PBHSOB ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER

Dear Old Boy

Old Boy Marcus Swanepoel (1998 – MAT), co-founder and CEO of BitX, matriculated in 1998 and has many fond memories of his schooling career at Pretoria Boys High School.

“There were so many but I’m not sure I can mention them all publicly! For the ones I can talk about, I’d say the first was our very first U14A rugby game – at the start of the season we were told we were ‘the dream team’, but then in the very first game of the season, the opposition kicked off and our lock completely misjudged it. Instead of catching the ball it bounced off his head! That brought a lot of laughter but also a lot of humility to the team. Fortunately we did end up having a great season after that.

The other was when the English department asked a famous South African poet to come to the school to talk to us about one of his poems we had been studying. I remember someone asking what a certain line meant because we all interpreted it as some specific imagery he was trying to portray. He simply said that it didn’t have any meaning; he just kind of wrote it without thinking about it. Once again, there was humour in it, but it also taught me a valuable lesson about how easily it is to misinterpret things or make assumptions about what other people feel or mean.
But it almost feels unfair to highlight just two memories because there were so many more.”

Marcus was definitely an “all-rounder” at school – he took part in house sports, inter-house plays, debating and continued to play rugby, cricket and tennis until Matric where he was also the Deputy Head of Matheson House and was awarded honours for academics.

The teachers who inspired Marcus at school were “Mr Junod, a phenomenal maths teacher and a very inspiring person. Honourable mention also goes out to Mr Schroder, who was never one of my teachers, but whom I dealt with on several occasions and I was extremely impressed by him.”

After school, Marcus completed his under-graduate studies at the University of Stellenbosch (B.Accounting); his post-graduate studies at the University of Cape Town (PGDA), qualified as a Chartered Accountant, and a CFA Charter holder and later also did an MBA at INSEAD in France and Singapore with an exchange to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Marcus believes there is not one specific aspect of his schooling at Pretoria Boys High School which influenced who he is today, but agrees that his years at Boys High “which ranks high up there with some of the best international high schools” has taught him a lot about life and has helped him in many aspects. His early passion for computers and programming was fuelled by his exposure to this topic at school and from learning from fellow school mates, has now finally been rekindled.

“I guess I won’t get into trouble for it now but I did write some software at school to obtain passwords from network administrators which was a lot of fun at the time.”

After qualifying as a CA in Johannesburg, Marcus moved to London where he worked in Morgan Stanley’s Consumer Banking Group. Thereafter, he moved to a global private equity firm called 3i, where he worked in fundraising, investor relations and later in growth capital investing. He then went to business school at INSEAD after which he joined Standard Chartered Leveraged Finance team in Singapore, working on PE, debt financing and M&A deals across South East Asia.

Marcus also spent some time in the Africa Leveraged Finance team before deciding to return to his long forgotten passion and started a technology company. It was only after Marcus spent some time in Palo Alto, Silicon Valley to “figure things out” that he ended up co-founding a Bitcoin company which represented a nice cross-over of his passion for technology and extensive experience in finance.

Marcus explains more about Bitcoin in a highly simplified approach for those of us who are not too technologically inclined:

“Bitcoin – and the ‘blockchain’ technology that sits behind it – is something that can take weeks or months to really understand in depth, but I’ll try and summarise: Until a few years ago, if I wanted to send any online asset (money, shares etc.) from one person to another, I could only do so via an intermediary such as a bank, an asset manager, VISA etc.

This is because the ‘asset’ is digital and there is a risk that I can send it to more than one person and none would be the wiser that I replicated it and effectively cheated. So we trust intermediaries to make sure these transactions are only transferred from one person to one other person and no ‘double spending’ takes place. For this service they charge a fee, and it often also takes a few days if not longer to process.

Computer scientists and mathematicians have been trying to solve this ‘double spend’ problem for many decades, and then a few years ago someone managed to bring all this research together to build a way to send things digitally, directly from one person to another, without needing an intermediary: the Bitcoin protocol, or ‘blockchain’. There are many potential very disruptive effects of this, but for one, it opens the way for truly global, instant and fee-free processing of not just currency, but also many other digital assets like shares and other forms of ownership.
Another way to think about it is when one considers the internet and how it connected everyone and disrupted the media and communications industries (and remember, in the early days almost no-one thought the internet had any future) – Bitcoin and the blockchain is potentially going to play a similarly disruptive role in the global financial industry. “

Marcus’ company, BitX, makes it easy to access the above-mentioned technology. “Similar to how browsers and other software applications made it easy to navigate the internet, which was a very complex and crude system with which most people did not know how to work”.

