The school choir, neatly dressed in pale blue uniforms, is lined up just inside the school’s gates when we arrive at Kgaugelo Middle School in GaRankuwa. To the beat of a single drum, their voices blend in youthful harmony as they await the coming of royalty, an African prince, a singular ambassador for wildlife conservation.
The schoolgrounds are well-kept, the gardens neatly tended, the buildings sport fresh coats of paint. To one side, a large area has raised beds for growing vegetables, now heavily mulched against winter frosts.
Learners mingle with guests, quietly abuzz with anticipation. A banner faces the gate, welcoming ‘Byron from the De Wildt Cheetah & Wildlife Trust”.
We file into a spacious classroom. Colourful posters depicting the earth, the environment, wildlife, brighten the walls. A large drawing of a reclining cheetah is chalked on the blackboard. Guests include teachers from other local schools, a group of visiting Americans, business and media people.
After a rousing song from the choir, Vanessa Bouwer, assistant director of De Wildt, tells us that the launch of their community outreach programme, based on that of the Spier wine estate, is about combining environmental education and job creation.
Although largely based on funding from the national lottery, the De Wildt outreach programme is also supported by business sponsors; in particular, Wondercoat paint manufacturers. Besides sponsoring the paint that has transformed Kgaugelo Middle School, a skills transfer programme has benefited unemployed parents who have been trained in painting techniques and to do repairs. Each participating parent receives a certificate, in the hope that this will enable them to find jobs or to start their own painting operations. The success of this initiative is self-evident in the smart façade of the entire school.
International motivational speaker, educator and environmentalist Billy Silikane informs us he was once a barefoot township kid, born and raised in Thembisa on the East Rand. As he speaks, I realise that every kid at Kgaugelo is shod in sturdy, well-polished shoes — no bare feet here.
Silikane tells how, as a youngster, he woke up one morning from a dream about the possibility of reaching greatness, how he realised he could only reach this goal by changing his own way of thinking, of talking, of action, how he buried ‘I can’t” and started saying ‘I can, because I am a South AfriCAN.”
Director of De Wildt, Ann van Dyk, is a South African who said ‘I can” as far back as 1971. Because of her vision and the success of De Wildt’s captive breeding programme, cheetahs in South Africa have been removed from the endangered list — although they are still classified as vulnerable.
‘Today brings tears to my eyes,” she says, ‘because this is a dream I once thought would never come true. As humans need more and more land and resources, our precious wildlife is becoming more and more endangered. That is why we must reach out to communities now, give young people the opportunity to admire the beauty of a wild animal, to enable them to change their attitudes and teach them to love all animals.”
The environmental education aspect of the programme aims to give learners insight into the importance of conserving our world and its resources for future generations. Broad themes include water conservation, anti-litter campaigns, the creation of vegetable gardens and the protection of vital habitat for all creatures, great and small, not only at Kgaugelo but also at other schools in the region.
The human side of events culminates with the presentation of books and educational resources.
Then the ‘man” of the hour arrives, in all his spotted glory — Byron, wildlife ambassador. His two handlers lead him up on to a table — cheetahs prefer to survey the world from a raised perch — but, clearly, he’s a little agitated, won’t settle down. Byron dictates the pace, Bouwer informs us, as the big cat heads for the door. Later, I learn this is the biggest audience he’s faced to date.
Outside in the sunshine, lying on the lawn, Byron is more relaxed, while a few of the bolder learners sidle up to give him a gentle stroking.
‘No, I am not afraid of Byron,” says Pogiso Mthimunye, a 15-year-old in Grade 9 at Kgaugelo, who has been a junior ranger for three years, ‘because I have met him many times at De Wildt.” Mthimunye, the first black learner to become a junior ranger, and his school mates have committed themselves to giving 40 hours to the Cheetah Challenge. This involves, in the main, clearing alien vegetation at De Wildt, but during school holidays they also attend workshops at the Pretoria Zoo. When he matriculates, Mthimunye intends to study conservation at the Pretoria Technikon.
‘To see education about our environment and the opportunities that this programme brings to all South Africans in uniting people, business and the environment, fauna and flora, gives me hope that the future of our vulnerable species and their habitat will be secured,” says Bouwer.
Later, as I drive back to Johannesburg, I think to myself: school was never like this in my day. And, you haven’t lived until you’ve seen and heard a cheetah purr into a microphone.