Figure 1.--These cadets are trooping the colors at a South African school. |
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T he Cadet program was popular in South Africa during the 1950s and 60s and started to decline since
then. It was devised as a form of discipline and pride, not military preparedness. One was supposed to learn obedience. Most cadets spent their cadet time (spent as extra periods after school) marching and playing instruments in a marching band - drums, cymbals and valveless bugles. Some schools had rifle shooting training, using .22 calibre rifles. These were obviously the better endowed schools with large fields. Uniforms consisted of khaki coloured short pants and shirts with epulettes, long khaki knee socks and brown boots. Sometimes caps were worn. It looked very similar to that worn by the Hitler youth in Nazi
Germany and the type of thinking that promoted the cadet program seemed suspiciously similar. Music playing, drill and shooting competitions took place between schools.
The program ran at High Schools. Social change in South Africa has
rendered this form of educational antediluvian curriculum obsolete and I
have not seen cadets around for years now (there are two high schools in
my area). I think there is a High School some distance away that still
runs this program - they regularly won music Eistedfodd competitions for
their military band playing and may have kept going.
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