Ballito PLG schools court case postponed

The PLG Schools Ballito Academy court case has been postponed for the third time by the Durban High Court.

“We will know the date of the next court appearance by the end of the week,” said Ballito Academy spokesperson Claire Swithenbank-Bowman.

The KDM municipality has approached the Durban High Court to stop the school opening, following complaints from other business owners in the Ballito business park. PLG Ballito Academy is occupying a building formerly run as a hotel.

With KZN schools opening on Wednesday, this is a great inconvenience to parents who have enrolled 330 children and newly appointed teachers who may now be without jobs.

KwaDukuza municipality maintains that the school does not have the necessary consent and occupancy certificate to operate. PLG said it has been dealing with the municipality regarding the opening since October and accused it of acting in bad faith.

PLG Group director education Noel Coetzee confirmed the school would open on Wednesday, and he believed the dispute could be resolved quickly.

“It is an ongoing process. We are hoping this matter can be resolved out of court. We are working hard behind the scenes to resolve the matter in a constructive way.”

Coetzee said he believed there was a misunderstanding of the situation regarding the use of the existing building, that there will not have to be structural changes to suit its new role as a school.

The plan of the school, as shown on the PLG website, shows the existing buildings and a sportsfield on the adjoining property, which also belongs to the group. However it also shows a swimming pool and other sporting facilities on land on the eastern side of Nandi Mthembu Drive, which is not currently their property.

It belongs to Ruijter Stevens Properties, owners of the Circle shopping centre and the principal objector to conversion of the building for school use.

Co-owner Tom Ruijter said that the school’s misrepresentation of the property was one of the reasons for his objection. He did not believe that the school had access to enough property to accommodate the needs of its stated goal of 1 000 pupils and all the attendant traffic this would bring to the area.

However Coetzee said this week that the plan shown on the website was a ‘concept drawing’, a short-term interim vision.

“We have been in negotiation with the owners of various properties in the area for our facilities. I cannot say at what stage those negotiations are, but if we do not buy one particular piece of ground, then we will look at others.”