{"id":856642,"date":"2026-04-12T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=856642"},"modified":"2026-04-12T20:48:52","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T18:48:52","slug":"south-african-primary-school-teacher-who-turned-r240000-into-a-r7-2-billion-empire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/856642\/south-african-primary-school-teacher-who-turned-r240000-into-a-r7-2-billion-empire\/","title":{"rendered":"South African primary school teacher who turned R240,000 into a R7.2 billion empire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dr Chris van der Merwe started Curro with his R240,000 severance package as a teacher at the time, which has now been sold to a billionaire\u2019s foundation for R7.2 billion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van der Merwe grew up in Goodwood, Cape Town, where his single mother raised him after his father died when he was just three years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After completing his teacher training, he pursued a master\u2019s degree and graduated in 1992. He began his teaching career at Fanie Theron Primary School, but he soon wanted more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the approval of the Inspector of Education, he started a company that developed electronic learning modules as substitutes for textbooks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The venture wasn\u2019t profitable but taught him vital business lessons, which included how to manage cash flow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He then completed his doctorate at Stellenbosch University. His research focused on what educational institutions needed to compete globally.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After earning his PhD, he applied for a senior position at the Western Cape Department of Education, but was unsuccessful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI sat with my wife, Stephanie, and we decided that the only way I would live out my dreams was by starting our own school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1998, at the age of 37 and working as a deputy principal, he resigned, using his R240,000 severance package to launch a new chapter in his life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 15 July that year, the first Curro school opened its doors with just 28 pupils in church-leased premises in Durbanville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though he had no formal business training, Van der Merwe took responsibility for Curro\u2019s financial planning and business model during its formative years, while his partners focused on academics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first four Curro schools were established in Durbanville, Langebaan, Silver Lakes, and Roodeplaat, and required significant financing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van der Merwe often approached banks, using personal assets as collateral to secure loans. However, this wasn’t enough to generate the amount of money he needed to expand the group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Billionaire foundation buys Curro for R7.2 billion <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A turning point came when Curro started working with PSG Group, particularly its founder, Jannie Mouton. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PSG bought 50% of Curro and brought in a team of chartered accountants who shared critical business insights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curro was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE)\u2019s Alternative Exchange in June 2011, with a market cap of R400 million. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A year later, with 12,000 students across 19 campuses, it moved to the Main Board. \u201cI supported listing because it gave us access to more capital,\u201d Van der Merwe explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curro has grown exponentially. Today, it is South Africa\u2019s largest independent school network with 189 schools across 81 campuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In August last year, the South African billionaire Jannie Mouton Foundation, which has a long-standing history with Curro, announced<\/a> that it would buy the group for R7.2 billion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trust\u2019s vision is to position Curro as an ever-evolving independent education institution that uses its funds to build more schools, expand facilities and offer bursaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor the foundation, acquiring Curro represents a game-changing donation in quality education,\u201d said Jan Mouton, a trustee of the Foundation and Jannie Mouton\u2019s oldest son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that the acquisition was quite possibly the largest philanthropic contribution South Africa has ever seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver time, this will open the door for thousands more children to attend Curro schools through bursaries, broadening access to excellent education.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of 2025, Curro announced<\/a> to shareholders that all suspensive conditions for takeover by billionaire Jannie Mouton\u2019s Foundation had been met, making the deal unconditional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commission recommended that the transaction be approved, subject to undertakings that the new organisation will make a substantial positive contribution to education. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes providing greater access to historically disadvantaged persons (HDPs) in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through the deal, the Foundation provided existing shareholders with a minor cash consideration, as well as shares in Capitec and PSG Financial Services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The completion of the deal marked the end of Curro as a publicly traded private school group. It delisted from the JSE on 13 January 2026 and moved forward as a bona fide public benefit organisation (PBO).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Some photos of Curro schools<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A teacher started a private school group with his R240,000 severance package, which was later sold to a billionaire\u2019s foundation for R7.2 billion.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":856679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[22842,8043,25168],"class_list":["post-856642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-chris-van-der-merwe","tag-curro","tag-jannie-mouton-foundation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=856642"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":856892,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856642\/revisions\/856892"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/856679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=856642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=856642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=856642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}