Eric Njokweni attended school with Mandela in 1938 and 1939 during Level 4 and 5 classes (Grades 11 and 12) at Healdtown.
Njokweni says Mandela was a friendly and outgoing individual who formed close and lasting relationships with his classmates and the civic authorities in Fort Beaufort. ‘He was an outstanding classmate, a friend and a leader.”
Ndokweni says although Mandela was treated like any other learner at the school, he was a respected student among his peers and teachers.
‘But even though everybody, including teachers, recognised a spark in Mandela, we never thought that one day he was going to be president,” says Ndokweni.
Mandela has credited the teachers at the schools he went to with having an important influence on his life. Many of these teachers were ardent campaigners on his behalf when his political star was rising.
Ndokweni says Mandela was a very calm person when he was at Healdtown. Ndokweni recalls one time when Mandela stood up in the boys’ dining hall and motivated his fellow learners by wishing everyone success in the matric, then Level 5, exams which were about to commence.
‘From a very young age Mandela was destined to be a leader and light of the nation. Even back then he had a lifelong commitment to the education reform in this country,” Ndokweni says.