Cape Town – A matric class from 1985 is making it their mission to have the matric ball they never had due to apartheid.
Former pupils from the then Fred Gaum Secondary School (now known as the Ceres Secondary School) in Ceres said their matric year was filled with painful memories and now yearn to celebrate their last high school year as it should have been celebrated – joyously.
Avaril Boer, 54, from Worcester is part of the planning committee that was started to celebrate this special occasion 36 years later.
“The idea mainly came from me last year and I started placing the idea on social media. I got a response from two people. We started a WhatsApp group and thus the planning started,” Boer told African News Agency (ANA).
He said the matric ball was a means of getting closure for all the atrocities that occurred that year.
“The year 1985 was the year of the boycotts, uprisings, curfews and was quite hectic. We had to write our Grade 12 examinations under police surveillance.
’’After our examination we could not even speak to anyone. We were heavily monitored.
“The class of ‘85 was deprived of those fond memories and having this ball will bring the class of ’85 from Fred Gaum back together,” Boer said.
During 1985, the then South African apartheid regime instituted a state of emergency following an upsurge of violent and non-violent resistance from black people (black African, coloured and Indian).
The uprising from the groups of colour became a focal moment in the struggle against apartheid. Thus the apartheid government instituted a curfew, curbing the movement of citizens and media coverage.
Its complete clamp down on the rights of citizens resulted in the house arrests of influential anti-apartheid leaders under the Internal Security Act in an attempt to end the uprising of citizens against the government.
According to Boer, he met up with former classmates last year and it was as if ’’nothing has changed’’.
“We met last year for the first time since our days at school. During the meeting it was a feeling like the last day we saw each other was the day before and not years ago. There was so much excitement and tears,” Boer told ANA.
He said while speaking, he and his former classmates all stated they never spoke about that year to their children. It was too painful for them.
“I mean, the police shot at us, we were running through the town, through houses. Things were tough and rough that year. It was quite hectic,” Boer explained.
The organising committee for the matric ball will be hosting the ceremony at the school hall, where their then classmate is now the principal. The event is expected to take place from September 24-26.
However, the planning committee is still in need of funds to assist in making the event a dream come true.
“We do still need assistance as a few of the guys are not in a position to finance themselves and we really do want everyone there. There are about 10 to 12 of our former classmates that have passed on, so on the Sunday we will be commemorating them with a service,” Boer said.
If you could assist the group, please feel free to contact Avaril Boer on 060 865 3012 or Fern Gabriels on 074 433 8108.
African News Agency (ANA)