Classes continue to be disrupted at two schools near Verulam in Durban. A dispute is raging over an access road leading to the schools. The schools are situated on private land.

The Sheme siblings haven’t attended school for a week. The gates to nine year-old S’bonelo’s primary school remain locked. Schooling at the Sacred Heart Secondary school, which his sister attends, has also been halted.

Learner Zizipho Sheme says: “ This thing is affecting us because we have two months left now to write our exam, so we have no school to go to because it’s late now, if we go to other schools, they won’t accept us.”

Land owner Marius Maritz says he shut the gates to Oakford primary this week in accordance with an arbitration order that a newly-constructed access road be used by parents and pupils. The order followed an environmental impact assessment by the Department of Water Affairs which found the existing road was under a flood line.

A new gravel road was built to accommodate pupils. The parents claim the new road is dangerous.

School Governing Body’s Mfanje Mbango says: “We are appealing to all the stakeholders to come together and speed up the process at least of expropriation, so that we will know exactly where the future of the school is.”

The Provincial Department of Education says negotiations are continuing to resolve the problem.

Department of Education HOD Dr Nkosinathi Sishi says: “If the owner of the land insists that he would like to shift the gates, we have no legal basis to stop him. We have to then re-build another school for the community.”

It’s unclear whether schooling will resume on Monday.
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