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Hilton College, one of South Africa’s most respected and exclusive private schools, could lose its land following a land claim.
Hilton College was founded in 1872 by magistrate Gould Lucas and teacher and cleric William Newnham as a Christian boys’ school.
Lucas worked as a magistrate in Ladysmith in KwaZulu-Natal, where he assisted Newnham in founding a school.
However, after he purchased a tract of mist-belt grassland above Pietermaritzburg, the pair created Hilton College at its current location.
The stretch of land Lucas bought, which became Hilton College’s grounds, was a farm called Ongegund, established by pioneering Voortrekkers.
In 1849, Johanna Grobbelaar, widow of the original owner, sold Ongegund to a young Englishman, Joseph Henderson.
Later, in 1857, Henderson and his wife renamed the farm Hilton, after Hilton Hall in Staffordshire, England.
In 1871, Lucas purchased a part of the Hilton farm from the Hendersons on which Hilton College could be founded.
Hilton College was officially opened on 29 January 1872. The first 50 pupils were housed in dormitories built near the stables.
The original farmhouse was enlarged to serve as the main school building. At first, the school was little more than two thatched bungalows.
However, a double-storey block was built, with the upper storey dubbed ‘The Lords’ and the lower ‘The Commons’.
From this modest nucleus, Hilton grew, with buildings being constructed, playing fields levelled and avenues planted. Initially, the school was leased from Lucas.
Newnham’s successor as Hilton’s headmaster, Henry Vaughan Ellis, bought the school grounds. In 1903, they passed into the hands of the old boys, where they remained.
Over the last 153 years, Hilton College has become a world-class school offering exceptional education to its students.
The school produced numerous exceptional sportsmen, justices, business leaders, politicians, and generals.
Well-known Hilton alumni include Springboks Bobby Skinstad and Gary Teichmann, Microsoft executive Paul Maritz, and politician Tim Harris.
Land claim against Hilton College
The Hilton College grounds are subject to a land claim by a group that claims it was forcefully removed from the area.
The land claim is over two decades old. However, in 2005, Inkosi Sikholwa Zuma’s land claim was rejected after the regional commissioner deemed it frivolous and vexatious.
On 21 February 2025, the Land Court of South Africa judge M.T. Ncube set aside a 2005 decision by the KwaZulu-Natal regional land claims commissioner.
“The decision was irrational and cannot stand. An administrative decision must be rational,” Ncube ruled.
He said the Regional Land Claims Commissioner (RLCC) made a decision based on a poor, contradictory and senseless validation report prepared by Mdunjana.
“Other officials and the RLCC herself simply rubber-stamped the report without actually checking it for correctness,” he ruled.
“Had they properly applied their minds to the validation report, they would have discovered that the report was self-contradictory and did not make sense.”
He added that the ruling was absurd as Inkosi Sikholwa Zuma’s claim was based on racial removals and not tribal jurisdiction, which was the reason for the dismissal.
The matter has now been given to the KwaZulu-Natal regional land claims commissioner for reconsideration.
It urged the commissioner to use the reports by the JL Dube Institute and the report compiled by Babhekile Mpisana dated 15 January 2016.
The JL Dube Institute of the University of Kwazulu-Natal recommended that the RLCC accept the Nxamalala claim as valid.
The RLCC accepted the claim and published it in the Government Gazette dated 18 March 2016.
source:Top South African private school could lose its land – BusinessTech
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