Camps Bay Bowling Club Evicted

https://www.atlanticsun.co.za/news/club-evicted-15717268

By

 SINAZO MKOKO

 June 28, 2018

It was with heavy hearts that members of the Camps Bay Bowling Club shut their doors this week.

Instead of celebrating their 100th year, all those who have called the club their home for so long came together for one last time to reminisce about the place where they found fun and friendship.

The bowling club lost a long battle with the City of Cape Town to have its lease renewed. The City plans to rezone the piece of land for educational purposes, particularly for the expansion of the neighbouring Camps Bay Primary School’s preparatory campus.

On Saturday June 23, social members, league bowlers and young and old community members gathered at the club for the last day.

The club had been part of the community for almost a century, functioning not only as a bowling club but also as a venue for community functions, including fund-raisers, and sports activities such as bridge games for women, dancing, karate and gym classes for youngsters.

Lynne Gotchalk, a member of the bridge group, which hosted meetings at the bowling club once a week, said the women were sad to see the situation come to this end.

She said they believed in progress, however, they wished the space was shared with the school so everyone could be happy.

She said they did not understand why the City was taking away an existing asset for the community and replacing it with a 10-year lease and uncertainty thereafter.

A dance teacher who had been using the club for over 22 years, Edwin de Waal, said he was hoping that the school would facilitate the sports activities because the space would be vacant and Camps Bay has no community centre.

“My clientele are people from Camps Bay up to Hout Bay and this club has helped me develop SA and Western province dance champions in the past years and I truly believe that I’m servicing the community,” he said.

At the gathering on Saturday evening, members of the community expressed heartache and grief that an amicable solution could not be reached in the matter. They said this was not only a loss for the club, but for the community as a whole. They said the club shared an emblem with all the Camps Bay schools.

“The (former now) elderly students of Camps Bay schools came to this club and had their lunch here when they celebrated their 100th anniversary,” said Quinton Brand who had dedicated his life to running the club, calling it a “labour of love for the community.”

Greg Coulstock, who was born and bred in Camps Bay, and was now an active social member of the club, said he had wonderful memories.

He said he spent most Saturday evenings watching sports with his late dad at the club. He said this was where they would even bump into old school teachers and catch up after years.

“My dad was a member here for a very long time and even when he passed away, after the church service, the community gathered here and reached out in sympathy and showed us support,” said Mr Coulstock.

The oldest couple in the club, Patrick and Virginia O’Connor, said this was their social hub, as they spent time at the club every Saturday and were now worried that when the club closed, they wouldn’t have a connection with the community anymore.

“This will change social habits of many people in here and I don’t know where we are going to go now to socialise,” said Mr O’Connor.

A tourist from England, Lord Anthony Carrol, who often visited the club when he travelled to South Africa, said he was told that the club was closing down this weekend and he flew down specially to be with his friends on the last day. He said he had met great people and made great friendships thanks to the club.

Mr Carrol recalled the first time he walked into the club, he felt welcomed and told the members that he’d come back.

“I’ve travelled to different places such as Paris, Scotland, Portugal, but I couldn’t go back to these countries and say I’ve got friends, but here I’ve met real friends and I’m devastated by this and I feel sorry for my friends in here and believe that nothing will ever be the same again,” he said.

The City’s mayoral committee member for assets and facilities management, Stuart Diamond, said the club was to vacate the premises on Monday June 25 and City’s Property Management Department was in the process of finalising the lease agreement with the Provincial Government of the Western Cape.

MyCiTi bus driver hailed a hero

From left, are Steve and Sharon Russak, Siphelo Maqubela and mayoral committee member for transport and urban development, Brett Herron at the hand- over of a certificate of gratitude to Sipelo Maqubela on Wednesday June 20.

MyCiTi bus driver Siphelo Maqubela is Sea Point resident Sharon Russak’s hero for finding and returning her purse which contained her jewellery, including her diamond wedding ring and earrings, as well as cash, credit cards, her driver’s licence and her identity document.

