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Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College
The Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College (SOMAFCO) was founded in 1978, in Mazimbu, Tanzania, by the African National Congress (ANC). Following political unrest in South Africa, particularly post 1976, the college aimed

to provide primary and secondary education to children of exiles, in resistance to the imposed bantu system. debates about the nature of the education given there reflected questions of educational purpose at the time. the college was surrounded by facilities such as a farm and a hospital which aimed to provide a holistic way of living. it was officially opened in 1985 by Oliver Tambo, and closed after the release of Nelson Mandela from jail in 1992.

Contents:

 * 1) History, School Structure
 * 2) Funding
 * 3) School Purpose
 * 4) Governance
 * 5) Staffing
 * 6) Debates over curriculum and development
 * 7) Other Challenges
 * 8) Notable former pupils and teachers
 * 9) Closure and legacy
 * 10) References
 * 11) External Links

History, School Structure.
The Bantu Education Act of 1953, named by the African National Congress (ANC) and formed by the Nationalist Party (an ethnic Afrikaner political party), was an explicitly racist and comprehensive plan for education in South Africa. Set out to serve white interests at the expense of the black population, it ensured that black children would receive a worse quality of education than white children. The apartheid government strived to forcefully remove the use of English from Black curriculums, meaning that Black students would face greater challenges if they intended to pursue any political or social involvement at a global level. The introduction of this plan was met with protests and outrage across the country, the most intense manifestation being the Soweto uprising of 1976 – a turning point of great significance for both South Africa’s education systems, and democratic state as a country. The uprising sent a lot of South African children into exile, and SOMAFCO was a response to the rising numbers of young people in exile.

In 1977, the ANC went on to establish its educational centre in Morogoro, Tanzania. The land was donated to them by the Tanzanian government, which Anna Abdallah enabled. The school was named after a member of the ANC’s military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) and exile of the Soweto uprising – Solomon Mahlangu. The land granted to the college included farm buildings, of 600 acres. The ANC oversaw the building of the complex, which began in July 1977, and was directed by Oswald Dennis, an ANC civil engineer who was trained in East Germany. The workforce was primarily Tanzanian laborers. The design was set out to be a boarding school, with facilities to support around 144 pupils were built, including dormitories and catering units. By 1980, the demand to build more had been envisioned.

The planning and formation of the additional pre-primary school, the Charlotte Maxeke Children’s Centre, had happened by 1984. It started in the late 70’s, initially as a crèche, then as a nursery school in 1981. This was funded by the Swedish Teacher’s union. In 1985 it was formally established and moved to a renovated house at SOMAFCO. The farms’ land nearby supplied the schools with maize, pork, beef, eggs and milk. The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency provided an agricultural consultant to shed expertise on farming for the school; Hans Jurgen. He proceeded to construct a farming plan to make the facility self-sufficient for 2500 people by 1984. To aid this, both students and teachers spent time farming each week. The ANC also built a hospital on the 1st of May 1984. Named the ‘ANC-Holland solidarity hospital’, it was established with the aim of producing more sophisticated medical treatments to exiles and residents, with the help of funding from a solidarity group in the Netherlands, directed by Henk Odenk. The staff mainly consisted of trained ANC doctors,

The population at the complex grew to around 5000, using the school and social infrastructures. It also contained small furniture, leatherwork and clothing factories. The reception center, named the ‘Dakawa Development Centre’ housed vocational training schemes, and in some cases was used to house difficult students. The presence of this strongly established community at the complex brought some tension to the surrounding communities in Manzimbu, who adapted to the project with some apprehension.

Funding
The largest proportion of funding for SOMAFCO came from foreign donors. Scandanavian states supported the project generously and were the financial backbone of the base at Mazimbu. Official Nordic aid organizations such as the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), SIDA, the Finnish International Development Agency (Finnida), and the Danish International Agency (Danida) donated large sums of materials, such as household equipment and large sums of cash.

