Catholic Schools Office
Archdiocese of Pretoria and 
Diocese of Johannesburg

 
St Martin de Porres
Orlando West 

Telephone
011 936 3052  

Physical Address
9306 Ngobese Street
Orlando West, Soweto

Fees
R2950 (2010 figures)

Founding & history
“Blessed Martin” school and parish was begun in 1946 by Fr Albert Vandenbussche OMI, a Belgian priest, while he was working at Christ the King parish, Orlando East. His intention was to build a school which could also be used as a church on Sundays. The foundation stone was laid by Bishop David O’Leary on 15 August 1946, and the new school was first occupied on 28 March 1947.

The Marist Brothers were asked to be in charge of the school. Part of the roof had still to go on, there was only one tap, one classroom was not yet built, nor was there any soup kitchen or office, but 330 pupils registered for the first term. The school went up to Standard 3. Two Marist Brothers traveled every day from Koch Street, and there were six lay teachers.

In 1953, Fr Verstraete, then parish priest, added more classrooms. There was double schooling, with the first shift ending at 1.00 p.m. and the second shift going on until 5.30 p.m. By 1956 there were more than 1 000 pupils, from Grade 1 to Standard 6.

The story is told that Fr Verstraete had begun building a hall without permission from Bishop Whelan, so when the Bishop came for Confirmation in the church, Fr Verstraete told the altar servers to keep all the windows closed. The church became so hot that the Bishop fainted. Only then did he give permission for the hall to be built!

The bricks were obtained from buildings that were being demolished in Johannesburg. The boys of the school cleaned them by hand. The hall was used for teaching, as well as for Mass on Sundays. There was a class under the stage and another on the stage.

For the levelling of the ground where the present church was to be built, each child had to bring a brick from home in the morning. Bishop Mvemve, then a pupil, remembers bringing bricks on his head for the levelling!

In 1959 the Notre Dame Sisters arrived. The Group Areas Act had closed down their school in Sophiatown. Most of the Sophiatown families were removed to Meadowlands; the children begged to be allowed to attend Blessed Martin to be taught by “our sisters”.  The school roll rose to 1 400, with 80 pupils per class. In the hall there were seven classes, with another two on the stage and sometimes two under the stage.

On 6 May 1962, Blessed Martin de Porres was canonised by Pope John XXIII. The school celebrated with a party and a film after school.

New classrooms were urgently needed, but, because of a lack of finances, all that could be built were precast concrete classrooms. Bishop Boyle came to bless the new classrooms in July 1967. Scouts, cubs, Guides and Sunbeams formed a guard of honour for him. From then on, no more classes were held in the hall.

The frustrations of apartheid had been building up in Soweto, and exploded on 16 June 1976. The school log recalls: “16.6.76. The troubles started in Soweto … children are in and out of school.” During 1977 there were many meetings of teachers called to address the crisis in education. On 1 November 1977 a group of youths armed with knives and sjamboks came to the school and destroyed all the question papers, timetables, mark-sheets and all correspondence.

The number of pupils went down to about 650, and there was no longer a Standard 6 class. Disruptions continued over the next ten years. In 1986 a state of emergency was declared. On 16 June, the tenth anniversary of June 16th 1976, Fr Xolile said Mass for the youth. He was taken in for questioning by the police about the service he had held. At that time police and army patrolling the township was a common sight.

In 1998, a survey of diocesan schools in Soweto brought to light the need for a third Catholic high school in Soweto. After extensive negotiations with parents and the parishes of Orlando West and Orlando East, the Boards of Governors of St Martin de Porres and St John Berchmans, Orlando East, amalgamated in 2000. Primary school classes were gradually transferred to St John Berchmans, and St Martins began adding a further grade each year. In 2006, St Martins, now a fully-fledged high school, had its first matric class.

Motto
God is good

Current enrolment
576 (2010 figures)
Boys and girls - Grade 8 to Grade 12

Subjects offered for Grade 12
English, Zulu, Sotho, Tourism, Mathematics, Mathematical Literay, Physical Science, Life Sciences, History, Geography, Business Studies, Accounting, Economics, Life Orientation

Principal
Mr Duma Vincent Sithebe

Postal Address
PO Box 103
Orlando, 1804

Fax: 011 936 3052  (not automatic)

Email: stmartindeporres@mwebbiz.co.za

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS OFFICE OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF PRETORIA AND THE ARCHDIOCESE OF JOHANNESBURG
PRETORIA w Jolivet House, 140 Visagie Street w PO Box 8149 Pretoria 0001 w Tel 012 321 2049, 012 348 3197 w Fax 012 348 8280 w E-mail  rendol@netactive.co.za
JOHANNESBURG w The Haven w St Vincent School for the Deaf w Jellicoe Avenue, Melrose w PO Box 2635 Saxonwold 2132 w Tel 011 447 9219/9211 w Fax 011 447 9129 w E-mail  info@cso.za.org