The public has until Monday June 5 to comment on a proposal to renew the King David Mowbray Golf Club’s lease albeit with a clause that signals the City’s intention to allow social housing on the site.
The City has proposed a 10-year lease renewal but has added a clause that allows early termination with two years’ notice.
A City study last year found portions of the site suitable for a mixed-use development.
At a council meeting last month, mayoral committee member for economic growth James Vos said such a development would include social housing.
The golf club will be responsible for the estimated R6 million annual maintenance and security cost of the property, aside from the R10 000 per annum golf tariff applicable to all courses on City land for the 2023/24 financial year.
The new cancellation clause would allow the site to still be used while the City planned the municipal infrastructure upgrades needed for future development, Mr Vos said.
“The proposed lease period enables secure use of the site and saves costs while the City plans for substantial infrastructure upgrades to enable future mixed-use development, including road network improvements, electrical and waste water treatment infrastructure.
“These development planning and infrastructure processes will take some time, hence the proposed 10-year lease period and the new two-year cancellation clause. In this way, the City is making clear our intent for the future,” he said.
ACDP councillor Deidre de Vos welcomed the item on the agenda and noted the City’s intention to use the site for future development.
“We propose that the land be prioritised for mixed-use and affordable housing, that the planning process be fast tracked, and that funds from the French Development Bank be used for the required upgrading of the municipal service infrastructure. We also propose that the clause dealing with the cancellation be amended to five-years, which would shorten the roll-out timeline,” she said.
ANC councillor Lwazi Phakade rejected the lease-renewal proposal, saying it would delay the already prolonged process of building affordable housing for the poor.
“As we have indicated before, we would like to see this land being used for affordable housing. When looking at the housing backlog, how can we, as a city, agree to use such spaces for golf courses,” he said.
Activist group Ndifuna Ukwazi welcomed the City’s intention to develop the public land for affordable homes, saying the site, which is the size of about 49 rugby fields, had the potential to turn a city shaped by apartheid into a more just home for all.
In 2020, Ndifuna Ukwazi and Reclaim the City presented the City with 1 600 objections to the land being used for golf instead of affordable housing. Following this, the City abandoned the lease renewal, which then expired on December 31, 2020.
Ndifuna Ukwazi researcher Nick Budlender said the difference between the 2020 lease renewal and now was that the City had made clear its intention to build affordable housing on part of the land.
“While we welcome this significant shift in the City’s approach to how prime public land is used, we will be watching carefully to ensure that the development of the site happens, that it is done with urgency, and that it maximises both the amount of affordable homes as well as the deep down reach,” he said.
“We’ve seen many commitments in the past from all spheres of government that do not translate to affordable homes on the ground. We need these commitments on paper to translate into bricks on the ground.”
The golf club’s manager, Darrell Williams, said the City had agreed to continue working with the clubs on the way forward.
“We will be consulted on any developments related to the site. Nothing has been cast in stone. All golf-course land is being looked at, and, at this stage, nothing firm has been agreed to with regard to the future of KDM.”
Mr Williams said the need for approval from the City manager to deviate from the normal tender process had delayed the signing of the lease back in 2020.
“Council is still to confirm whether this will affect the timing on the signing of the (latest) lease, but, at this stage, it should not, and we appear to be on track for lease signing around the end of July.
“In order to better understand the golfing landscape in the Western Cape, the mayoral committee are currently in consultation with GolfRSA. They are requesting additional information with regard to the economic and social impact of golf in the province, and we will be engaging with the relevant role players to ensure that we are well represented in this forum,“ he said.
