18/11/2025
Serving as a Champion for ECD
Everyone seems to know Dr Franklin Sonn the academic and former rector of the Peninsula University of Technology, and his appointment as South African Ambassador to the USA by former President, Nelson Mandela in 1995. Dr Sonn is widely regarded as a stalwart in the fight against apartheid education. In his role as educator and principal of various schools he worked tirelessly to instill in students the belief that they can overcome the difficulties in their communities through hard work. His investment as a caring educator had a huge return, which is evident in the success of learners from various Cape Flats schools who became academics, teachers, lawyers, health and welfare professionals and business and corporate directors.
Dr Sonn was recognised as one of the leading voices of the oppressed masses, and together with Professor Jakes Gerwel had to be in the forefront when UWC and Pentech student protests led to confrontation with police. He said โwe had to take the frontline facing rubber bullets, teargas and detentions. We did this as a mark of solidarity with the cause of the students, but also to protect our staff and studentsโ.
However, Dr Sonn also played an important grassroots role in local communities, and as a resident of Athlone during the 70s and 80s served on the board of the Western Cape Foundation for Community Work (FCW) in Kewtown. Between 1981 and 1994 he served as chairperson of the FCW Board, until his appointment as ambassador to the USA. On 31 August 1989 Dr Sonn and fellow board members which included Dr Lionel Louw, narrowly missed injury or death when a limpet mine exploded in the building after the board meeting. This happened at a time when activists and leaders of the struggle against apartheid were being killed and murdered by the apartheid regime. The deaths of young people such as Ashley Kriel in Hazendal, Colleen and Robbie Waterwich opposite the Athlone Magistrate Court and Anton Fransch in Lawrence Road, Athlone, had to be seen in its proper context. These were attacks on the community and to instill fear in the hearts of community leaders. It was later learnt that the bomb at FCW was intended for the murder of Dullah Omar who was meant to address the local Youth Congress in the building.
When we reflect on how easy the TRC process allowed apartheid operatives to get away with half-baked confessions and how families are still struggling to come to terms with their losses 23 years into our democracy, it becomes important for our children and the community to know who the real heroes and leaders of our struggle were.
The focus on early childhood development at FCW was understood by leaders such as Dr Sonn, Dr Lionel Louw, Professor Adam Small and Prof Richard van der Ross and many others who were involved with the organisation during the struggle years. Today, research studies from around the world confirm that quality ECD programmes have lasting positive impacts on academic and other outcomes for children. Studies on the benefits of early childhood development, argues that investment in early childhood have a future return of more than 7 percent, and that young children who are exposed to quality ECD programmes are more likely to complete school, and become gainfully employed in their adult years. He argued that part of the investment will be in the form of future government savings on remedial, rehabilitation, welfare and social security.
Research evidence furthermore shows that ECD programmes provides children with a better trajectory in life if they have access to ECD services. Although this is not yet the reality for most of South Africaโs 5.3 million children under the age of 5 years, President Cyril Ramaphosa seem to realise the need for greater investment in ECD if he wants all 10 year olds to be able to read for meaning by 2030. Desperate measures are therefore needed to increase investment in ECD, and to improve educational opportunities for young children.
As a champion of the ECD sector, Dr Sonn warned that โunder apartheid our children had a chance with education, and without education in the promised democracy they will still be poor, still be sufferingโ. Dr Sonn argued that the most beautiful elements of education and educators are to be found in the realm of ECD. โHere, one finds idealism and devotion despite deprivation. Preschool teachers are the veritable angels of the education sector. They are the people who buffer little ones exposed to risks like poverty, poor health, physical dangers, sexual abuse and malnutritionโ.
It is individuals such as Dr Franklin Sonn who understood the value of โinvesting in ECDโ, and had the vision and foresight to guide the work of FCW towards making a difference in the lives of young children and their families. More than 40 years and two or three generations later we experience the โreturn on the investmentโ when proud parents and grandmothers share the university graduation certificates and photographs of their children and grandchildren. These are the evidence that shows that families a rising above the challenges of their local communities and out of the poverty trap.
As a sign of his ongoing commitment to ECD and the early development of young children, Dr Sonn and his wife, Joan Sonn, made a significant contribution to the ongoing work of FCW. On behalf of the organisation we thank the Sonn family for their generosity and wished them health and wellness for years to come.
Dr Riedewhaan Allie
Director: Western Cape Foundation for Community Work
Adv. Lynette Myburgh
Chairperson of the FCW Board
READ MORE: Cape Times news article https://capetimes.co.za/news/2025-11-17-how-franklin-sonn-helped-shape-democratic-sa/
