King Shaka once stopped to drink from the river that flows not far from Adams College. He called the water “sweet” to the taste, using a Zulu word that would come to be Amanzimtoti, where our school has stood for 160 years. Celebrating our heritage is to taste the sweetness again. 

We are a school of many inspirational firsts: the first in the region to teach math and science to Africans, to offer co-education (as early as 1910), provide matric to Africans (1931), hire black teachers and promote them, and to emphasize the role of sports and the arts in a well-rounded education. Adams College has produced a galaxy of African leaders and icons that have helped liberate and develop southern Africa.

Truly our alumni are a role call of excellence in leadership and achievement. Minister of Arts & Culture, Paul Mashatile, recently called upon all South Africans to “preserve and promote” the heritage of this great school for ours is a proud African institution, fostering excellence and achievement throughout the sub-continent. Such cross-border influence, impacting the history of nations, is unprecedented for a little mission school founded 160 years ago in Amanzimtoti.