"The lies became too much and I could not stand it anymore. This is not what I expected when I enrolled for a computer course. I now just want to go home …"

These were the words of the young Loveday Lesedi, a student at the Arise Business College in Louis Trichardt, on Saturday night while waiting on the side of the road outside the house where the college used to be situated. Last Friday (18th), an interim court order, requested by the Makhado Municipality, was granted, forcing the owner of the college to move the students out of the residential area where it had been operating for the past 5 months, in contravention of the Town-Planning and Township Ordinance.

On Saturday night, Loveday sought refuge at the home of a neighbour, stating that she could not stand the living conditions at the college a day longer. She was not prepared to be moved to a smallholding just outside the town where she allegedly would have to share a house with more than 500 other students.

"There are not sufficient ablution facilities and the place poses a serious health hazard," she says.

Another group of students, mostly from Bushbuckridge, who did not want to be identified for fear of victimization, confirmed the debasing living conditions and questionable quality of tuition offered at the Cilliers Street residential premises of Arise Business College.

"The tuition was supposed to be free, but the accommodation not. We were charged R250 per month for the accommodation, which was chaotic and did not include any meals. Everybody had to sleep on the floors, some in a room without any windows and at times we had to cook our meals on open fires on the premises." "We enrolled for a computer course which comprises Computer Engineering, Graphic Design and Networking. We received our tuition from one teacher, who conducted classes in the unfurnished kitchen," were some of the comments from students.

"The closest I got to a computer during these classes was when I stood looking over the shoulders of dozens of other students at a computer monitor," said one student. "The training is totally inadequate and definitely not something I can confidently mention when applying for a job."

They said although the tuition was supposed to be free, they were at one stage instructed by ABC owner, Mr Maseli Phineas Tshilongo, to buy study guides for R60.

The present local saga of Arise Business College (ABC) started in 2007, when students moved into a residential home in Cilliers Street in Louis Trichardt. According to neighbours, the situation became unbearable when, at times, well over 250 students moved into this house with only a few bedrooms and ablution facilities available. For most of the students, this house became both boarding place and tuition centre for the next few months.

The acting director Community Services of the Makhado Municipality, Mr Lampie Schoeman, in an official report, mentioned "overcrowding of about 95 students in a house used as a hostel. The place was very dirty and some students slept in a room without windows." The report described the situation as likely to cause "health hazards and health nuisance." The municipality instructed the owner several times to conform to the necessary by-laws, regulating the use of residential property. This, unfortunately, did not happen and the municipality eventually had to resort to legal action, asking for a court interdict to force the owner to comply. The situation has also been reported to the South African Police and a criminal charge is being investigated against the owner of ABC.

The interim court order issued on January 18 instructed Tshilongo to immediately cease the illegal use of the premises in Cilliers Street as a hostel or for multi-residential purposes. He was also ordered to appear before the court on or before Wednesday, February 6, to furnish reasons why the interim order should not be made final. Tshilongo was also ordered to pay the cost of the application.

On Saturday night, the belongings of the students were all loaded on the back of bakkies and into minibus taxis. They were all taken to the smallholding near town next to the N1.

This was also when the young Loveday decided enough was enough and sought refuge at the house of Johan and Danielle Laubser. She resides in Bushbuckridge and it was too late for her to be able to get transport back to her family. According to Johan, the life of his family became unbearable over the past few months. The noise of the students a couple of meters from their bedroom every night was more than they could stand. He had to move from his bedroom to the guest room and eventually had to stay at a friend’s house with his whole family. Their peaceful surroundings in what was supposed to be a quiet residential neighbourhood, was shattered. On various occasions he entered into discussions with his neighbour, Mr Tshilongo.

"Every time, promises were made, but it all came to nothing," he says.

This week, several attempts by Zoutpansberger to contact Mr Tshilongo for comment, were unsuccessful. He could not be reached on his cellphone. A message left at the ABC office in Erasmus Street in Louis Trichardt also did not yield any response by the time of going to press.