109 YEARS OLD - DIKUBU PRIMARY SCHOOL BACKGROUND

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH THE CURRENT PRINCIPAL MAHLAHLANI

INTRO
Naboomspruit Amalgamated School, today known as Dikubu Primary school was established in 1910 by the Church of England before the Anglican and Lutheran Churches took over. 


The name Dikubu comes from the sound of the Hippopotamus which was heard making sounds in the river during rainy seasons. It is believed that the name also comes from the plantations which grew where the township is currently situated as it was shaped like a sjambok, “kubu” in Sepedi.


When the school relocated to the township it had no sufficient classrooms. The Lutheran, New Reformed (Dutch), AME, AFM and Anglican churches opened their doors to accommodate some classes. The Khosa family next to the old graveside also opened their garage to accommodate some classes during difficult times. 

The school was built by members of the community using self-made bricks. Some classes were attended under trees. Other learners were using open places like “mebotwane” for attending Sub-Standard classes. 

The school salute those institutions and individuals who contributed to the success of its institution. Some classes were attended under trees where Makhutjisha Secondary school is currently situated.

CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIETY


The school hosted Makhutjisha and BB Matlaila Primary school in its buildings before they had their own buildings. Some learners were identified from Dikubu to go and attend BB Matlaila to relief the school of huge enrolments. Mookgophong Primary school learners started their first classes in 2013 with some of the learners coming from Dikubu. 


The school is proud to have produced successful individuals of this community ranging from  Nurses, Teachers, Doctors, Radio and TV Personalities, Engineers, Surveyors, Mayors, Artists and all other career not listed in this report, the list is endless. 


DIKUBU PRESENTLY


Mdungaza Klaas Mahlahlani who is the current Principal was since appointed in 2008, firstly as an acting principal before  becoming the principal. The school has improved massively under the administration of Principal Mahlahlani. 


“The first project I embarked on was to make sure that the school was properly fenced. The fence was too old so the question was, how I then become accountable to the school learners because they could be able to move out the school premises at any given time. 


I then agreed with the School Governing Body (SGB) that if they want me to take full accountability to the learners’ safety they must provide and approve the fencing project. And ever since the new fence was installed between 2010 and 2011, we haven’t seen any holes around it. Learners use the gate to access and leave the school which makes it easy to be accountable to their actions. 


The fencing also helps to keep order in the school but mainly it was installed for the safety of the learners. Moreover, this fence helps to protect school property against vandalism or break-ins. What we can also boast our school about is that we don’t normally face vandalism mainly because the school is surrounded by residential houses. 


My first day at the school, I found a very old gate that flips and closes in the middle. Then I thought to myself that this school with its legacy that it carry, must show a certain standard. I had ideas for new developments for example: having a proper gate with some walls containing of school rules, the emblem, and prohibitions of the things that are not wanted in the school by the entrance so that the front could be inviting. 


We wanted an entrance that is welcoming and lively. My personal believe is that if everything is dead in an institution, even the minds of the people are dead.  And luckily when I shared the idea with the SGB, the community members, learners’ parents and teachers they bought into the idea. 


PICTURES (Far left: New learners' toilets, Right: Old learners' toilets)

Although I knew it was going to take time, we needed improvements which also meant that we had to spend more money of which we didn’t have. Because we didn’t have enough money, we had to make changes phase by phase.

The other challenge that we had was the learners’ toilets. The system was as old as the school, the toilets were leaking, where in we ended up owing the municipality approximately R120 000 due to water pipes burst. 


The school relies mainly on subsidies as it is an NPO. 


But because of the vision, I told them that I might also leave the school without completing what is on my mind based on the fact that we don’t have enough money. Even if I leave the school the vision will be there. For example, the erected walls at the entrance would give the next Principal direction, I hope. Those walls give people coming in the school what we stand for and the direction in which the school is heading to. And also tells the learners and our visitors about the school’s values. That’s the exact idea I had in mind before this could be established. 


Bringing this to life took time because we had to prioritize the learners’ resources first. It wouldn’t assist us in any way by building the walls whereas the learners didn’t have enough resources for lessons. 


