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"Would there be school records or any other local material that might confirm his name as Isadore (Isidore?) Louis Cash? Isador must have been educated as he was an Electrical Engineer, although again I don't know how much of that would have taken place in America and how much S. Africa."

Because my own research only involves Canada, England and Ireland, I have to rely on the internet and "googling."  I have found a few school sites that not only mention student names, it also shows photographs of the classes and in a few cases, mentions the students in the photos.  Unfortunately, almost all findings have been schools from small towns.

In answer to your question, there are sites about Canadian and American schools from the mid to late 1800's, but they seem to be mainly for towns and small cities.
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I know today's electricians are different from the original electrical engineers, but in case this helps...we know several electricians, and the majority of their coworkers became employed through relative's connections.  It's possible that Isadore started his employment not through schooling, but rather as an apprentice and worked his way up to becoming an electrical engineer.  We also know two electrical engineers and while they both had extensive schooling, maybe that wasn't required when Isadore started?
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I just found this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_engineering
According to the above site, the University of Missouri was the first university in the United States to have a department of electrical engineering (1886).
[I am new to this site.  Is it ok to quote material, stating the site address?  I do know we cannot copy and paste genealogical or copyrighted material.]

Hi Nina:

I live in California, but was born in Canada with Irish and English ancestors.  I know how difficult it can be researching when one doesn't even live in the same country!  But, thank goodness for the internet, eh?

I saw two passport(?) records on Ancestry.  One showed that he left in 1888, the other in 1889, I believe.

I'm sorry, I don't know too much about American information, so I don't know when a passport could have been issued.  Perhaps he went with his family...could his father have gone for work?

The link I provided was for births and deaths in Missouri.  I did see one birth for 1871, but the rest were much later.

I checked census returns in St. Louis for 1870 and didn't see anything that could be his family.  I also looked in 1880.

I'm sorry, but I have to go to work now.  I will check here again late tonight.  Perhaps I can have a look again, after reading what others have said.  (Sorry to sound a bit curt...I really shouldn't turn on the computer before work!)

My Vaus ancestors were first found in and around Shipley, Sussex (with a marriage in 1748).  My ancestor and his family moved to Albury, Surrey around 1815.  An ancestor's sibling is named Benjamin (he was born c1805).

According to family lore, the name was originally spelled Vaux.  I have seen various spellings around the 1750's (Vous, Vaux and Vaus) with the Vaus spelling becoming consistent after the 1770's.  The men in the families were farmers and one ancestor was a corn dealer.

My Wakefield's were supposedly from Tuam, Ireland.  However, my ancestor and her father are listed in a book about the Wakefields and their birthplace is shown as Aughrim.  I'm wondering if this is correct.  I would be very interested in hearing about the Aughrim connection, please?  Thank you.