Abstract:
In 2017 the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika (NHKA) celebrates its centenary of
theological education at the University of Pretoria (UP). In this article the focus is on the buildup
to setting up the first 50 years 1917– 1967 at UP. From as early as 1909 there was a yearning
for our own theological seminary; however, some of the church leaders expressed their desire
for theological education at a university. At the dawn of 1916 everything was in place for the
NHKA and the Presbyterian Church of South Africa, as the first two partners, to start a faculty
of theology at the Transvaal University College (TUC). On 01 April 1917 the Faculty of
Theology commenced its work with prof. J.H.J.A. Greyvenstein of the NHKA and prof. E.
MacMillan from the Presbyterian Church. The Presbyterian link with the faculty was broken
in 1933. From 1938 the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk (NGK) joined the NHKA and two
independent sections were established: Section A for the NHKA and Section B for the NGK.
There was a steady growth in the number of students and professors and on 13 June 1967 the
NHKA filled its sixth professorship in the person of prof. I.J. de Wet. This era was also
characterised by a lot of political tension in the heyday of the policy of apartheid. The NHKA
was known for Article III in its constitution that propagates that church membership was for
whites only. The NHKA support of the policy of apartheid was the cause of a dispute between
the Church and prof. A.S. Geyser. In the end the matter was settled in favour of Geyser. There
was also a dispute between professors A.G. Geyser and A.D. Pont that ended up in court in
1967. Pont was accused of defamation against Geyser. The court ruled against Pont and Geyser
was granted the largest amount of compensation up till then.
