Pupils say goodbye to Mr Msomi
A Manor Gardens caretaker had a special retirement party on Saturday when pupils, parents and staff threw a celebratory tea to bid him farewell.
GLENRIDGE Pre-Primary bid a sad farewell to one of its longest serving staff members at a retirement tea on Saturday morning. Caretaker, Armstrong Msomi, has been at the school for 40 years.
School principal, Rebecca Benwell said the tea was held to celebrate Msomi’s dedication and commitment to the school and was attended by his family and the school’s staff, parents and pupils. “It was a touching moment at the school with past and present families celebrating Mr Msomi,” she said.
“He will be sorely missed and is irreplaceable to our school,” Benwell added.
Msomi told Berea Mail, “I was a very young man when I got here, things were different then.” Recalling the dark days of apartheid when he arrived, Msomi added, “All those days are gone now. The last two decades have been good. I want to thank the parents because they teach their children respect and they are so polite. The children respect me and call me Mr Msomi now compared to Amstrong when I was younger.”
Touched by the generosity of the school and the special songsthe children sang to him he said: “I am very happy because they had this special day for me and also invited my family to share it with me.”
Pupils Natania Nowal and Jodi Naidu both said they will miss Mr Msomi.
The pupils sang He’s got the whole school in his heart, Hey Mr Msomi (Hey Jude) and Jika Jika at the tea.