In short, BitX provides wallets, exchanges and merchant integration for Bitcoin, allowing people to safely store, spend and convert their Bitcoin and also link it to other currencies using the blockchain technology to make it more efficient. BitX is a Singapore company, but with a big team in South Africa and a presence across multiple markets in Africa and South East Asia.
Marcus says BitX is still small but growing fast and also expanding into other new markets. I believe one should definitely watch this space!

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READ MORE ABOUT MARCUS AND BitX

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CLASS OF 1975 – 40 YEAR ON REUNION

The Class of ’75 enjoyed their Forty Year on reunion at Pretoria Boys High School on 23 and 24 October this year.

It is not possible to fully capture the wide kaleidoscope of experiences, reactions and emotions of the 60 odd old-boys and their wives and partners emanating from the 2 days spent at the School in a paragraph or two. It can at best be paraphrased by the comments and observations made in speeches and expressed during conversations.

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AJ Jablonski captured the importance of the 40 years on celebration, in his words: “To me, the real school should not be limited to a bricks and mortar building, a dry institution located somewhere – it is a state of mind. This state of mind is inculcated and regenerated by a group of people who carry the body of reason itself through time, and to a lesser or larger degree – depending on the scholar – pass it on to the next generation.”

The School is as impressive as ever. The grounds and buildings are in great condition. The renovated and expanded school hall is spectacular. The academic, cultural and sporting opportunities presented by the staff for the boys at the School are more varied and extensive than we had in ’75, and the achievements of the boys are still exceptional across all fields of endeavour.

To the question – who are the beneficiaries of the 40 years on reunion activities?

First and most obvious are the Old Boys that savour the memories of friendship, achievement, hardship and fun.

Second are the teachers of yesterday that could join the reunion activities and that are rewarded by the acknowledgement that their efforts and dedication forty years ago are truly appreciated and that they contributed significantly to the lives and successes of each Old Boy.

Third are the teachers of today that, by proxy, receive the thanks and gratitude. We the class of ’75 did in most cases not adequately thank our teachers, in part due to the rush of getting out of school, in part due to the lack of understanding at the time what the 5 years at the School really meant to us. So the teachers of today receive the thanks of the boys of today extrapolated through and by proxy from the class of ’75.

And finally, the boys of today get a glimpse of the significance and timelessness of tradition as well as friendships formed at school.

– Walter Ringlemann – Deputy Head Boy of 1975

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REGALIA

Pretoria Boys High School Old Boys Association Life Members will be pleased to hear that we now have the ever popular Old Boys Bowtie in stock. They are R175.00 each (excl postage & packaging) and are only available to Life Members of the PBHSOB Association. Click here to purchase one from our Online Regalia Shop!

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PRETORIA BOYS HIGH SCHOOL NEWS

SCHOOL BUILDING UPDATE

Building Update; Week ending 23 October 2015

Phase II of the building project is now 20 percent complete and is on schedule.
The pillars on the upper storey have been completed.
Shuttering is being installed in preparation for the casting of the first half of the roof slab – which is scheduled for casting next week.
The retaining wall on the eastern side of the library block is now under construction and the excavation of the storm water drain still underway.
Revised conduiting layout for the computer classroom (adjacent to the library) has been submitted to the electrical contractor.

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OLD BOYS IN THE NEWS

They beat India in the semi-finals by making 202/6 and beat India by 39 runs and then beat England in the finals by 8 wickets. Murray Coetzee was named man of the series for his 289 runs in 5 innings at an average of 144.5.

Murray and Aiden opened the batting for Assupol TUKS and opened the batting at PBHS in 2010 and 2011 and both were the First team cricket captains.

PBHSOB ON LINKEDIN

The official PBHSOB Association LinkedIn group is now open to Life Members of the PBHSOB Association. Join today and connect with other Old Boys!

