At varying times during his career, he also served as Minister of Finance, Minister of Education, Minister of the Interior, Minister of Public Health and Deputy Prime Minister. He also served as Acting Prime Minister during the Second World War, during the absence of his friend, General Jan Smuts.

Hofmeyr was an outspoken opponent of the growing racial discrimination and antisemitism in South Africa , becoming more liberal as the governments of the 1930s and 1940s became more discriminatory. His attitude towards non-whites was the vanguard of liberal opinion at the time, and he was one of the few leaders who openly spoke out against injustice when he saw it.

Although his outspokenness made him unpopular in some circles in the government, it showed his inflexible adherence to principle.

ONE OF SACS'S FINEST SONS

Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr (1894 - 1948) is one of SACS's most distinguished and well-known alumni. Hofmeyr was born in Cape Town and entered SACS in 1902 - aged 8. He was not the first member of the family to attend SACS though; his uncle, also Jan Hendrik, attended the school back when it was still known simply as the South African College.

HOFMEYR'S TIME AT SACS, UCT & OXFORD

He quickly developed a reputation as a "child prodigy" with outstanding grades and a keen mind. He progressed rapidly though the grades and matriculated in 1906 aged only 12!

The following year, he began his tertiary education at the University of Cape Town where he studied Classics. He graduated with a BA Honours in 1909 at the age of 15 - one of the youngest in history! He was then awarded the Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford, but would only make use of this later on in his life. He then went on to receive a BA in Sciences in 1910 and a MA in Classics in 1911.

In 1913, Hofmeyr arrived at Balliol College, Oxford, to study Classics. There, he associated with the likes of Harold Macmillan (future Prime Minister of the UK). After he returned from Oxford in 1916, he started teaching at his alma, mater: SACS. He moved on to a number of other teaching positions before he entered politics.

HOFMEYR'S POLITICAL CAREER

Hofmeyr's first major government position was as Administrator of the Transvaal - a post which he took up in 1924.

HOFMEYR'S DEATH

Hofmeyr's work-ethic was incredible, but handling the business of several ministerial positions in conjunction with his role as Deputy (and then Acting Prime Minister) negatively affected his health and contributed to his early death on the 3rd of December 1948, aged 54 - barely two months after the National Party came into power under the slogan of "Apartheid". Hofmeyr was a bachelor and was survived by his mother, Deborah, who was his lifelong companion and carer .

His funeral at the Dutch Reformed Church in Bosman Street was attended by thousands - an estimated 10 000 people lined the streets to say farewell to an incredibly humble man taken long before his time.

Hofmeyr's friend and colleague, Smuts, paid tribute to him both at the graveside and on national radio on the evening before the funeral.

He would be memorialized throughout the country: a suburb in Johannesburg is named after him, and Alan Paton's seminal novel: "Cry The Beloved Country" is dedicated to his memory.

THE HOFMEYR HALL

After SACS moved to its new campus at the end of the 1950s, the school was looking for a suitable way to honour one of its finest former pupils. Coincidently, it was also in need of a hall. In 1959, the prospect of a hall was a remote possibility. However, thanks to the generosity of Old Boys and parents, and the guidance of Mr Robin Whiteford (then Headmaster) - as well as financial assistance from the Provincial Administration - a total of £ 75 000 was raised, and the Hall became a reality and was opened on the 26th of April 1961.

Admirable in size, with noble portico, elegant pillars and pediment, marbled entrance lobby with panelled alcoves and mosaic floor it is indeed something special. The rich panelling in African mahogany, heavily moulded, and reaching to a height of twelve feet makes provision for the inscription of the names of those boys who have distinguished themselves in the realms of scholarship and ability.

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