A lengthy legal battle by the Observatory Civic Association (OCA) to stop the construction of the River Club development ended with an out-of-court settlement.
Last week, the City of Cape Town accepted a settlement offer by the OCA for the final termination of all legal action concerning the development.
READ | Observatory association ‘disappointed’ over River Club development ruling
In terms of the settlement, the OCA will contribute to the legal costs of the City. This came after the High Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) ordered the OCA to pay the City’s legal costs.
The case started in August 2021, when the OCA challenged the development, arguing along with Tauriq Jenkins who said he was representing the Goringhaicona Khoi Khoin Indigenous Traditional Council (GKKITC) at the time, that the site is sacred indigenous land.
In March last year, Western Cape Deputy Judge President Patricia Goliath ruled in favour of the OCA ordering that the R4,5 billion development which will house Amazon’s African headquarters, be paused and that the developers engage with all affected parties.
The GKKITC later applied for a rescission of the judgment and claimed that Jenkins had no authority to act in its name, or that of other First Nations groups.
Construction paused for a short period but went ahead despite the pending legal battles.
In a dramatic turn of events, Goliath’s order was revoked in November last year by the Western Cape High Court with a finding that the decision “was induced by fraud”.
Leslie London, chair of the OCA, says they are disappointed by the outcome.
“Officially we will withdraw litigation and we will not engage in any litigation on the River Club matter. It is not a decision that was reached easily. We are disappointed. At this point, we will continue to say that we believe that the development was not appropriate and not properly authorised, but we will not litigate it.”
London says the court’s decision to award costs against was “an extremely bad decision.”
“We had a huge amount of litigation to cope with and we didn’t have the finances to pursue the main case adequately and also had the cost order against us. We decided that we would make an offer that the City and others have accepted,
“We have made a small contribution to cost on an early commitment to a deposit.
“The respondents have agreed to waive the large bulk of the cost in exchange for us withdrawing from any litigation.”
London says they are grateful for all the support they received from various groups and organisations.
“It’s been a battle. We have raised quite a lot of money by donations whereas the respondents have ample money. We struggled to get funding so most of our funding was donations. If we got decent funding the story would be very different.
“Justice in SA shouldn’t be a function of what you can buy but sadly our justice system hasn’t solved that problem yet,” says London.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis says: “The City is pleased with this outcome and the clear message it conveys – that the City will always vigorously defend planning decisions taken correctly, and will act to protect Cape Town’s reputation as a leading global investment destination.”