School purpose
The purpose of the Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College was initially to give exiled South African Youth the opportunity to receive meaningful education, not only to prepare them for adulthood, but also to inform them of the political world around them and their part in it. SOMAFCO wanted to create a black educational alternative model of post-apartheid education, with a bigger goal to serve the course of future national liberation. It was clear that the school was to hold a strong political ideology and educate students to prepare them to serve society in different ways - education, scientific, economic, political, anthropology, and socio-cultural. The farms at SOMAFCO also held great significance with the school's vision, with the aim to feed the community in Mazimbu, and generate funds to create self-sufficiency for the future.

Governance
The National Education Council (NEDUC) was a sector of administration for the ANC, who held forums every two years, from 1978-1988 to discuss the growth and challenges faced by the project in Manzimbu. The working committee was the most superior policy making body on matters regarding education. During such discussions, the committee gave structure to the educational work of the ANC, and also for other functions such as the curriculum development committee, scholarship committee, the examination board, and the counselling committee. There was also a strong consensus for the need to connect with other existing ANC departments, to collaborate on clarifying the goals for the aims of each project. The Department of Education oversaw the administration of these institutions.

Staffing
Most of the staff at SOMAFCO was made up of members of the ANC, and South African exiles. Many were graduates without teaching qualifications, and around half were post-matriculation students awaiting scholarships in other countries. Amongst this team were remarkable people such as Mzwandile Kibi, Mohammed Jatham, Douglas Ramaphosa, Patrick Mtshualana, Thami Mali, and Farida Mussagy, along with volunteer teachers from the Netherlands, Scandanavia and elsewhere. A lot of the staff were accompanied by their spouses who often contributed helping with the project too. The first principal of the school was Mrs. Nijobe’s husband, Wintchi. The secretary of the Scholarship committee was John Pampallis’s wife, Karin, who also was a big help to the principal co-ordinate with the ANC when discussing scholarships for students Some of the school's administrators consisted of Mohammed Tikly, an exile of 30 years, who became the director of the school in 1982. Alpheus Mangezi took over this role in 1989. Andrew Masondo served as the National Political Commissar of the ANC from 1977 to 1985.

Debates over Curriculum and Development
There were many divergent views on what the appropriate curriculum for the college should be, given the extraordinary circumstances in which it was created. The primary school went through three phases of curriculum development. Upon its opening in 1980, there was no structured curriculum. By 1982, Terry and Barbara Bell had created a progressive curriculum. After their resignation in 1982, Dennis September, the new principal, created a new conventional academic curriculum. The influences of the creation of the curriculum for the college were traditional-liberal, polyethnic, progressive perspectives on education. Discussions surrounding how much influence Western, or adapted education should have at the school, and the re-interpretation of polyethnic education commenced. It was also noted that an Apartheid-style education often held a strong focus on racist associations with Bantu education.

Most of the ANC favored an education style which provided access to modern professionalism, as most white South Africans would also have access to. Arguments in favor of polyethnic education were largely ignored. The ANC education department registered SOMAFCO students for the London ‘O’ level examinations in 1981, consolidating the curriculum. The aim to align with ‘revolutionary consciousness’ was seen to be appropriate to most of the education committee. September’s arrival as principal of the primary school in 1982 introduced a more traditional academic approach to teaching, in the hope that this could prepare students for tertiary institutions in other countries. The college, however, kept a focus on its teaching methods to be revolutionary, and dedicated to serving the needs of South African people. The most liable manifestation of this was a focus on political education. There were no religious courses at the college, as its influences consisted of a lot of Marxist Ideology.

SOMAFCO would use awards for good conduct, sporting achievements, and had various other incentives to encourage good morale and hard work. The school administration would recommend students for such awards on a regular basis, and often give them presents. Sports were a clear way of unifying students and distracting them from the struggles of life in Mazimbu. Some included netball, karate, boxing and football. Dancing and Drama was also encouraged, sometimes they would even perform to Tanzanian audiences as ambassadors for the school. The curriculum was mainly centered around ten subjects: general science, biology, geography, mathematics, history, history of the struggle, agricultural science, literature and English, and development of societies. Outside of this, subjects like performing arts, languages (mainly to communicate with other African countries), and arts and crafts were also taught. Classes at the college took place from Monday to Friday, and a uniform was introduced, but not strictly enforced.

