Kwa Thintwa : How a special school touches lives of deaf kids
Top: Teacher Zinhle Mazibuko, herself a graduate from Kwa Thintwa, with her Grade 00 children. Bottom left: Mass for the blessing of the new Bl Carlo Acutis chapel at Kwa Thintwa in October, led by Archbishop Siegfried Mandla Jwara and Cardinal Wilfrid Napier
It all started with the touch of a garment! For 44 years, the Kwa Thintwa School for the Deaf has equipped hearing-impaired children, many from poor backgrounds, with a solid education, lifeskills and confidence to forge ahead in life. Dawn Haynes visited the school in Inanda.
In 1980, Archbishop Denis Hurley of Durban responded to a great need when he led the opening of a school for the deaf in Inanda, about 50km inland from Durban, on the property of a former mission station and Catholic industrial school.
The Kwa Thintwa School for the Deaf started 44 years ago with 40 learners. The school now has more than 300 students from Grades 00 to 12, ranging in ages from three to 21, mostly from disadvantaged backgrounds. In many cases they are from single-parent families or orphans. They attend school daily, with 90% living on the premises in the school hostels.
The hostels accommodate boys and girls separately. Each hostel has a house mother or father, and the teachers assist each hostel as superintendents.
All the students are deaf, most since birth, and the home language and the language of instruction is South African Sign Language (SASL), which is recognised as the 12th official language of South Africa since 2023.
The school has had 100% matric pass rates for 13 consecutive years.
More than just education
The children, who greet visitors with relaxed and happy smiles, are benefitting from more than just education. They also receive affirmation and grow in confidence as they engage in activities.
The enthusiasm of teachers and staff in working with these children is evident. All the staff communicate in sign language, and to that end, training sessions are held three times a week to develop their signing skills. SASL classes are also offered to parents at the end of each term.
A registered KZN school, Kwa Thintwa is subsidised by the government. Further funding is raised from donors and public sponsorship.
Kwa Thintwa welcomes children from all religions, but the school is Catholic-based and all primary school learners have catechism classes. They follow the mainstream NCS curriculum.
Main left: A statue of Archbishop Hurley with a child at Kwa Thintwa school for the Deaf, which was founded by the late archbishop. Bottom right: Table for four at the school’s pre-vocational restaurant, “The Laughing Pot”.
Sport is important and there are facilities for football, netball, cricket and swimming as well as cross-country running, in which a number of students have represented KZN.
One of the popular matric subjects is hospitality, and recently the trustees of the Kwa Thintwa School Development Fund, which was established by the archdiocese of Durban, financed the comprehensive renovations of the hospitality kitchen. The subject’s teacher, Vuyiswa Nkonyeni, is a qualified chef.
There is a small restaurant attached to the kitchen called “The Laughing Pot”, and each year guests are invited to the restaurant for the annual practical exam, with the Grade 12s providing an excellent menu and service. The fundraising project is well-supported by the invited guests.
Art is also popular, and the students’ impressive talents are nurtured by their teacher, Gregory Narayanasamy. An annual art exhibition showcases the final matric paintings.
It is essential for the school to have a full-time clinic with qualified medical staff. One of the most important sections of this clinic is the audiology room where regular hearing tests are done by the two audiologists.
There is also a full-time kitchen which provides daily meals for all 305 students and the large staff of 112, including teachers, professional medical practitioners, as well as cooking, cleaning and ground staff.
The school’s principal is Dr Mavis Naidoo. Among her teaching staff is a Kwa Thintwa alumna: Grade 00 teacher Zinhle Mazibuko matriculated in 2009 and now works as a qualified teacher.
There are presently five past students studying at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the Durban University of Technology. They receive help from the school when necessary.
New chapel and facilities
The new chapel, dedicated to Bl Carlo Acutis, the renovated kitchen and two new sign language laboratories were blessed in October by Archbishop Siegfried Mandla Jwara, with Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, former archbishop of Durban, preaching the homily. At its entrance stands a statue of their predecessor, Archbishop Denis Hurley, whose vision four decades ago led to the establishment of this remarkable school.
It all began when Henry Bekeni Dube, a deaf nine-year-old, touched Archbishop Hurley’s robes to get his attention. This encounter inspired the archbishop to start looking for premises for a school for the deaf.
The Inchanga Territorial School and Hostel had closed its doors on December 31, 1979, and the Oblates of Mary Immaculate offered this property to Archbishop Hurley for the Kwa Thintwa School for the Deaf. The Dominican Sisters of King Williams Town assisted with the opening and later continued with the help of the Sisters of Charity of the Sacred Heart, the Matikwe Sisters
Thintwa means “touched”. When the school opened in April 1981 with 40 deaf black children, one of the youngsters is believed to have been the boy whose simple touch changed things for so many deaf children: Henry Bekeni Dube.
See www.kwathintwaschool.co.za or contact Geraldine Govender for further information or to make donations to the school at or call 031 783-4005.
Published in the March 2025 issue of The Southern Cross magazine
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