Temba Black History Month Series –
The building of the Temba Junior Primary School and the Kudube Senior Primary School in 1947 marked the genesis of the development of Temba as a reputable college town where education was valued as a human capital investment that, over the years, contributed to the growth of the middle class from the 1950`s to the 1990`s.
In the early 1950`s Ratshepo High School was built at the present-day Hans Kekana High School in Majaneng but had to be relocated to Temba after the school was renamed “Hans Kekana” after the death of the local chief. Before its current location (next to Kgetsiyatsie Middle School), Ratshepo was once located at Mosaledi Primary School and moved to the Kudube Primary School in 1976.
The emergence of Temba as college town started with the founding of colleges that provided specialized training in business, theology, nursing and security studies. The establishment of these professional institutes contributed immensely to the growth of the middle class in the community. By definition, a college town is a community with a neighborhood that is dominated by its college population. College towns in all cases are so dubbed because the presence of the educational institution(s) pervades economic and social life. Many residents may be employed by the college — which may be the largest employer in the community – many businesses cater primarily to the college.
At the prime of its status as a college town, Temba was a study destination host of the following colleges:
- Hammanskraal Theology College (1952-1994)
- St Peter`s Theology College (1962 – 1976)
- St Paul`s Catholic School (1962 – 1976)
- St Dominic School for the Deaf (1962 – 2019)
- Itereleng School for the Blind (1950-1970)
- Jubilee Hospital Nursing College (1962 – 2019)
- Phaphama Commercial College
- BIC Business Training College (1971 – 1980)
- SAPS Training College (1971-1994)
The closure of St Paul`s Catholic School and the St Peter`s Theology College due to socio-political reasons was one of the greatest loss to the Temba community since both institutions offered a high-quality faith-based education which produced students and professionals who were taught outside the Bantu Education curriculum of the time. The NG Kerk owned Hammanskraal Theology College (which was located at the current SASSA Offices next to Jubilee Mall) was also closed and moved to Pretoria after 42 years of existence (1952 – 1994), stripping Temba of its last Theology institution.
Only St Dominican School for the Deaf remained to service the community through its special education intervention. But the early residents of Temba would recall that this exodus of reputable institutions was not the first. Temba used to be the host to the Itireleng School of the Blind which was located at the old “Spookhuis” opposite the present Makgetsi High School. Unfortunately this special education school was moved to its current location in Ga-Rankuwa (next to Tshwane University and the local Hotel School).
From the 1970`s to 1994, Temba also hosted the SAPS Training College which was the main training center for black policemen in South Africa and some of the black homelands. The presence of this prestigious police training college (next to Jubilee Mall) contributed immensely to the socio-economic development of the local community since – together with the other colleges that were closed and moved – the institutions provided employment and spending power for the Temba Community.
The Bantu Investment Corporation (BIC) owned Business School (which was located at the current Tshwane North College Temba College opposite the Temba Police Station) provided training for emerging entrepreneurs from 1971 until its closure in the 1980`s. Together with the BIC Business School, Phaphama Commercial College which was owned by the Mathebe family was a reputable college that provided courses in accounting and bookkeeping, dress-making and fashion design, administration and secretarial studies as well as other vocational studies for the local community. Sadly Phaphama Commercial College (that white hall building diagonally opposite to the Refitlhile Primary School) was closed in the 1980`s during the Bophuthatswana regime.
Regrettably, Temba has lost its prestigious status as one of the preferred study destinations through the loss of several of its colleges as a result of a mixture of socio-political circumstances and developments. This has unfortunately led to the “intellectual decline” within the local community due to the exodus of these institutions.
This exodus also contributed to the lost of jobs for the local community who used to provide services to these colleges. Coupled with the post 1994 “brain-drain” of middle-class families and young professional who migrated from Temba to the cities, this exacerbated the socio-economic decline of the area to its current wasteland.
