The KwaZulu-Natal department of education will be relocating a school in Umzimkhulu, in southern KZN, after a tombstone was erected in one of the classrooms.

Pupils at Mthwane Senior Secondary made the discovery when they returned for the 2020 academic year last week.

According to Daily News a woman, whom they did not name, claimed that her grandfather was buried on the land and that she had informed the department that the grave was there. The woman said her grandfather was given the farm land in  the 1960s.

There are also other graves at the school. “We have been informed that there was someone who erected a tombstone inside a classroom. It looks to us that there is a family dispute with regards to who owns the land,” said education spokesperson Kwazi Mthethwa.

Mthethwa told TimesLIVE that the school, with about 400 pupils, would be moved to land that had been donated by a local chief.

“There is work that has already started and I can confirm to you that we have provided mobile classrooms, now we are just finalising other supporting structures such as toilets and sanitation.

“In less than a week from now the school will be up and running, and teaching and learning will continue as normal,” he said.