Former primary school classmates meet 35 years later

Former classmates of Muduopo Primary School got together on March 7 to celebrate the reunion class of 1985 Standard Six, after 35 years of not seeing each other, in Umfuyaneni Section, Thembisa.

They decided that they wanted to be unique since most reunions are mainly for the Class of Grade 12 or higher institutions.

They decided to also invite their former teachers as well as the principal in hope to thank them for the foundation phase of their education.

Matshepo Sematle, who came up with the idea of planning a reunion, said she felt the need to reconnect with her former classmates after 35 years.

“I saw one of my former classmates last year October and that was when I started thinking of this reunion. I felt that I needed to see my former Standard Six classmates, just so we could go down memory lane,” said Sematle.

She explained that the reason they opted with the reunion class of 1985 was that they wanted to accommodate everyone. She said not everyone completed their Grade 12 and others were not able to go to tertiaries.

Sematle added that tracking down her former classmates was not easy and she had to look them up on social media.

“After tracking few of my former classmates, we created a WhatsApp group chat and before we knew it we were about 60 in the group. We were the last class of Standard Six in 1985 to be in primary school. After our class, Standard Six (Grade Eight) was moved to high schools,” explained Sematle.

The former classmates were happy to see one another after years of losing contact. Sematle added that this was their first-ever reunion. The former classmates danced to music and reminded each other about things that happened 35 years ago.

Granny Peloo said, “I cannot believe that we are all so grown. I last saw everyone about 35 years ago. It is so hilarious because back then we were all children and seeing everyone today here is a joy.”

Sematle said that they don’t plan to lose contact again.

“From now on, we will always keep in touch and hope not to lose contact. This day brought us together as a family. “Reconnecting with everyone has been a blast, I am happy that we got together,” said Sematle.