A call to Muir Street Primary School alumni
MANY years ago in District Six there was a small school bordered by Harrington, Canterbury, Glyndale Terrace and Mount streets.
Muir Street Primary School was established in the 1930s.
The building was demolished shortly after the Group Areas Act declared the area white in the 1950s, and residents were forcibly evicted.
However, the school’s rich history is kept alive by former learners.
Today an empty lot marks the spot where the school once stood, but the impact it had on its pupils lingers in the minds of those who walked through its doors and grew up to became known figures in society.
They include Johaar Mosaval, South Africa’s world-famous ballet dancer whose glittering career spans more than 30 years – most of them as the senior principal dancer for the Royal Ballet in London. Another past pupil is retired Spine Road High School principal Riyaadh Najaar, a sporting legend in his own right and one of the most respected school principals in the community.
Now the call has been issued for the surviving alumni of Muir Street Primary School to come together and lodge a restitution claim for the land the school was built on.
It is hoped to build an institute of education in memory of the school’s founding fathers, according to former Muir Street Primary School teacher Fuad Majiet . He is one of five surviving staff members. “Muir Street was the second Muslim school to be built in the community of District Six. I came to the school in 1961 as a teacher and taught the substandard B class (Grade 2). The section of land on Muir Street was purchased for £700 by ARG Marshall, who operated a water and vinegar factory in the 1920s,” he said.
“Under the name of the alumni and support of the last chairman of the Randerian Educational Trust, we’re going to lodge a restitution claim for the property,” said Majiet.
In 1966 the government took over the school and introduced “coloured education”, which he described as watered-down education for black learners.
However, the school, which initially operated on the standard education department syllabus, evaded the law and managed to continue educating pupils on the “non-coloured” syllabus.
“A bright teacher said we need to get the syllabus for our students, and we got a non-white person who looked white to go to the department and get the syllabus for us. We got the complete set syllabus from the department, so we put ours aside and taught them that. During inspection they (department) were quite surprised and impressed with our work. We were the only school to introduce monochromatic drawings,” said Majiet.
Najaar has been instrumental in organising the reunion of Muir Street Primary alumni at 11am on April 15 at Trafalgar High School in District Six. The alumni will meet to discuss their shared history and plot a plan to claim back the school’s land.
All former pupils are asked to email their names to muirstreetschool.alumni@gmail.com or SMS 073 796 5523.
“If you have a picture of yourself in school uniform, please send a copy that can be included in our brochure,” Najaar said.