PHAKAMISA MAYABA / Three Colesberg schools — Colesberg Primary School, Umso High School and Umthombo Wolwazi Intermediate Farm School – have made history by advancing to the finals of the South African Schools Choral Eisteddfod to be held in Johannesburg in August.
Their journey began in the Pixley ka Seme regional competition held in Upington in May. They then advanced to the provincial competition held in Kimberley some two weeks ago, where they each won their categories, thereby qualifying them to advance to the finals. The competition was tough, with some 2 500 learners battling it out for the provincial honours.
Last year, the hopes of both Umso Primary and Colesberg Primary were dashed in the provincial stages. Umthombo Wolwazi did not participate because Unathi Asiya, Umthombo’s inspirational music teacher, felt they weren’t ready. But this year, she believed they were.
Nolwethu Dyantyi, who coaches the Colesberg Primary choir, would also not settle for second best. Devising a rigorous schedule (including practice sessions over weekends and during school holidays), she had only one goal in mind: going all the way to the nationals. And then to sommer win the whole thing.
Now the pressure’s really on. Wafa-wafa, as they say in football parlance – do or die. Come August, they will have to put on the mother of all performances as they square up against the nation’s best from all nine provinces. And this while they find themselves on the back foot, disadvantaged in ways that aren’t immediately discernible. Put differently, in some ways, these schools may have had to jump a few more hurdles than some of its more privileged adversaries.
The Umso High School choir, looking dapper in their school colours.
When one visits Colesberg Primary, one finds a school that is still playing catch-up. There are no computer or science labs, and not even a designated music room. Dyantyi’s rehearsals are conducted in ordinary classrooms, with the chairs stacked high up against the walls. This makes it hard for her to gauge the acoustics and how her learners might sound inside an amphitheatre during competitions.
To counter this, they simply step outside and sing their lungs out under the open Karoo sky. Just this says a lot about what these youngsters have gone through to get this far – and what they are capable of, given half a chance.
‘I’m very pleased about what the learners have accomplished,’ says a beaming Dyantyi. ‘Getting to this point has taken eight years of hard work. Although one has always been pleased to see them progress to the provincials in previous years, this year it’s been really special. Now we’re going up against the very best.’
Nolwethu Dyantyi (right) and Unathi Asiya with their certificates and trophies.
She has received no formal music training – at least, not the kind where one walks away with a diploma or title. Instead, it happened at the Old Apostolic Church, standing lonely and upright on the outskirts of Bongweni Location. There, the ladies are universally known for their piercing soprano – a jumpy, Africanised opera in God’s house that has left one local observer quipping, ‘there’s church … and then there’s the Apostolic vibe.’
Music here is a sacrament, and takes it very seriously. Even though Dyantyi is not technically employed as a music teacher, the provincial government’s arm has been twisted into acknowledging her skills. A few years ago, the Northern Cape premier, Dr Zamani Saul, gave R50 000 apiece to Umso High and Colesberg Primary to advance their music programmes, which allows the latter to pay her a modest stipend.
At Umso High, the situation is just about the same. Despite this being a high school, the facilities are hardly the kind one would reconcile with a higher education institution in the midst of the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). However, if there is one advantage that speaks in Umso’s favour, it’s the combination of natural singing ability and a community in which song and dance are intimately woven into the social fabric.
Many of these youngsters were already singing before they could string together a coherent sentence. Now, Bulelani Mkontwana, Umso’s music coach, has been tasked with fortifying them with the technicalities of the craft.
Things are a bit different at Umthombo Wolwazi, which lies about 30 kilometers out of town on the dirt road to Steynsburg. It forms part of the Hantam Community Education Trust, which springs to mind whenever the word ‘miracle’ is brought up. Some 30 years ago this was bare land on a Karoo sheep farm, forming part of a mammoth problem: how to bring quality education to the children of farmers and farm labourers in this remote area.
Striking out into the unknown, three strong-willed farmers’ wives started by creating a preschool in a disused farm building. Parents then asked them to consider starting a farm school. One thing led to another, and the project grew into a primary school, and then an intermediate school, supported by various other development programmes.
More than three decades on, the project has exceeded all expectations. Housed in a purpose-built and steadily expanding campus, it boasts a dedicated ECD centre and preschool plus Umthombo Wolwazi Intermediate, all making use of innovative and ground-breaking educational techniques. This is complemented by a community clinic, a youth training centre in Colesberg, and various programmes aimed at addressing the deeply ingrained problems afflicting these marginalised communities.
The HCET has won tons of awards – including one from Nelson Mandela himself – and today, many working class parents in surrounding towns work themselves to the bone to give their children a brighter future at the HCET.
Marié Botha, principal of Umthombo Wolwazi, says they are all ‘super excited and extremely proud’ of the choir’s achievement ‘It is the result of many hours of hard work, sacrifices and practising while their friends could relax. Never think that learners from a small rural school like Umthombo Wolwazi can’t achieve great heights! Hats off to the members of the choir and their teacher, Unathi Asiya.’
Zola Ngondo, principal of Colesberg Primary, is also immensely pleased. ‘Our performance,’ he says inside his office, ‘was wonderful. Outstanding! And I’m confident that they are going to make it at the nationals.’
The principal of Colesberg Primary School, Mr Zola Ngondo.
But the word of the day must go to Bulelani ‘Twi’ Mkontwana. First and foremost, this towering conductor of the Umso High Choir says he is ‘humbled by the opportunity to stand before these talented learners’. Although exceedingly pleased with what his charges have achieved, he also believes this has prepared the ground for a broader process of community involvement with the local schools.
Among others, he wonders why, rather than watch their own talents go to waste, jobless youths in the area don’t consider doing what he’s done, namely to volunteer their services towards uplifting the youngsters at Colesberg’s schools. His own youth, he recalls, was characterised by sports and singing competitions over the weekends, which he remembers with nostalgia.
Bulelani Mkontwana with the trophy for the Umso High School choir.
At the time of our remote interview, he was at Umso, and his charges were getting warmed up for a choir practice. He hopes and believes this will all pay off come 7-10 August when the national competition gets under way at the Rhema Church in Randburg, Gauteng.
FEATURED IMAGE: Unathi Asiya with her choir from the Umthombo Wolwazi Intermediate Farm School.
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This is an edited version of an article that first appeared on Phakamisa Mayaba’s website, eParkeni.
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