The 10-year lease of public land granted to the King David Mowbray Golf Club has been subjected to a two-year cancellation clause as pushed by Ndifuna Ukwazi and approved by the City Council in March.
On Thursday 4 April, Ndifuna Ukwazi, the activist organisation and law centre, on Facebook stated: “Last week, the City of Cape Town extended the King David Mowbray Golf Club’s lease for another 10 years.
“However, there is now a two-year cancellation clause so that the lease can be ended early to enable this high-potential piece of public land to be turned into a mixed-income, mixed-use development.”
Ndifuna Ukwazi argued that the cancellation clause and further commitment to develop the site inclusively “are a major victory, and come after years of activist pressure to put this public land to more just, efficient and sustainable use”.
They also claimed that the site is measured at 49,5 hectares, which they equate to a small suburb or 49 rugby fields.
“It could be used to transform the lives of hundreds of families while providing genuine public space and a range of amenities that do not require exorbitant membership fees to access.”
Ward 53 councillor Riad Davids was approached on the matter. He confirmed that the lease for 10 years with a two-year revisionary clause was approved by the council on Wednesday 27 March.
He continued that the process going forward is to determine what is the most appropriate to be built on this land.
“The land is waterlogged, a wetland in places, and was a former dump site. There are also no bulk underground services like water, sewerage and electricity. That is why the City needs to do a proper investigation to determine the costs, which then speak to the type, scale and scope of a future development.
“We do not want to end up with a R50 million stadium that is a sand pit and a small metal stand or build houses that collapse, crack or flood,” Davids concluded.
Mayco member for human settlements responds
Mayco member for human settlements Carl Pophaim explained that the golf club lease’s “timeframe, and importantly the introduction of a new two-year cancellation clause, follow the City identifying the site, or portions thereof, for mixed-use development in a pre-feasibility study”.
He motivated the proposed lease period and cancellation clause enabled secure use of the site and saved costs while the City plans for substantial infrastructure upgrades to enable future mixed-use development.
This includes road network improvements, electrical and wastewater treatment infrastructure and investigations into the feasibility of social housing.
“The City has been intentional in its spatial development frameworks about the future use and development of the golf course in line with the strategic intent of the administration.”
He explained the cancellation clause is a technical action that allows alignment with pre-feasibility work on the desired usage of the site. “Of course, these decisions by the City will be claimed by various individuals or entities as their success…
“The fact, however, remains that the City has been unambiguous in its affordable housing agenda across the city for many years and will continue to accelerate the great pioneering work we have been doing until now.”
Last year, Pophaim argued, the City made significant progress and released land for more than 2 200 social housing units across seven land parcels. Thousands of new opportunities are currently in the pipeline.
“The City is aiming in future to become more of an enabler of opportunities than the sole provider. Programmes must be based on greater partnerships and more land parcels must be unlocked for human settlements; this includes the large pieces of well-located national government land.”
The City estimates that 100 000 social housing opportunities are possible at sites such as Wingfield, Youngsfield, Ysterplaat and the Parliamentary Village.
The release of these national mega-properties for housing would make a huge difference given the sheer scale of the well-located military land compared to the very limited land with housing potential owned by the City and the Western Cape government close to the urban centres.
“Importantly, the City has made available 32 666 m² for social housing in the past five years. Work continues,” he concluded.
Media enquiries sent to the King David Mowbray Golf Club and Ndifuna Ukwazi respectively were not answered by the time going to print.