The aim of the Pretoria Boys High School Old Boys’ Association Group is to provide a platform where Life Members of the Pretoria Boys’ High School Old Boys’ Association can connect with other Life Members in a formal business environment.

Click here to join the group >>

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FINAL ASSEMBLY 2015

Good morning staff, boys and a special greeting to this year’s leaving group.

How does one some up five years of memories, five years of successes, five years of failures and five years of lessons learnt. It’s a task but one that I am up for this morning.

I won’t forget the first day of school. When my dad drove me in and parked in the main parking. And there I sat in my khaki’s but oddly enough with my formal blazer on. I didn’t know if we wore them or not. So I sat there looking through the window trying to see what the tread was and I figured that since so one was wearing theirs I wasn’t going to wear mine and there I went, onward to my first day of school!

And the journey up main drive began. And funny enough it was there where I made my first friend, a friend I would sing choir with and a friend I would keep.

I often asked myself what makes us as a school different, so unique? And this is what I have found to be true. When I look at our school I am taken aback by its beauty. Its grounds, its buildings, its facilities- its beauty. It’s often said take your opportunities and utilize these great grounds, buildings and facilities and truthfully these words have become cliché to some but I dare you to see past this today and see the truth that we are blessed, take your opportunities don’t be blinded privilege so… take your opportunities. What makes us different is that Boys High magic that ‘gees’. The drive to be gentlemen who are well mannered, that never back down attitude, – this is Boys High bru- that attitude.

I speak of boys in the hostel that challenged the dinner hall chefs to a soccer game after school and and many were shocked when they were beaten horribly by the chefs. Thank goodness they allowed for rematch – this is the magic I speak o,f the Boys High magic.

I speak of a house dinner, a boarding house dinner where all members of staff are invited and not even the cleaners and gardeners are left out and on the night are found to be seen. We are unique because of our traditions, the stillness and silence of last post, the flag in winter season, the Boys High jargon: bru, oaks, bat and the ieueg ; the focus on holistic education and the singing of 500 Faces . Oh we are different and proudly so.

A school is not just its students but also its staff and what amazing teachers we have. They are firstly passionate about their work, they go beyond the call of duty to help, the extra sciences classes on Sunday nights and even when the government cancels on assessment we set our own, we never take a holiday, Mrs Holliday.

But this speaks of the passion and dedication of this staff.

How can one forget the 2 hour detentions from Mr van Reenen that started from 2-5, but Sir that’s 3 hours, well I’ll see you there my boy. Sir I enjoyed Afrikaans because of you.

How can one forget teachers like Mr Fielding or Mrs Reyburn whose love for what they do filters into their students or Legends like Mr Harvey the recruiter, José himself. A man whom I spent more time with than my own family because of the nature of boarding. A true example of manhood, passion and loyalty. A man who taught me more than the subject matter but on issues what matters in life: me becoming a man, my faith and the service to others. Never again will you be surrounded by so many people that care about your growth and success. So let them teach you but more so choose to learn.

I have never believed and never want to believe that I am a self-made man but rather I know I am a God made man and all glory be to God! I never believed that it was by abilities, talents or even good looks that got me here but rather it was the faith and potential you saw in me as a school and I have worked to show you my potential and live out what you saw in me and I hope I made you proud.

Mom and dad I hope I have made you proud. Thank you for all the work that you put in , in the ups and the downs you were always my anchor. To Mr and Mrs Gous, I thank you for all your work, support and help you were truly amazing. To my best friend, sis I love you. You always kept me grounded and you were always the voice of reason when doubt crept in and for that I thank you. Michael you have been my help, my guide and my friend – thank you .

To Mr Reeler Sir I have learnt a lot. I have learnt to think before I do. And I learnt to question, I have learnt leadership but more so I have learnt more about myself because of you. I have found you to be a great man Sir and I sincerely believe that our school is in the right hands and we are heading to the right place.

