One of the favourite tricks of the parties desperate to see the River Club redevelopment go ahead is to portray opposition to the development as wanting to preserve the golf course that was on the site.

Let’s be clear about some facts here:

1.       The entity known as the River Club was established in 1993 on the basis of a long-term development lease.

2.       The proprietors of the River Club at the time were the Liesbeek Leisure Club (Pty) Ltd who managed the property on a long-lease of 75 years.

3.       Initially, it was used primarily as a golf driving range along with a bar, restaurant and conference centre.

4.       These uses were considered “non-conforming” but were regularised by the City of Cape Town in May 2001.

5.       In 2002, the Liesbeek Leisure Club (Pty) Ltd sought and secured permission to build a 9-hole mashie golf course which started operating in 2003.

6.       The consent uses for the operations of the River Club (zoned Open Space) were approved by the City of Cape Town and no other authority.

7.       After the Liesbeek Leisure Club (Pty) Ltd bought the property in 2015, it sold the property on almost immediately to the Liesbeek Leisure Property Trust (LLPT) who are the current owners and developers.

8.       Of the four directors of the former Liesbeek Leisure Club (Pty) Ltd, two are now Trustees of the LLPT, comprising two out of the five LLPT directors. Three of the five LLPT trustees also serve as directors in Zenprop. 

So, the desire to see a golf course on the River Club site is entirely that of the Liesbeek Leisure Club (Pty) Ltd and the LLPT continued to run the golf course after the sale of the land. No community members were asked or sought to establish a golf course, nor were Khoi indigenous leaders asked about the significance of the land whilst these property transactions took place. In fact, when the Ministerial Appeal Tribunal on the Provisional Protection of the River Club conducted a site visit in 2018 at the site, the LLPT did not suspend any golfing activities on site. As can be seen in the image above, the delegation therefore had to conduct their inspection of the intangible heritage of the Open Riverine valley with  the indignity of evading golf balls whizzing around.

And just so we are 100% clear, this arrangement for use as a Golf Course was only possible because it was the City of Cape Town that approved consent use as a golf course outside of the existing Zoning at the time. It did not ask any Khoi leaders about the importance of the land. No Civic asked for a golf course.

For Mayor Plato to imply, therefore, that opponents of the development want to retain a golf course is cynical manipulation of the highest degree. It is his administration that approved a private entrepreneur’s efforts, which he now seeks to blame on Civic, Khoi and environmental activists seeking to hold Mayor Plato to account for his invalid decisions.

It is clear that the road to justice will require a lot of speaking truth to power. This City Administration is not interested in hearing the truth, only in retaining and rewarding power.

We will be in court on November 24 and 25 to challenge the irregular and incorrect decisions by the City of Cape Town and the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning.

To achieve justice for the campaign, we need your financial support to pursue this court challenge. Please consider assisting us with the legal fees. You can contribute at our fundraising site or directly via EFT here.

Make the Liesbeek matter!