Top KZN school in eviction row

Boarders in KwaZulu-Natal have started their new school year with the threat of eviction hanging over their heads.

A battle over the hostel premises, in Verulam, north of Durban, is being waged in the Durban High Court.

The hostels are used by pupils of Sacred Heart Secondary School and Oakford Primary School.

Property owner Marius Maritz wants the Durban High Court to evict the pupils from the hostel.

Last week Maritz's attorney, Vinay Gajoo, told the court that the Sacred Heart Trust was not maintaining the building and was not entitled to a renewal of the lease that expired on December 31 2010.

Maritz could not be reached for comment.

Boarding costs R20000 a year, in addition to the R3000 a year fee for tuition .

The properties were built in 1889 by the Roman Catholic Church.

At the time, the land belonged to the Ngcobo traditional authority, which allowed the church to build a chapel there, and later the two schools and a clinic.

Over the years, it became harder for the nuns to run the schools and clinic and, in 2000, they signed an agreement with the provincial education department that the department would pay rent on the property to the church at far below the market rate.

But in 2009 the church sold the property to Maritz, who demanded that the department pay a market-related rent of about R4-million a year.

The matter went to arbitration and it was ruled that the department should pay Maritz rent at the same rate as paid to the church.

Maritz then offered to donate the entire portion of the property on which Oakford Primary was located to the state, on the proviso that the department paid the subdivision and transfer costs. In return, however, Maritz wanted Sacred Heart Secondary to vacate the property it occupied.

Resident and activist Rubin Matsimbi said the community was against the closure.

"It cannot be acceptable that a person can come from wherever and deprive a black child of the opportunity of education," Matsimbi said. He said Sacred Heart Secondary was one of the best schools in the country.

Last year, he said, it achieved a 98% matric pass rate.

Provincial department of education spokesman Muzi Mhlambi said the department was aware of the school's situation.

He that the department last year launched a programme to deal with schools built on privately owned land or farms.

Mhlambi said the department was negotiating with property owners and farmers.