Desmond Thompson
The unveiling of a permanent installation honouring the late science teacher Walter Parry at the Old Lückhoff School in Stellenbosch on Thursday 22 May marked a milestone in Stellenbosch University’s (SU) ongoing journey of restitution and transformative social impact.
It took place in a building steeped in history. Once the heart of Die Vlakte – a vibrant, predominantly coloured neighbourhood in central Stellenbosch – the school building was given to SU a few years after the close-knit community was uprooted by apartheid’s Group Areas Act and relocated to areas such as Cloetesville and Ida’s Valley.
In 2007 the building was symbolically rededicated to its original community under rector and vice-chancellor, the late Prof Russel Botman and, in 2019, it became the site of a ceremonial return of school benches under his successor, Prof Wim de Villiers. This launched the Lückhoff Living Museum, which is becoming a space for memory, healing and dialogue, an initiative that continues under SU’s current rector, Prof Deresh Ramjugernath.
The unveiling brought members of the Parry family, school alumni, community members and SU representatives together to reflect on the life and legacy of a remarkable educator.
The installation is the latest in a series of steps by SU to honour Parry. Last year the inaugural annual Walter Parry Memorial Lecture was held – also on his birthday – and in January this year SU named a new student residence Walter Parry House.
Layered tribute
The concept of creating a space of memory at the old school was proposed by the late Otto van Noie, a former Lückhoff learner, teacher and community activist. Renée Hector-Kannemeyer, deputy director of SU’s Centre for the Advancement of Social Impact and Transformation, helped develop this into a proposal approved by SU’s Social Impact Funding Committee.
“We wanted to honour Parry not just as a scientist, but also as a man, father and teacher, someone who lived with integrity and served his community in a time of deep hostility and injustice,” Hector-Kannemeyer said.
The three-panel installation consists of a biographical overview of Parry, an artist’s illustration of him and scenes from the inaugural lecture. It was designed by Monique Biscombe, a PhD candidate in Visual Arts at SU and daughter of the late Stellenbosch author and activist Hilton Biscombe, with input from the Lückhoff Alumni Association and the Parry family.
Who was Walter Parry?
Born in District Six in 1913, Walter Hazell Parry was a gifted scholar who completed his MSc in Physics cum laude at the University of Cape Town in 1934.
Despite his academic brilliance discriminatory policies denied him the chance to pursue a doctorate or a formal academic career. He became a maths teacher and taught at Lückhoff High until his death in 1966.
“Teachers at the school taught by him when they were learners remember him for always being well-prepared for lessons,” Chris Jooste, current principal of Lückhoff, said. The school still exists in Ida’s Valley.
Parry’s passion for science reached beyond the classroom. He quietly assisted SU staff and students, often tutoring behind closed doors and collaborating with physicists, including then-head of department Prof Piet Zeeman, on early experimental projects linked to the Southern Universities Nuclear Institute (now iThemba LABS). The injustices he was subjected to left their mark. “Apartheid hurt Walter and all of us,” Wilfred Daniels, deputy chairperson of Lückhoff Alumni, said. “He was sometimes frustrated and unhappy, but remained committed to teaching.”
Family, community reflections
Parry’s daughter, Elizabeth Vergotine (82), remembered the warmth of their home, a house full of books. He and his wife, Winifred, had eight children, five of whom became teachers. “As long as there are children to teach, there must be teachers,” she recalled her father saying.
She was moved to see the university not only honouring her father but transforming itself. “At the first lecture I was pleasantly surprised; there were so many academics and students who would not have been there in the past. It made me so happy. SU is making a real effort so children from Stellenbosch do not have to go elsewhere.”
Her son Benito, a presenter on Smile FM, expressed similar appreciation: “This wonderful tribute and honour bestowed on my grandfather means a great deal to our family.”
Calvyn Gilfellan, CEO of the Castle Control Board in Cape Town and a member of the strategic body of Lückhoff Visual Redress as Restitution, said: “I wish the spirit you have here can be transplanted in all our communities.”
Restitution in practice
The installation is a tangible expression of SU’s restitution statement, adopted in 2018 when the SU marked its centenary. In the words of Prof Nico Koopman, deputy vice-chancellor of Social Impact, Transformation and Personnel: “Restitution includes contrition, confession and conversion. But it must also lead to reparation, reconciliation and rejoicing. It must be joyful, hopeful work.”
The old school building hosts a range of community-based organisations and educational activities, and plans are underway to hand the building over to a community trust.
“This is not just about the building, but bringing back what was lost – holistic education, spiritual restoration and a space for healing the body, mind and soul,” Hector-Kannemeyer explained.
The future of mathematics
The ceremony did not just look back – it also looked forward. Fittingly, mathematics and science education featured prominently in the programme, linking Parry’s passion to the current state of learning.
Prof Benita Nel, a Lückhoff alumna and director of the Science Learning Centre for Africa at UWC, spoke about Parry’s impact and the need to reinvest in mathematics in South African schools.
“There are learners with the brilliance of a Walter Parry who today cannot take maths because their schools no longer offer it,” she warned. “That has serious implications for the future.”
The ceremony concluded with the lighting of a candle by Parry’s granddaughter, Portia Brown. “Parry ignited that light in us, and now we must keep it burning,” Daniels noted.
• The second annual Walter Parry Memorial Lecture was held at SU’s Faculty of Theology later that day, Thursday 22 May.
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