School boys remember their purpose by honouring the work of the Arch

Tutu Memorial Walk sees hundreds gathering to remember the work ahead as they mark what would have been Archbishop Desmond Tutu's 93rd birthday.

On Sunday morning, the day before what would have been the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s 93rd birthday, hundreds of boys and other members of the St John’s College community took to the streets for their annual Tutu Memorial Walk. 

As the large group wound their way through the diverse precinct of Houghton, Hillbrow, Berea and Yeoville in Johannesburg, they drew the interest and attention of the surrounding schools and communities — many of which are already supported by the college. 

“This walk is basically our way of breaking out of the sense that St John’s is an island of privilege,” headmaster Stuart West told TimesLIVE as they arrived at Barnato Park High School — a coeducational school in Berea that is supported by St John’s. 

“We offer extra classes to the children here in maths, science, English and geography to support the work of their teachers and help them get into university. And at the prep school we immerse those children in English to try to get them the best opportunity to get into top high schools,” West said. 

He said the walk was a way of paying heed to Tutu’s legacy, and taking action in line with what he would have wanted young people to be doing. 

“St John’s is an Anglican school, and the Arch was Anglican and was involved in our supervisory council.” 

In 1976 Tutu attended a five-day silent retreat at the school and penned a strongly worded letter to then-Prime Minister John Vorster in which he expressed deep concerns about apartheid repression and its implications for the country. Vorster ignored the letter and a few weeks later, on June 16, the Soweto uprising broke out. 

“It’s these kinds of things that we remember as we show that we are not just a privileged school running away from reality. We’re not caught up in a gilded cage, we’re a part of uplifting the community around us, as Tutu would have wanted. It’s a reminder of all the work that needs to be done,” said West. 

As the boys, pupils from their peer schools, parents and other interested members of the greater St John’s community joined in the fourth annual memorial walk, the energy intensified as they grew closer to the end of the journey. 

West said the school would be commemorating Tutu’s birthday on Monday as part of their Habits of the Heart Forum — an initiative with neighbouring schools. 

A bronzed pair of Tutu’s shoes are set next to a bench in the Tutu Quadrangle at St John’s College in a permanent memorial where visitors are invited to place their feet in the shoes of the great man. 

TimesLIVE