The school was founded in 1894 in the historic Rustenburg House, which dates from the early years of the Dutch settlement at the Cape In 1932, the High School moved into its new buildings on Erinville Estate and Charlie's Hope. Charlie's Hope was subsequently demolished in 1976, before being rebuilt closer to the school. Erinville is now the name of the High School's boarding house. Rustenburg House was declared a National Monument in 1941, but still houses the Junior School. Headmistresses and Headmasters of the High School:
Miss Alicia Bleby, 1894–1911
Miss Jean Donaldson-Wright, 1912–1916
Miss Caroline Kemp, 1916–1936
Miss Gwen Hazell, 1937–1951
Miss Margaret Thomson, 1952–1979
Mrs Josephine McIntyre, 1980–1991
Mrs Mary van Blerk, 1991–1999
Dr Elizabeth Fullard, 1999–2006
Mrs Susan Schnetler, 2006-2007
Ms Laura Bekker, 2007-2015
Mrs Susan Schnetler, 2016
Mr Michael Gates, 2017 -
Headmistresses of the Junior School:
Miss Marion Roper, 1933–1944
Miss Zoë Orton, 1945–1967
Mrs Ruth Jones, 1968–1977
Miss Hazel Lentin, 1978–1998
Mrs Conway, 1998–2007
Mrs Di Berry, 2008 - 2018
Mrs Peterson, 2019 -
Academics
In 2009, the Sunday Times published a list of the top 100 government schools in the country, based on the 2008 matric results and Rustenburg was placed fifth. In 2011 the school was placed as the top school in the Western Cape, up from position three in 2010 and position six in 2009. A 2013 survey by "Fairlady" magazine listed Rustenburg High School for Girls among the top 25 schools in the country. In 2014, Rustenburg again qualified for inclusion in the Top 20 list and was placed 6th. In 2015, the Western Cape Education Department stopped ranking the top schools in performance order and instead listed them alphabetically, Rustenburg was included in the list of the top 22 schools. In 2019, a Grade 7 girl, was number one in the Western Cape for Horizon Maths Competition.
Sport
Rustenburg has always been well represented in South African and Western Province teams. In 2012, two girls represented South Africa in tennis and Artistic gymnastics while two staff members represented South Africa in sevens rugby and triathlon. The High School has nine tennis/netball courts, a swimming pool and two hockey/cricket fields. An Astroturf playing field was installed during 2014 and floodlights are planned for 2016. The following sports are offered by Rustenburg: cricket, cross-country, hockey, indoor hockey, netball, running, football, squash, swimming, tennis, touch rugby, waterpolo.
Music
The highly acclaimed High School Music Department features an Orchestra, Choir, Chamber Choir, Jazz Band, Wind Band, String Quartet, Vocal Quartet, String Ensemble and Savuyisa.