On 1 December 2011 the respondents in the present appeal, the Governing Body of Hoërskool Fochville, as the first applicant, and Hoërskool Fochville, as the second (collectively referred to as the School) approached the Gauteng Local Division of the High Court, Johannesburg for relief in two parts.

Under Part A, an urgent interim order was sought interdicting, what for convenience may be described as the relevant authorities,[1] from admitting or directing the principal of the School to admit any additional learners (the additional learners) for the 2012 academic year. Under Part B, an order was sought, inter alia, reviewing and setting aside the admission, by or at the instance of the relevant authorities, of any additional learners in circumstances where such admission would result in the total number of learners admitted exceeding the capacity of the School as determined in its admission policy. Although no relief was sought against them, each of the parents or guardians of the additional learners were cited as the further respondents ‘by virtue of an interest that they or their minor children whom they represent, might have in the outcome of the application’.