A little over a year ago, Dillin du Preez, 13, dreamed he was in front of the whole of South Africa and could address anyone in his native language.
That’s why Dillin, a farm boy from Tzaneen in Limpopo, joined Nkowankowa Primary School, a township school, in late 2019.
He is the first white pupil in this school.
“I always played with black kids on the farm and learned to speak their language,” says Dillin, a gr. 6 pupil.
When he was bullied in another elementary school, he asked his parents to send him to the township school, “because that’s where all my friends are with whom I grew up. My dad said he gives me a year to see how things are going, but for me it’s nice, ”says Dillin.
At this stage he speaks fluent Afrikaans, English, Tsonga and Sotho and is also learning Sepedi (Northern Sotho).
His dream is to become an interpreter in all 11 official languages.
Dillin says he also wants to teach others not to judge people by their skin color.
“God gave us all the skin color he wanted. You have to get to know someone on the other side, regardless of their skin color. ”
“Having a white child in our school shouldn’t really be a surprise, but given our country’s history, I understand why everyone is so shocked. Our pupils were most shocked and in the beginning they chased him all the time, ”says Mbhalati.
