Key Takeaways:
- A private fitness operator, Hansen Elite Wellness, has been found to have unlawfully deprived a Kimberley school of access to its own training facility.
- The Northern Cape High Court has ordered Hansen Elite Wellness to restore the school’s free use of the gym every weekday afternoon.
- The court also ordered Hansen Elite Wellness to pay the school’s legal costs.
- The ruling follows a long-running turf war between the school and Hansen Elite Wellness over control of the gym.
- The school had long enjoyed undisturbed use of the gym, and the court found that Hansen Elite Wellness had acted unilaterally and wrongfully in blocking the school’s access.
Introduction to the Case
The Northern Cape High Court has ruled in favor of a Kimberley school in a long-running dispute over control of the school’s gym. The court found that Hansen Elite Wellness, a private fitness operator, had unlawfully deprived the school of access to its own training facility. The ruling follows months of warring between the school and Hansen Elite Wellness, which started when the company’s director, Helgard Hansen, told the school’s rugby coaches that pupils would no longer be allowed into the gym unless he granted "permission".
Background to the Dispute
The dispute centers on a gym facility known as the NHC Muscle Jungle, which is located on a portion of land that has been used by Northern Cape High School for sport for many years. The property was originally owned by the Kimberley Pirates Club, but it became the subject of litigation in 2008 involving the club, the Sol Plaatje Municipality, the school, and its governing body. The dispute was eventually settled, with the municipality becoming the registered owner of the property, but granting the school’s Adnitor Trust undisturbed use of a defined section of the sports ground. The school argues that this included the ground on which the gym is located, which was converted from a bus-parking shed using funds from the National Lotteries Commission and parent donations.
The School’s Version of Events
The school claims that pupils routinely used the gym long before Hansen Elite Wellness became involved. In 2020, the school’s rugby coordinator, Zandré Swartz, arranged with Hansen, who was then working as a personal trainer at Virgin Active Kimberley, to help train some of the school’s teams after hours. The school argues that this was never a lease, and that Hansen did not control access to the building. However, by late 2024, the relationship between the school and Hansen Elite Wellness had deteriorated sharply, with Hansen telling the school that he had concluded a lease with the Adnitor Trust, giving his company rights to the gym.
Hansen’s Version of Events
Hansen, however, tells a different story. He claims that he was involved in transforming the old bus shed into a gym in 2020, alongside two school employees who ran the non-profit Northerns Rugby Academy. He says that he provided equipment, sourced donors, and had always exercised exclusive control over the gym, locking up every night and opening each morning, and allowing access only to those who arranged it with him. He also insists that any use of the gym by school teams was part of a 2020 agreement, later confirmed in 2021, under which coaches had to contract directly with him for training services.
The Court’s Ruling
The court ultimately found in favor of the school, ruling that Hansen Elite Wellness had unlawfully deprived the school of access to its own training facility. The court found that the school had long enjoyed undisturbed use of the gym, and that Hansen Elite Wellness had acted unilaterally and wrongfully in blocking the school’s access. The court ordered that the school be restored to its normal weekday training slot from 3pm to 5pm, and that Hansen Elite Wellness pay the school’s legal costs.
Implications of the Ruling
The ruling has significant implications for the school and its students, who will once again have access to the gym for their training sessions. The ruling also sets a precedent for similar disputes over control of school facilities, emphasizing the importance of respecting the rights of schools to use their own facilities. The court’s decision is a victory for the school, which had argued that Hansen Elite Wellness had overstepped its bounds in attempting to control access to the gym. The ruling is also a reminder that private companies cannot unilaterally dictate the terms of their use of school facilities, and that schools have a right to protect their interests and ensure that their facilities are used for the benefit of their students.