Ekukhoseleni Primary School in Pinetown was temporarily closed this week following a protest by parents, the KwaZulu-Natal education department said on Thursday.
"The school was brought to a standstill on Monday after a group of people closed the school gates with chains and padlocks, preventing educators and learners from entering," spokeswoman Mbali Thusi said.
Parents staged the protest because they were unhappy with the way the principal was running the school.
Thusi said the department had noted a number of cases where parents had resorted to illegally closing schools following disagreements.
Department head Nkosinathi Sishi decided to temporarily shut the school, under the provision of section 16(4) of the South African Schools Act.
The section allowed this action in public schools in case of an emergency.
"I have reasonable grounds [to believe] that the unrest at the school poses a threat to staff as well as learners," Sishi said.
"The department would like to reiterate that closure of public schools by members of a community is at best militating against our vision as government and downright illegal."
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