At this time of national mourning when, quite literally, the whole world has stopped to focus and reflect on the life of Nelson Mandela, it seems appropriate to remember the two occasions on which he visited Hilton College.
The first was on 17 July, 1996. Madiba had announced to his team that he wished to mark his 78th birthday by holding a party to be attended by disadvantaged and disabled children from around the country. Hilton College was approached to provide the venue for an event which was outrageous in its scale. With the backing of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, several thousand disabled children, living in disadvantaged circumstances throughout South Africa, were to be identified, and bussed to Hilton for a couple of days. The serious side of the event was that the children would receive some medical examination prior to the party.
Here at Hilton we hosted hundreds of physically disabled children who lived in the Houses for a few nights, together with their carers, who slept on mattresses on the floor beside them. In advance of the 17th, these children were examined and treated by a team of orthopaedic specialists and physiotherapists. Many of them were given life-changing wheelchairs. Guests with different disabilities were housed at other schools in the area.
And then came the day. The children were entertained playing games, enjoying party fare, and attending a circus performance in a big top which had miraculously appeared on Weightman-Smith field overnight. The magic, of course, came with the arrival of Mandela. The excitement felt by all who were on the campus that day was extraordinary: grown men and women were running to find vantage points, as I drove him and his young grandson around the circular drive in the golf cart, before being led by the cast of uMabatha, the Zulu Macbeth, to meet his guests. So evident was his irrepressible determination to engage the children, and everyone else, despite the protestations of his security staff. Madiba had a very happy day, as did his special guests, and typically, he insisted on shaking hands and thanking all who had helped to deliver the event before boarding the helicopter to return to matters of state.
The next time Hilton College was honoured by Madiba's presence was in 2001, following his acceptance of an invitation to be the Guest of Honour at the College Speech Day. In anticipation of the possibility of a last minute and unavoidable cancellation, Clem Sunter had agreed to be the back up.
Speech Day day dawned, a miserable, wet, Hilton November day. As the guests started assembling, we received word that Madiba's plane had taken off in Johannesburg, for Oribi Airport in Pietermaritzburg, where a cavalcade was waiting to bring him to Hilton. Clem Sunter started to relax. The relief was short lived, however, as we learnt a little later that the conditions in Maritzburg hadn't allowed landing, and they had overflown to Durban. This caused a major delay since the cavalcade had to race to Durban airport to fetch Madiba.
The ceremony proceeded, and when the Headmaster, Mike Nicholson's speech was over, Clem Sunter took the stage. We then enjoyed a happy intermission while the band played and the audience circulated. And then Madiba arrived for an event which must rank amongst the most memorable in Hilton's history. We have had visits by special dignitaries before, but none who could possibly approach the charisma of Nelson Mandela. People in elegant heels were on their chairs as he strolled down the aisle and the applause was deafening. And the Hilton community, augmented by those who had managed to sneak an invitation, spent an enchanting ninety minutes with this iconic personality. He started his talk with some amusing anecdotes, aimed at countering the praise he had received in his welcome by the Dux, Danny Scher, and then focused on the boys, exhorting them to prepare to serve by acquiring an excellent education, and always to maintain humility. Much more lasting than memories of the content of Madiba's talk, however, are those of the extraordinary warmth of his personality. He lingered in conversation with each prize winner, stopped to engage members of the audience as he left, and all who had been there knew that they had experienced something momentous.
At this time, as we focus on Mandela's death, and reflect on all he stood for, his relentless pursuit of truth and justice, and his example to the world, it is poignantly apposite to note the conclusion to his talk at that Hilton Speech Day. Challenging the audience to "defend truth at all times, even if it is going to cost you your life", he quoted, from memory, from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar:
Cowards die many times before their deaths:
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,
It seems to me most strange that men should fear,
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will come.
It has come for Nelson Mandela, and we at Hilton rejoice with the world in celebrating all that he stood for universally, acknowledging the example he set for South Africans in particular, and grateful that he allowed us the opportunity to welcome him to our school.
Author: Iain McMillan