Former Sir Pierre Van Ryneveld High principal killed in accident
In his time he also parachuted, sailed and enjoyed going on trips with his Range Rover.
The man who devoted 20 years of his life to Sir Pierre van Ryneveld High School, former principal Ernst van Biljon (65), tragically died in a motorcycle accident in Oudtshoorn on Monday.
He was en route to De Rust when he lost control of his motorcycle at roadworks 7km Oudtshoorn at 7.45am.
According to police in Oudtshoorn he died in the ambulance on his way to hospital.
Van Biljon retired as principal at the age of 62 in April, 2016, and was spending his retirement in the town where he died.
Born in Port Elizabeth, Van Biljon grew up in Pretoria.
He obtained a Higher Education diploma and Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Pretoria. He started teaching woodwork and metalwork in 1980 and came to Sir Pierre in 1980.
In 1988 he was appointed deputy principal for Western High School in Mayfair, Johannesburg. Two years later he became principal at Malvern High School, a position he occupied for seven and a half years.
Van Biljon returned to Sir Pierre in 1997 as principal.
“I believe I was born to be an educator,” said the man who spent 36 years in the profession, when Express interviewed him in 2016.
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Van Biljon was involved in a serious motorcycle accident in 2011. After having been in an induced coma for some time, he had been in recovery for the whole of that year’s second school term and certain periods of the third term.
According to his successor at Sir Pierre, Margaret Wrigley, he was quite an adventurous spirit. “He was a very intelligent man, a thinker but also a man of action,” Wrigley said on Tuesday morning.
She further elaborated that during his retirement he was enjoying the Karoo and small town life.
In his time, Wrigley mentioned, he also parachuted, sailed and enjoyed going on trips with his Land Rover. She spoke about his personality, saying he was a very kind man who cared a lot about people, the school and his family.
“He was certainly a man of presence, so it really is a huge loss,” she said.
Van Biljon is survived by his daughter, Mia van Biljon, life partner Karin, her children, grandson Hanroux (3) and sister Marieta van Biljon.
