Facelift for ‘house of hope’

After years of negotiations and planning, the  Weidenhof House site in Stellenbosch was finally handed over to CS Construction on Monday 7 February for renovations and extensions.

Current residents in front of Weidenhofhuis

At this event Prof Nico Koopman, Dean of the Faculty of Theology of Stellenbosch University, referred to Weidenhof House as ”a house of hope” for students from Africa.

Weidenhof House consists of two semi-detached houses in Weidenhof Street near the train station and provides accommodation for mainly post-graduate Theology-students from Africa.

The houses were bought for this purpose in 1992 by the Hartgerink Trust and the Commission for Witness of the DRC family and given to Stellenbosch University in 2008.

Prof Nico Koopman, Dr Chatha Msangaambe and Prof Jurgens Hendriks.

During the past 20 years it has provided a physical and spiritual home for Maties from countries like Namibia, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenia, Mozambique and Nigeria. Depending on the programme pursued, students reside in the house for anything from a few days at a time to stretches of five years or more. In fact, Weidenhof House recently delivered two successful doctoral students: Dr Chatha Msangaambe of Malawi and Dr Christopher Munikwa of Zimbabwe.

After renovations the house will provide accommodation for 23 students, including married couples and disabled people. The cost of the project is approximately R6 million.

• Contact Liena Hoffman at liena@sun.ac.za or 021 808 3255 regarding contributions to the building fund.