An illegal school that opened in a house in Mulder Street on 6 August has the neighbourhood up in arms.
Dayspring Study Centre , however, will have to register this school correctly and follow the letter of the law before its 106 pupils and 18 teachers will be allowed back.
A campaign to have the school moved is spearheaded by Deon Esterhuizen who lives next door and who has been living at this address for the past twelve years. According to Esterhuizen he does not have a problem with the school or its owner Sue Parry, but rather with the choice of location and the way the school was established in the neighbourhood.
“The children are noisy and have a vantage point from where they constantly look into my yard. This is an infringement of my privacy. Some of the neighbours also have complained that the children throw stones on the roofs of the houses lower down in the valley,” says Esterhuizen.
He also complains about the traffic and parking problems it causes for residents in the mornings and afternoons. According to Esterhuizen the Department of Health also issued a notice to the school to get a health certificate for the kitchen.
When Esterhuizen started digging he uncovered a number of alleged irregularities.
“A day before the school opened I phoned the building inspector and found out that other complaints also have been lodged. A day after the school opened he served a notice on the school for building without plans or approval. He also informed me that no application for consent for land use has been submitted,” says Esterhuizen.
The manager of Land Usage Management, Owen Mda confirmed that no consent was given to use the property for educational purposes and this constitutes illegal land use. The next step according to Mda would be to give instruction to the Council’s lawyers should the school not stop operating.
By 14 August Esterhuizen had a petition with 50 signatures. He also contacted the Department of Education, the ward councillor and the town planners who supposedly were handling the school’s consent application.
The town planner admitted to the record that although he had a query from the school the application has not been submitted yet since they are awaiting a traffic impact assessment. The Gauteng Department of Education also could not find the school on their list of registered schools and says if the school has applied they are not allowed to operate until registration has been approved.
By September Esterhuizen was so desperate that he raised his boundary wall – but that did not alleviate the noise levels. Esterhuizen recently took video footage of kids on the school roof screaming and shouting at 5.30am, allegedly after a matric farewell function. (Parry admitted that for their safety she allowed children to sleep over at the school after the function.)
When the record spoke to Parry it was clear that she is passionate about education and the pupils in her school. She argues that she would have had to close the school if she had to wait for consent from the council and for the registration with the Education Department. (Esterhuizen does not agree with this, saying Parry already had put in an offer to purchase on 26 February, which would have given her six months to follow the right procedures.)
As far as allegations that she did not give legal notice to the residents by posting notices outside the property as well as advertising in a local newspaper for two consecutive weeks before opening her doors, Parry admits to this. She says though she “assumed that the neighbours would not have a problem” since at her previous location she never had complaints.
She also argues that she thought she could continue operating since she started the due process but admits that she should have done her homework more thoroughly.
Esterhuizen responded to all this by saying that “no matter how noble the cause, a bad example would be set whereby anyone could do as they please and get permission later on. You can not cite ignorance or assumption as an excuse for not adhering to laws and regulations. The community’s wants and needs are just as important as her school’s.”