This school is great and may this greatness live on.
I will miss singing Fourty Years On
I will miss the sound of the bagpipes
I will miss coming back from debating with my team and Café Concerts
I will missing running under the flag at home games
I will miss my brothers
I will miss the red, white and green

Good things have to come to an end so that great things can start

‘yet the time may come though you scares know why.
When your eyes will fill
At the thought of the hill
And the wild regret of the last goodbye
And the wild regret of the last goodbye
‘Tis here we have learnt to live – BOYS HIGH

– Mashao Mukhari, 2015 Head Prefect

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DINGE WAT EK SAL MIS NADAT EK SKOOL VERLAAT HET

Daar is so baie dinge in hierdie wonderlike skool wat ek hoog op prys stel, dinge wat ek sekerlik sal mis wanneer ek weggaan.

Die skoolbyeenkomste in die saal het altyd ‘n groot indruk op my gemaak, veral die geel liggies wat aan en af flikker, en dan die onmiddellike stilte wanneer die hoof instap. Die dissipline wat onveranderd bly, selfs na ‘n byeenkoms wat soms langer as ‘n uur aanhou en die trots waarmee die seuns die gesange of die skoollied sing, dra by om hierdie geleenthede altyd baie spesiaal te maak.

Al die sport veroorsaak dat daar ‘n besondere broederskap tussen die seuns is. Ons oefen saam, ons sweet saam, ons lag saam, ons huil saam, ja, ons bloei soms saam, wen saam en verloor saam. Alles op die sportveld word saam gedoen. Hierdie broederskap is moeilik om te verduidelik en onmoontlik om te vervang! Ek sal altyd terugdink aan die pret op die treinritte Grey, Kearsney en Pietermaritzburg toe.

Ek sal die vriendelike mededinging tussen al die kultuurgroepe op die skoolterrein mis: die Boereboom, die Taj Mahal, die Griekse Tafel die Swart Muur. Ook die verskillende interhuis sportkompetisies en natuurlik die jaarlikse hoogtepunt wanneer ons teen Affies speel, sal altyd by my bly.

Ek sal terugdink aan die stilte en respek wanneer die ‘Last Post’ elke dag om 5.30 gespeel word, sowel as die herdenkingsdiens wat elke jaar op 11 November om 11.00 plaasvind. Meneer Anthony se lied, ‘Fields of Boys High’, wat hy elke jaar by die nale saalbyeenkoms speel, sal my altyd hoendervleis gee as ek daaraan dink. Die re-unies wat dwarsdeur die jaar plaasvind, herinner ons daaraan dat hierdie spesiale Boys High Gees soveel beteken vir die oudstudente van die skool dwarsdeur die wêreld.

Die Dixie-Band, die Jazz Band, die Strykkwartet en die Doedelsakorkes sal my altyd laat terugverlang na die gewilde Café Konserte. Dit was altyd verbasend hoe vinnig die kaartjies vir hierdie konserte uitverkoop het.

Ek sal die skaak op Donderdagaande mis, die basketbalwedstryde in die warm son. Dit gaan eienaardig wees om nie meer op koue wintersdae vol modder gesmeer te word op die rugbyvelde nie Maar bo alles gaan ek die mense mis: die wyse Mnr Schroder, wat altyd regstaan om raad te gee; Mnr Shalang wat al amper vyftig jaar van sy lewe gegee het en die trots waarmee hy ons sportvelde versorg het; Mnr Sommerville, ‘n lewende legende … en dan natuurlik Mnr McBride vir wie selfs die eerste span reuse
bang is wanneer hulle deur Pollock stap.

Dan gaan ek my vriende mis. By hierdie skool het ons lewenslange vriendskappe gesluit, op die sportvelde, in die klaskamers en in ons sosiale lewens. Ons gaan elkeen sy eie paadjie volg, maar een ding is seker: ons sal altyd in kontak bly.

As ek so terugdink aan al hierdie wonderlike tye op Boys High, is ek amper lus om nog ‘n jaar aan te bly. My lewe hier was so besonders, en ek sal dikwels met groot verlange aan hierdie baie spesiale plek terugdink.

– Jason Webber (Form V) – Taken from the Pretorian 2008

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IN MEMORIAM

EDMOND JOHN AINGE (1951)

It is with sadness that we record the sudden and unexpected passing of Ed Ainge – Class of 1951.