Going back to the issues of toilets, when the visitors came here either from the national education department or district I used to tell them that my biggest hurdle is getting facilities right, once I get that part right I would say that I have achieved a lot of my percentage’s vision because they were stinking, leaking and unhealthy. 


We have upgraded our cooking station from firewood to gas-stoves. We have also established a tuck-shop in the school because we felt that when one outsource the funding you don’t get what you what. When the tuck-shop idea was presented to the SGB, the target was to reach a certain amount a day which in a month would give us a bigger amount. And to be honest ever since it was established in July this year, we have never missed our target goal it only increases. 


The learners are responding positively to the school’s goal although they are not yet where the Principal says he wants them to be, especially the learners who arrive to school late. “I would put the blame on the parents because that is out of the learners’ hands sometimes. I always arrive at school at 6am and some parents drop their children to school around that time because they know that the gate person and principal would be there. 


And once the learner is in the school, there is no chance of getting out of the premises. This also goes to the parents who may want to fetch their child, there’s a letter form that needs to be filled in before we let you take the child. 


The challenges the school is facing is the issue of late coming more especially from learners living in Phomolong. There are also elements of gangsterism showing up in the senior learners which they do not practice in the school premises but you would hear that they belong to a certain gang in the community which becomes a worrying factor given the schedule violence that has born up in terms of gangsterism in the community. 


It’s a societal problem because you’d find that parents fight in front of the children, child neglect and having to defend yourself, being bullied without finding support then you would start wanting to fight. Sometimes is peer pressure because some of the learners are being led by high school learners belonging to a gang. 


I also believe that if parents start monitoring the moves of their children from home that could reduce the issues of gangsterism. We have social workers and police officers on quarterly bases to try talk to them and in most cases the learners who are troublesome at school their parents are not supportive. They are not willing to pitch up at parents’ meeting. 


It is advisably not safe for us to do home visits these days because you would find that the couple are having their own issues at home and when I walk in, for example the husband might think ultra and then I would put someone’s life in danger or even my life in danger,” the principal comments.  

Principal Mahlahlani won a car at National School Awards in 2017. The ceremony is recently on its 20^th year. “It has long been there, we used to hear about it or watch it on TV. The exposure to other school was not as big as it is today because you would ask yourself how one becomes part of the ceremony. 


I was approached from 2013 to 2015 because when people visited me and looked at the institution they looked at the substances and started asking me questions if I’ve ever entered the competition and I told them no because I wasn’t ready. I told them I couldn’t enter because I had stinking toilets then, they said but the people who are winning, most of them, didn’t achieve what I had in school.

2016 I was approached again by someone from the Waterberg district to enter for the competition therefore I gave it a first try and became second position. That really pushed me to work harder in order to win on my second entrance and it turned out to be exactly like that. 


PICTURE: Dikubu Primary school present Principal Mdungaza Klaas Mahlahlani 

SCHOOL ACCOLADES

• 2017 nominated the best school in Limpopo for the usage of Sa-SAMS Dashboard honoured by National Department. 
• 2019 awarded position one at the District level in National School Nutrition Program or NSNP Competition and same year obtaining position 2 at Provincial level in the same competition. 
• 2019 one girl represented the school at National level in ladies football and 
• 2018 one boy represented the school at National level in athletics. Three years in a row we had one or two learners representing the school at Provincial level in reading and writing competitions

Former school teacher, Phenyo Koka won a car at National level in 2018 under the category of Excellence in Primary school teaching. Principal Mahlahlani won a car in 2017 under the category of Excellence in Primary school leadership.



HERE’S A LIST OF NAMES AND PERIOD SERVED BY FORMER PRINCIPALS:

Name of Principal	Period served
Mr Dan Jacobs	1910 – 1935
Mr Parks	1936 – 1944
Mr Kgomo	1944 – 1946
Mr Tlhako	1947 – 1948
Mr Kgafela Simon Lekalakala	1949 – 1959
Mr BB Matlaila	1960 – 1983
Mr Mokatse	1984 – 1987
Mr Leshika	1988 – 1990
Mr Phalafala	1991 – 1993
Mr MJ Matlala	1993 – 1999
Professor Johannes Seroto	1999 – 2008
Mr Mdungaza Klaas Mahlahlani	2008 – Present