PARENTS of pupils at the Deeside Combined School near Tzaneen are seeking a court interdict against the Limpopo department of education to stop the department closing the farm school.

More than 400 pupils, including those in matric, were left stranded after the abrupt closure . The department tried to relocate the pupils to N'wajaheni Primary School, more than 55km away .

Principal Solomon Manganyi said the school's closure came as a shock .

School governing body chairperson Vine Vhuma said parents were upset. "Most of our pupils, especially those on farms, are not going to school now."

She said the SGB had instructed their attorney to lodge a court interdict.

Attorney Thomas Swanepoel said: "What the department did is illegal because it should have put a notice in the Government Gazette and also consulted the parents before taking a decision."

School founder Billy Eastman has accused some junior officials of playing a "political point-scoring game". He denied he demanded R13million to sell the school.

Department spokesperson Pat Kgomo said the reason for closing the school was that Eastman was charging a high rent . "We are moving the pupils to a new school until we get a permanent solution."