A MATTER OF PRIDE: Independent review probes Bishops’ governance disputes over power and Pride flag

An independent review commissioned by the committee of the Old Diocesans Union (ODU) is investigating the union and its office-bearers over their involvement in recent disputes at Bishops Diocesan College – an elite private school for boys in Rondebosch, Cape Town.

The inquiry focuses on conflicts regarding the school council, executive and staffing matters, the chaplain, the Pride flag policy, and proposed changes to the school’s Rhodes Scholarship policy.

Led by an independent reviewer, the probe aims to determine the facts, evaluate whether actions breached constitutional and governance standards, and recommend structural improvements.

A submission seen by Daily Maverick alleges that the ODU overstepped its constitutional authority and critiques the committee’s stance on the school’s Rhodes Scholarship and its opposition to flying the Pride flag. These claims remain unverified as the review process is ongoing.

A dispute over constitutional authority

At the heart of the submission is a dispute over the limits of the committee’s authority. The ODU’s constitution lists values including equality, unity, inclusiveness, transparency, respect and good citizenship. Its stated objects include supporting Bishops and upholding the honour, reputation and tradition of the union.

The submission argues that the constitution gives the ODU no express role in the school’s governance, the composition of its council or the appointment and employment of staff. It points to an October 2024 decision by the Old Diocesan Committee (ODC) rejecting a request for a special general meeting, on the basis that the proposed resolutions were ultra vires (beyond the scope of) the constitution.

The submitters argue that subsequent conduct by ODC members raised the same question: whether the committee itself had acted beyond its constitutional mandate.

The WhatsApp archive

Part of the submission’s evidence is an exported WhatsApp record of the Bishops Stakeholder Action Group, created in May 2024. The group grew to about 450 members, and the surviving archive contains roughly 7,060 messages and system events.

However, the archive is incomplete: portions of its early history are missing, messages were later set to disappear automatically, privacy settings prevented further exports, and some messages were deleted.

The submission also acknowledges opposing views within the group, including calls for the ODC to “back off on school matters” and expressions of respect for LGBTQ+ people. The submitters say their concern is not any participant’s private opinion or mere presence, but what office-bearers organised, promoted, administered, or failed to moderate while representing all Old Diocesans.

According to the submission, the messages point to a sustained effort by members of the group to influence the school’s governance, executive management and staffing.

In October and November 2024, before the ODC election, messages attributed to members of the group called for the resignation of then chair of the school’s governing council, Crispin Sonn, and, later, the replacement of the council as a whole. The submission states that members ran resignation and no-confidence polls, coordinated letters and discussed using funding and electoral leverage to pressure the school.

In one message, an individual wrote that “the whole council should resign and offer themselves for election”, while another referred to withholding funding and creating a separate trust as possible leverage. 

Sonn resigned with immediate effect in November 2024, although the submission does not establish that the campaign caused his resignation.

The submission links the campaign to the March 2025 ODC election, when 10 associated candidates stood on a signed manifesto and won control of the committee. It also cites messages supporting the appointment of Father Monwabisi Peter to the council and calling for people to write to the council daily to request the resignation of the principal, Tony Reeler.

In one message, a member wrote: “Need to select a team of people to do that effectively … Simple: everybody write a letter to the council asking them to request his resignation for a start. Be nice and polite, and if he resists, up the pressure.”

The Pride flag dispute

On 23 June 2026, the ODC wrote to the council seeking a policy limiting flags flown at the school to the national, school and Anglican Communion flags. The submission states the proposal was approved by the ODC by 10 votes to one, with one abstention, and would have ended the school’s practice of flying the Pride flag.

Messages that followed argued that the council, rather than the executive, should determine the policy. One ODC member wrote that the executive should implement, rather than make, policy, while another said the school could not continue with its policies and vision being determined by the executive.

The submission asks whether this was a legitimate governance concern or an attempt to bring the executive under the authority of a council that some of the same members had previously sought to reshape. It also asks whether opposition to the flag, and the accompanying messaging, enabled or tolerated prejudice based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

The battle over a historic scholarship

The submission also raises concerns about the ODU’s involvement in the dispute over access to the Bishops Rhodes Scholarship. The Rhodes Trust and the four affected South African schools announced revised arrangements in March that broadened the eligibility pools and changed the selection process while retaining four school-linked scholarships. It alleges that the working group resisted the changes, sought funds to support litigation against a settlement accepted by Bishops, and may have acted without a mandate from the wider ODU membership.

In an email dated 18 September 2026, ODU chairperson Simon Koch rejected the suggestion that the committee opposed widening access. He said the issue was whether the Rhodes Trustees had the legal power to change the scholarships’ eligibility criteria and selection process without first obtaining a court’s determination.

The review is asked to determine whether the campaign was a legitimate legal challenge or whether it preserved historical privilege and exposed the school and ODU to reputational or financial risk.

Support for the review

Daily Maverick sought comment from the ODC and Bishops Diocesan College on the allegations and the review. Shelley Windell, the principal’s personal assistant, said the school would “reserve comment for now”.

Koch referred Daily Maverick to Tony McKeever, a Bishops alumnus who has called for a special general meeting (SGM).

McKeever said the ODU represented about 8,000 alumni and that its elected committee was obliged to uphold the union’s binding constitution. 

He said the committee had acted correctly in establishing the five-member independent review panel to “validate and reaffirm” how the constitution should be applied. 

“The ODU constitution is an established, irrefutable and binding framework. It provides clear mechanisms and remedies, specifically under Clause 5.4, to address actions that bring the union and Bishops into disrepute or conflict with its foundational objects,” he said. 

McKeever said the SGM he has called for is to stand up for the integrity, values, and governance of the ODU.

“It is our solemn duty to protect Bishops Diocesan College and the OD Union from actions, collusion, and conduct that bring our historic institution into disrepute,” he said. DM