Ed made the long trip to Australia in May to spend some time with his daughters, grand children and great-grandchildren in Australia and New Zealand. His daughter, Leigh Bredenkamp wrote to Derek Brown to say that Ed had a wonderful time with his family in both countries and returned to Brisbane, contracted pneumonia and passed away a week later surrounded by his Australian family.

Leigh said that he often spoke with great fondness of his time at Boys High and how much he enjoyed his monthly lunches with the Old Boys at the Thundergun. In fact Derek Brown has mentioned that Ed missed only 3 of the last 54 Thundergun lunches – quite an achievement! Ed was a boarder in Rissik House and a keen and committed rugby player.

Ed will be sorely missed at the Thundergun and our sincere sympathy is extended to his daughters and their families.

– Bill Schroder

BERND-DIETER HAUTER (1998)

It is with great sadness and untold regret that I write to the PBHS Old Boys Association to inform you of the passing of Bernd-Dieter Hauter, a former Town House boy who matriculated in 1998.

Bernd was an exceptional all-rounder at school, who represented various sporting codes including high level cricket and rugby teams. He was also an excellent academic student as well as a regular contributor to various activities within the Boys High environment.

He came to PBHS from Paarl in Form II and quickly established himself as a real Boys High boy.

Bernd’s love for the school was best illustrated on the night of the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final, holding aloft his print of the main school building as John Smit lifted the trophy.

Bernd epitomized the modern day gentleman. He would be considered the one example in today’s world that best demonstrates a young man who pursued and excelled in all aspects of life. He could speak four languages, qualified as a Chartered Accountant and rose to senior positions in the mining sector.

Bernd had a love and passion for a many number of things in the world not least of which was his wife, Kathleen. He also loved playing golf, cycling, travelling and Western Province rugby. In 2013 he successfully completed a half Iron Man competition in Port Elizabeth. I, however, will best remember him for driving the green on the 17th hole at Jackal Creek golf course landing the ball a couple of yards from the pin after having drove it well past 320 meters.

To say that Bernd was a selfless gentleman is an understatement. He certainly was a very colourful fellow, well remembered for his very dry, understated sense of humour and crisp words of advice.

Bernd passed away from cancer after an extended battle.

He is survived by his beautiful wife, Kathleen, loving parents Rolf and Helga and his sister Claudia.

Graeme Robert Hedding
Rissik House 1998

DAVID EWALD STARKER (1954)

David Ewald Starker, born 9 April 1936, was killed during a failed robbery at his home in Johannesburg on 1 March 2015.

He was the eldest of Joe Starker’s four children. Joe Starker taught science for many years at PBHS and was well known for his “It’ll burn baby burn”.

David loved adventure. After matriculating in 1954 he travelled to London and then onto Malaya to work for Dunlop on their rubber plantations. He lived in Malaya for four years taking many excursions into the Malayan jungle. On returning to the UK he met his wife Sylvia and they started their family. In 1968 David and his family returned to South Africa where he had a successful career in telecommunications; working as a director at TMSA for 10 years and then as a director of the Altech Group for 16 year until his retirement. He enjoyed many hobbies which he avidly pursued after retirement. His workshop was always a hive of activity, where he with his four children and nine grandchildren worked on varied projects bringing their dreams to life. He was passionate about horology and made four clocks. He restored numerous vintage cars to concourse condition with his son and grandsons.

He is sorely missed by his wife, loving family and his many dear friends. We are blessed to have had so many wonderful years with him and to have such special memories of him, his humour and great laughter. His wisdom, love of life and great kindness to others, lives on in all of us.

Helen Stewart. (Daughter)

HILTON SAMUEL MARKS FALCKE (1942)

NICHOLAS CLOETE ROWAN (ROWAN) HAARHOFF (1960)

GEOFFREY FRANCIS LANE (1951)

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UPCOMING OLD BOY EVENTS

• 7 November 2015
  CLASS OF 1995 – 20 YEAR ON REUNION
• 21 November 2015
  CLASS OF 2005 – 10 YEAR ON REUNION
• 16 January 2016
  SUMMER SPORTS DAY

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If you have any interesting news items and photos or just want to let your fellow Old Boys know what you have been up to after school, please send all information to info@pbhsob.com