Durban Alumni Association Chairman’s Report Back
The year kicked off with the Annual General Meeting held on Monday 05th February 2024. The business of the meeting was soon disposed of. Inherent in this was the election of office bearers for the year and the same office bearers were elected unopposed. They are namely myself, Ms Carolyn Higgs, Mr Denis O’Leary and our indispensable Alumni Relations manager, Mr Finn Christensen. I have been chairman of the Association for something like 10 years now and I did mention to the meeting that my two predecessors died in office and I felt that I was destined to follow the same route. Despite these exhortations, it all fell on deaf ears and the same committee was re-elected. However, coming on for 2025 there will have to be a new replacement for Denis O’Leary who is standing down as our treasurer after many years of service.
The guest speaker was a graduate of our University, Ms Heather Shawe Partner. She graduated with a legal BCom from the Pietermaritzburg campus and then embarked on a highly successful business career operating at the highest level in a number of household companies. As she put it, at the age of 58 she got tired of making other people rich, so she retired to ride her horses, landscape, read and go to India annually. However, that did not last because with the advent of COVID, the local Hospice closed and she threw herself full-time into charity by forming an NGO Make a Difference (MAD). The focus of MAD was upliftment through education and self help. Floods, riots, rabies and poverty have all been dealt with along side building and supporting creches, running choirs, ordering a million sanitary pads and building vegetable tunnels at schools. This is a truly amazing mix of activities and we were very much inspired by this outstanding address.
On 06th April 2024, we embarked on a tour of the old St Thomas’ which is right at the top of the Ridge. The modern-day St Thomas’ i.e. between Musgrave and Essenwood Roads was arranged by the then local Anglican community purchasing ground from Harvey Greenacre. This is because the ladies of the day objected to walking in their crinoline skirts through the red dust up to old St Thomas’. We were taken on a tour by Colonel Pat Acutt. The Acutt family has been involved with St Thomas’ from the 1840’s and is under Colonel Pat Acutt’s tutelage. After a tour of the magnificent old church, we were then taken on a tour of the graveyards and this was in fact a very interesting exercise because one became aware of the resting place for the founding fathers of Durban. George Cato, our first mayor is buried there. Other old names like George Russell, Greenacre and Wiley are all buried there. After this very interesting tour we were entertained by the ladies of the Parish to a wonderful tea at the main Parish Hall down in the “new” St Thomas’. That church incidentally has just celebrated it’s 160th year! Our thanks go to Colonel Pat Acutt for his most interesting address as well as the ladies for the tea.
On 12th May we had a highly interesting and somewhat sobering talk by one of our most distinguished graduates, Dr Debra Roberts. She holds a PHD from the University but she also in addition to that has three honorary doctorates. She is held in such high esteem from the scientific community on a worldwide basis. In fact, it was difficult to pin her down for a date to come and talk to us. Finn Christensen relates that he kept on trying to phone her and she was in Japan for some conference, then going to Helsinki for another and so it went on. This was a wake-up call for all of us regarding the dangers that we as a civilisation faces because of climate change. On a more personal level we also have to thank Dr Roberts very sincerely for having created DMOSS. Some of its now sadly under threat of invasion but the concept was a wonderful idea because it will keep our city with lungs for the enjoyment of all its citizens. Our thanks go out to our distinguished graduate.
On 22nd June we had a most interesting visit to the 1860 Heritage Centre. We were taken around by the curator and fellow alumnus, Mr Selvan Naidoo. This was highly interesting because it showed how tenacious the indentured labourers were. They arrived on our shores to work in the sugar fields with nothing and through tenacity and sheer grit and strength of character they have enriched South Africa in every sphere of life. No one ever gave them any favours and they have achieved monumental success all on their own and must be highly honoured because of that. The only slight fly in the ointment was once again this problem about people saying they are going to come and they don’t. I have with respect mentioned this before and must repeat it. If you are going to come, please do and if you can’t, please cancel. Please don’t leave us hanging on a string.
On 08th July we had another talk and this time it was by another very distinguished graduate, Dr Ian MacDonald. He has a PHD from the University and he is an international environmental consultant. His talk was centred around how to get the most out of your next game reserve tour. What was highlighted in this is that we are so fortunate having so much game within a few hours outside of Durban and as was pointed out in his address we have wonderful opportunities to visit all the gems in our Province. This is not only limited to the game reserves like Hluhluwe/Umfolozi but also the Drakensberg. Again, interesting to note that Dr Ian MacDonald is a graduate of the University from a Pietermaritzburg campus and he traded fond memories of one of our former Vice-Principals, Professor Booysen.
We now proceed to 09th September and here we had Mr Brian Downie talking about Artificial Intelligence. This was an outstanding address and it struck a chord with every single one of us because this is here to stay and it is something that we all are going to have to live with. As I stated in my letter of appreciation to him, we are all going to have to live in a new world and as the expression has it forewarned is forearmed. There was a large turn out and this talk was also very well received and our thanks go to Mr Brian Downie.
Our next outing was a visit to the Botanic Gardens on Saturday 05th October. We are lucky to have such a magnificent amenity right in our city and we have to thank the foresight of those who made it all possible for later generations to enjoy. This was arranged through the auspices of Christine Sole who has been associated with the Botanic Gardens for many years. There were approximately 45 people and we had to divide obviously into two groups. One group was led by Christine Sole and the other by one of her colleagues who was much younger and obviously lacked a lot of her experience. There were some complaints that the young guide was not as proficient in some of the technical questions that were asked but this was soon brushed over by those who said that she did handle it all very well. Perhaps a thought for the future if we do something like this, we should swop guides halfway through the tour so nobody can feel disaffected. Again, it was a wonderful outing and much enjoyed by those who participated. Fortunately, the weather played ball.
The last outing was on 22nd November when we all met at the Anew Hotel at Hluhluwe. A very entertaining programme was laid on. At 06h00 on Saturday 23rd we set off for a game drive which lasted about 3 hours and then followed by a sumptuous breakfast in the reserve. In the afternoon we all repaired down to Lake St Lucia and had a most interesting tour viewing the hippo who were in abundance. Sadly, the crocodiles were very reluctant that day for whatever reason and we only saw one very briefly!
In concluding this report, I must thank several people. Firstly, the two secretaries, Silindile Mchunu and then after her Nkosazana Manzi for their efficiency and hard work. Rosemarie von der Meden has been a stalwart and has been always happy to assist and bring on the food for cocktail parties that follow our talks. Then there is of course the ubiquitous Finn Christensen. Finn has the most amazing contacts throughout Durban and indeed KwaZulu-Natal and he is always an inspiration and highly efficient. Without him I think that the whole Association would flounder. Finally, I must pay tribute to Denis O’Leary. He has been a tower of strength for us in excess of 25 years. He is now stepping down from his role and all I want to say is that he has been meticulous in the maintaining of the books and he is due a huge debt of gratitude. We just hope that going forward he will still come to our outings.
All in all, I think it has been a successful 2024 and look forward to 2025 with renewed enthusiasm.
ROBIN RALFE
CHAIRMAN
Read more about the Durban Alumni Association here.