Durban - Pupils passed the time playing games on Monday as they sat with their frustrated parents outside gates blocking access to a school in Verulam, evidently on the orders of the private landowner.
Parents are refusing to use an alternative access road to Oakford Primary School because they say it is dangerous. It takes children along a dirt road through isolated sugar cane fields.
It is understood the owner of the property is planning to build a bed-and-breakfast establishment on the site.
At the start of the third term the Daily News reported that pupils had been locked out of the main school entrance by the landowner, Marius Maritz, resulting in them missing five days of school.
Oakford Primary, Sacred Heart Secondary School, a church and a dam are on the land, originally owned by the Roman Catholic Church.
In 2000, the Department of Education signed an agreement with the church to pay rent for the school property at far below the market rate.
When the land was sold to Maritz in 2009, he allegedly demanded the department pay market-related rent, which amounted to about R4 million a year. He also allegedly demanded insurance be paid for the property.
The matter was sent to arbitration, where it was ruled the department should pay rent at the same rate it paid the church for other church-owned schools. The department has since begun the process of expropriating the property.
The deputy chairman of the school’s governing body, Hopewell Mngadi, said the department’s legal team had gone to Pretoria to negotiate with Maritz, but no resolution had been reached.
He said when the gates were first locked, parents had broken the locks and taken the children to the school. A private security company was called in to repair the locks but the children had been able to access the school through the main entrance for the past two weeks.
“On Sunday, we saw new private security companies arrive and the gates were locked. They said they were mandated by the owner to prevent any access to the property,” Mngadi said.
Two armed security guards from Gauteng-based Ubuntu Security told the Daily News they had arrived on Sunday with instructions not to allow access. They said they specialised in “crowd control”.
Mngadi said there had been no consultation with the school or parents about the proposed alternative route.
“We can’t allow our small children to walk through the sugar cane where they’re at risk of being raped or killed.”
He said the landowner was attempting to force out the school, something the community would not allow.
“In South Africa, education is supposed to be first, so how can this happen? There are more than 900 children at this school and their future is in danger,” he said.
“This school has a history. It is a low-cost school but very good quality. We don’t want to lose this school.”
Local councillor, Nondumiso Ndlovu agreed Oakford was a top school in the area.
“The alternative access is too far and not safe for our children. It’s our duty to see they have a future,” she said.
Educatioj Department head, Nkosinathi Sishi, addressed the angry crowd on Monday, saying this was a complex matter, but that officials were working on a resolution.
Sishi told the Daily News later that the short-term approach was to provide two buses that would take the children from the main entrance to the other entrance in the morning and afternoon, saving them from having to walk through the sugar cane fields.
This was due to have started on Tuesday.
“In the long-term, the MEC will meet with the community leadership,” Sishi said.
“This is a complex matter, not only involving the department, as there is also a dam on site that is a source of water for the school. The matter is complicated.”
Sishi said it was clear the negotiations with the landowner would not be easy and, although they wanted to respect the owner’s rights, they would take this up in court because it was impacting on the children.
“The Catholic Church got the land from the community, but the community weren’t consulted about the sale of the land so, it’s a very complicated issue.
“We’ve invited land affairs (the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform) to provide clarity on the land ownership.”
He said Maritz wanted to turn the school into a private bed and breakfast, although the department was trying to expropriate the land.
“The school is highly respected and the community is attached to it.
“They do not want to let it go,” Sishi said.
Maritz could not be reached for comment on Monday or this morning.
Daily News