The pupils would also involve themselves with the local community with marking prominent days in the South African struggle, using music performance, poetry, dancing, and speeches. Every evening they had news reading sessions, with time for discussion afterwards. They would visit other local schools to share in cultural performances, political discussions and sports. The lack of unqualified staff was an ongoing struggle for SOMAFCO, as they found it difficult to maintain an adequate standard of education. This made expanding and improving the curriculum practically challenging. Another problem was supporting large numbers of prospective students. In 1986 it was decided that the primary school could no longer accept people over the age of 16. Finding an adequate way to assess the primary school students and create entry requirements for the college was another challenge. There was also a lack of planned dormitory accommodation facilities for the primary school.

Other challenges
One of the unique challenges that SOMAFCO had to accommodate was provision for students suffering from PTSD. Sherry McLean, a White Irish social worker, set up a counselling service at the school. She noted that it took time to gain trust from the students, who had to manage the post-traumatic stress of leaving South Africa, often without being able to give an explanation to their families, having no contact with people from their homes once they were in exile, and in some cases having been tortured in detention centres. Naturally, there was a need to address these traumas and give students the space to process them.

Another challenge the college faced was the fact that it was an unplanned project, but rather a response to regional problems. Naturally, finding the resources to support such a sudden need for a large project effectively was practically difficult. A lot of staff had no previous experience in education except the Bantu model, which the college explicitly wanted to alleviate from its ideology and teaching methodology. The students had a history of rejection from educational systems, and often a lack of knowledge, so a lot of groundwork needed to be done. On top of this, the school was in the process of being built when students began to arrive in 1978. Classes had to be held outside under trees, or in broken down buildings such as the abandoned sisal farm, so the practical circumstances for learning were difficult.

There were no age requirements for the college. In secondary school the age range was between 13 and 32, with a lot of students in their lower 20’s, since a lot of students had their education disrupted by imprisonment, police harassment and political involvement in South Africa. This meant that catering to the needs of classes with such a large age range was a challenge. The large range of languages spoken by exiles, who came from not only southern African countries, but also a lot of European languages, and even Chinese and Japanese, was another task to be overcome.

The country was also having an economic crisis at the time of SOMAFCO’s conception. The harsh climatic conditions and surges in diseases such as malaria meant that there was a risk of having a lot of students near one another without outbreaks of illness.

Notable former pupils and teachers
Former teachers who were notable for their contributions to the college included Ruth First, who formed the history curriculum, Lionel Berstein, John Pampallis, Jack Simons, Peter Knoope, Aubrey Matloe, Zandisle Pase, and Mzawndile Kibi. Lindiwe Zulu was an alumna for the school.

Closure and Legacy
The closure of SOMAFCO came about after a series of changing political circumstances in 1990. Nelson Mandela was released from prison, the ban on liberation movements was lifted, and negations in South Africa began for political settlements. These events had pivotal effects on the project. The Eastern Bloc shut down, ending its aid to the school. Some ex-students were even stranded in countries also experiencing political change and social crises, such as East-Germany and Bulgaria. When Nelson Mandela visited the complex for two days in 1990 and announced: “Comrades: get yourselves prepared – you are going home!” The ending of the school became somewhat inevitable. The school closed on the 9th of September 1992. The remaining infrastructure from the school was used for the Sokoine University of Agriculture. The archives from the school can now be found at the University of Fort Hare.

The college’s legacy lives on through its campus – Solomon Mahlangu Campus (SMC) for the Sokoine University of Agriculture. Solomons name as the campus’ title is a legacy in of itself to honor his contribution to the struggle for South African Liberation. The resources found on the campus such as the sports, health and teaching facilities, and the administration block are also still used.

External links:
https://somafcotrust.org.za/