Nearly 500 pupils and staff at PLG Ballito Academy have been thrown a lifeline yet again by the Durban High Court – but only until the end of 2016.
In the Durban High Court this week, Justice Graham Lopes reluctantly extended the school a lifeline, if only to prevent children and staff from having to find alternate schooling and employment at the 11th hour.
The interdict brought against the school at the end of 2014, preventing it from opening and operating in the premises of a former hotel in the Ballito Business Park without special consent from the KwaDukuza municipality (KDM), was further suspended until December 31, 2016 or the end of the 2016 academic year, whichever comes first. This is to allow time for the appeal process to be finalised.
In his judgement delivered on Tuesday, December 22, Lopes made it clear that he was not impressed by the school’s back-to-front and lackadaisical approach.
“What is clear is that the school went ahead with establishing its premises without first obtaining the proper consent. I consider the conduct of the school, failing to ensure that all the administrative processes were finalised prior to conducting the operation of the school, unacceptable,” said Lopes.
He said he could not understand why professional town planning staff were not hired by the school to get special consent requirements in place from the start and why they did not meet with KDM staff when they were invited to do so in late February 2015.
The two parties only met on July 28 after the school eventually submitted an application for special consent on July 15. However the application was incomplete and the school, this time represented by town planning specialists, Sivest, submitted another application on August 19 which was also incomplete.
Lopes said the school tried to blame KDM for all its woes but did not explain why there were huge gaps in the process of applying for the special consent and why, if the school felt it was being unfairly treated by KDM, it did not seek proper and timely help from the courts.
“The continual allegations of malice on the part of the municipality’s employees have no apparent foundation in fact,” said Lopes.
He said the school was still legally bound to comply with all other legal requirements for the operation of the school, set out from the onset.
This is expected the last such extension and is do or die for the school and its 270 pupils, 180 new applicants, 17 academic current staff, 14 new academic staff and five other employees.
Describing the extent to which the school has been given rope up to now as “indulgence”, Lopes ordered the school to pay KDM’s legal costs.
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