The Governing Body of Juma Musjid Primary School and Another v. Essay N.O. and Others

In 1957, the member of the Executive Council for Education for KwaZulu-Natal (MEC) (defendant), a state government entity, established the Juma Musjid Primary School (the school) as a public school. The Juma Musjid Trust (the trust) (plaintiff) owned private property and permitted the school to use the property subject to a written agreement with the MEC. The trust paid for expenses of the school on the understanding that the MEC would pay rental fees. In July 2003, the trust sent a notice terminating the MEC’s right of occupation as required under the South African Schools Act (the act). However, the trust did not vacate the premises or pay its back rent. In July 2008, the trust filed an application in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court seeking the eviction of the school from its property and naming the MEC and the school governing body (SGB) as defendants. The MEC and SGB opposed the eviction, arguing the school had occupied the premises before the act and was therefore not subject to the act’s terms. The high court entered an order of eviction for the school. The high court also held that the obligation to provide basic education was the responsibility of the government entities rather than the trust. The MEC and SGB appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal, which upheld the high court’s decision. The MEC and SGB then appealed to the Constitutional Court. In December 2010, The Constitutional Court found the eviction was appropriate. In April 2011, the court ruled on whether the MEC fulfilled its constitutional obligations to the students and whether the trust had an obligation to the students while vindicating its property rights. [Editor’s Note: The excerpt in The U.S. Constitution and Comparative Constitutional Law, Calabresi, 1st Ed., misstates the case citation as 2011 7 BCLR 651 (CC).]