Legacy Weekend for Reverend Fred Hufkie

GRAAFF REINETT - The Fred

Hufkie Era Spandaunians (FHES), in collaboration with the Graaff-Reinet Museum, hosted a Legacy Weekend from 7 and 9 October to honour the life and legacy of the late Reverend Frederick Emmanuel Hufkie. On Saturday,

8 October, the Reverend Fred Hufkie

Bust was unveiled and handed over by the FHES to the Board of Trustees of the Graaff-Reinet Museum.

The Graaff-Reinet Museum also opened its Fred Hufkie Memorial Exhibition at the Old Library Museum on Church Street. This exhibition is a permanent installation with the bust as the focal point.

Ashley Theron, the national chairperson of the FHES, explained that the FHES consists of approximately 130 Spandau High School Alumni. It was established in 2021 after four former Spandau learners started chatting on Facebook in December 2020 and expressed the need to show gratitude towards their former principal, the late Reverend Fred Hufkie – fondly referred to as the Chief – for all the values and principles he instilled in their lives.

Hufkie was headmaster of Spandau

High School in Graaff-Reinet for 26 years. He became headmaster in 1951, a year after the school opened, and resigned in 1977. Under his leadership the school thrived academically, in sport, and culturally, and his dedication ensured that Spandau High School became a leader in education. The FHES decided to involve Ezzard Hufkie to ensure liaison with the rest of the Hufkie family and to tap into his rich knowledge of Spandau High School and its former learners.

A WhatsApp group for like-minded former Spandaunians was initiated and subsequently, in 2021, the draft aim and objectives were developed and adopted. Some of the more senior former Spandau educators – Ike Gerwel, Graham Fillis, Ronny Burton, Royce Hufkie as well as the late Petronella Martin – then recommended the appointment of a task team to develop the terms of reference and review the aim and objectives of the group.

“At the time we were also informed that, in 2015, a group of 6 former Spandaunians – Shane Stuart, Henry Bruinders, Danny Adams, Baldwin Visagie and Desmond Lewis, and Willem van

Wyk – initiated a similar process aimed at honouring the former Chief,” said Theron. “We immediately embraced their idea of sculpting a portrait bust of him.”

Achievements

Throughout his adult life, Hufkie was committed to the development of education, non-racial sport, and theology. In 2001 he was awarded the Freedom of Graaff-Reinet Award for his contribution, an honour shared with Robert Sobukwe, Beyers Naudé, and Anton Rupert. For his contribution to challenging the unfairness of racially segregated education, and for his care and concern for community activists and their families, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University posthumously presented Rev Frederick Emmanuel Hufkie with the Council Prestige Award. In GraaffReinet, the Camdeboo Municipality (presently the Dr Beyers Naudé

Local Municipality) renamed the Kroonvale Cricket Oval to the Fred Hufkie Cricket Oval.

FHES objectives

In addition to the aim of honouring the life and legacy of the late Reverend Fred Hufkie, the FHES adopted some objectives.

The objectives include, inter alia, celebrating and supporting one another as members of the Spandau family, sharing information on important issues that impact their lives, exploring initiatives to plough back into Spandau High School and its learners and the poorest of the poor living in communities around Spandau, and supporting existing non-profit organisations with similar objectives.

To this end, the Legacy Weekend comprised several events. On Friday they handed over a computer room to Spandau High School and on Saturday afternoon, they facilitated a training session on ‘Effective Parenting under Challenging Circumstances’ for interested parents and grandparents. A gala event was hosted on Saturday evening and the weekend ended with a church service led by Reverend Roderick Hufkie at the Spandau High School Hall, followed by a ceremony at the grave of the late Reverend Fred and Rhoda Hufkie, on Sunday.

The Board of Trustees of the Graaff-Reinet Museum

The Board of Trustees of the Graaff-Reinet Museum considers it an immense honour to be entrusted with the custodianship of the Reverend Fred Hufkie Bust.

“The museum is indebted to the Hufkie family, the FHES and the broader Spandau High School community, as well as the Department of Sport, Recreation,

Arts and Culture for funding the exhibition, and Nicola Woods of Country Mouse Design for the display,” says Anziske Kayster, manager of the Graaff-Reinet Museum. Eastern Cape Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture’s Manager of

The Reverend Fred Hufkie Bust that was handed over by the Fred Hufkie Era Spandaunians to the Graaff-Reinet Museum. Photo Jetaime Hufkie

Museums Services, Sitati Gitywa, emphasised that a museum is not an island – it is there for the community and needs the involvement of

the community to develop. “It is through partnerships like this that the viability of the museum is secured,” Gitywa added.