agreed to work with the school’s founding team pro-bono.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 3 February 1963, Waterford School opened. The first students were 16 boys, including seven white, six black, two coloured, and one Indian student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the next couple of years, the Waterford School grew rapidly, and with it, support for its ethos and mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1967, King Sobhuza II Ngwenyama of Swaziland granted Waterford School the name Kamhlaba. From then on, the school was known as Waterford Kamhlaba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Waterford Kamhlaba\u2019s role in South Africa\u2019s liberation struggle<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Waterford played a small yet significant role in the struggle for racial equality in the Southern Africa region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The school educted the children of Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Desmond Tutu, and Nobel prize-winning novelist Nadine Gordimer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was also attended by the children of the first President of Botswana, Sir Seretse Khama, and the revolutionary leaders of Mozambique Samora Machel and Eduardo Mondlane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a post-Apartheid era, Waterford has sustained its early vision to educate exceptional students regardless of race, religion or financial background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe school continues to nurture Africa\u2019s future political, business, and civic leaders,\u201d Waterford says on its website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notable alumni include actor Richard E. Grant, former Botswana President Ian Khama, and academics Ruha Benjamin, Thomas Ward, and Alan Whiteside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To this day, the school aligns with the UWC Education Model\u2019s mission of harnessing education as a force to unite people, nations, and cultures for peace and a sustainable future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its current campus has exceptional sports, arts and learning facilities, including a newly renovated multi-purpose hall and rock-climbing wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also features the Richard and Sheila Attenborough Fine Arts Centre and the Creative Centre for Dramatic Learning (CCLD) with an amphitheatre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also home to a blend of indigenous flora and fauna and hiking trails, and has its own bus service that allows students to shop and socialise in the capital city, Mbabane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Waterford Principal Jackie Otula said the school has a profound legacy centred around diversity, equity, inclusivity, and justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs we look at Waterford Kamhlaba  beyond 60 years, we pledge to uphold and advance this rich legacy,\u201d Otula said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur commitment extends to providing high-quality international education, with the aim of producing leaders poised to make a positive impact on the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Inside the Waterford Kamhlaba School<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The Waterford School in Eswatini has many notable alumni, including former Botswana President Ian Khama, actor Richard E. Grant, and Nelson Mandela\u2019s children.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":823406,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[6232,22475,22477,1491,22478,22476,22474],"class_list":["post-823402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-desmond-tutu","tag-michael-stern","tag-nadine-gordimer","tag-nelson-mandela","tag-seretse-khama","tag-walter-sisulu","tag-waterford-kamhlaba-united-world-college-of-southern-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823402","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=823402"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":823509,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823402\/revisions\/823509"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/823406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=823402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=823402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=823402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}