The principal of Gansbaai Academia, Tommy Wilson had a meeting with Michael and Tertius Lutzeyer of Grootbos Private Nature Reserve and Leán Terblanche of the Football Foundation to finalise plans for a motivational session to be presented by legendary South African artist P J Powers.
Grootbos, rated amongst the top 100 holiday destinations in the world, is sponsoring Ms Powers to present a number of motivational sessions in the Gansbaai area. They approached the school to see whether they would be interested in hosting one of the events for their learners. The school immediately took up the offer and Ms Powers will be visiting Academia on the 4th June 2012 to address the teachers and grade 10 to 12 learners. The school is especially thankful for this offer because they are hosting their first Grade 12 class this year and everybody is doing their utmost to ensure great results at the end of this year.
PJ Powers is an icon in the South African music industry and has a great crossover appeal. The black music market gave her the nickname “Thandeka” which in English means “the loved one“. In 1988 P.J. was banned from radio and TV for a year by the apartheid government for her performance at a charity concert for war orphans in Zimbabwe, along with Miriam Makeba and Harry Belafonte. She was encouraged to continue her singing by Nelson Mandela, who sent her an encouraging letter from Victor Verster Prison in Cape Town. He also presented her with a commemorative limited edition gold coin in 2000. In 2003 the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation honoured her and singer Sibongile Khumalo with their prestigious annual award, promoting reconciliation by “singing people together”. In the same year Pick ‘n Pay nominated her as one of their “Stars of Charity” for having “made a difference in uplifting the youth of South Africa”.
Grootbos further supports Gansbaai Academia through the Football Foundation of South Africa’s daily sports, education and life skills programmes at the Gansbaai Communal Sports Centre.
Tertius Lutzeyer, Tommy Wilson, Leán Terblanche, Michael Lutzeyer at Grootbos Private Nature Reserve with the stunning Walker Bay in the background.