Ms Russak had accidentally dropped her purse when she got out of her car on Main Road, Sea Point around 5pm on Monday June 11. Mr Maqubela, who was on duty driving the 108 route from Hout Bay along Sea Point Main Road to the CBD, noticed the purse lying on the ground next to a parked car and decided to stop the bus and pick it up.

“I didn’t open the purse immediately, I continued with my route and when I eventually opened it and saw the jewellery, I actually became scared and knew I had to return it to the owner,” said Mr Maqubela.

Mr Maqubela said he does not have Facebook so he asked one of his passengers to try and find the owner on Facebook using her name from the ID.

The passenger then messaged her via Facebook to let her know that her purse had been found and she needed to contact Mr Maqubela.

Ms Russak at the time had not realised that her purse was gone. “After my appointment, I saw a Facebook message to please contact someone with regard to my purse. At first I thought maybe I was somehow pick-pocketed because how could a bus driver have my purse,” she said.

Ms Russak’s husband Steve then made contact with Mr Maqubela and they arranged to meet each other at the MyCiTi bus stop in Camps Bay, as Mr Maqubela was making his way back to Hout Bay.

“He returned the full contents of my purse but, most importantly my diamond wedding ring, another ring and valuable earrings, which are of sentimental value to me. Siphelo, thank you, thank you and bless you for your honesty,” said Ms Russak.

On Wednesday June 20, mayoral committee member for transport and urban development, Councillor Brett Herron, handed over a certificate of gratitude to Mr Maqubela at the Civic Centre MyCiTi station. At the handover, Ms Russak said her husband was initially upset when he heard that she had lost her purse because it contained her wedding ring.

The couple have been married for 23 years laughed when Mr Maqubela jokingly told them he saved their marriage. “I like to help people. I always ensure that I return people’s belongings to them. Our passengers need to… know they can trust us,” he said.

By Atlantic Sun
https://www.atlanticsun.co.za/news/myciti-bus-driver-hailed-a-hero-15717277

Court rules against City - 96 Camps Bay Drive

https://www.atlanticsun.co.za/news/court-rules-against-city-15572071

Brett Herron. Picture: Jason Boud/African News Agency (ANA)

The Western Cape High Court has ruled in favour of the application by the Camps Bay and Clifton Ratepayers’ Association (CBCRA) to have reviewed and set aside, a decision by the City to remove title deed restrictions applicable to 96 Camps Bay Drive and approve plans for a block of four apartments.

In his report, delivered at a public meeting of the CBCRA on May 7, chairperson Chris Willemse, explained that the erf was zoned GR2, which allowed for multiple dwellings and taller buildings. The title deed restrictions, however, did not allow for this type of development.

Mr Willemse explained that in 2015 existing legislation had changed, with the enactment of the Spatial and Land Use Management Act (SPLUMA) at national level, Land Use Planning Act (LUPA) at provincial level and the Municipal Planning By-Law (MPB) at local level.

The Removal of Restrictions Act was repealed and planning decisions at local level devolved upon a Municipal Planning Tribunal (MPT). Mr Willemse accused the City, its planners and those in private practice, of exploiting the situation by entertaining applications that removed all relevant title deed restrictions from the deed, allowing single dwellings to be converted into multiple units.

The argument from the City and the MPT was that all case law protecting property rights fell away with the new laws and that they had total discretionary powers in deciding such matters. CBCRA disagreed.

Mr Willemse said the MPT had rejected all the objections from the CBCRA and surrounding neighbours, and approved the development. The CBCRA then lodged an appeal with Mayor Patricia de Lille, but she dismissed their appeal in July last year.

“By this stage, inexplicably, the developer was already busy with construction on site,” said Mr Willemse.

It was then that the CBCRA filed an application before the Western Cape High Court to review and set aside the MPT’s decision, the City’s dismissal of the appeal and the planning approval, on November 18 last year. This initial application by the CBCRA for an urgent interdict was set down for November 22, but was postponed at the request of the developer.

The matter was heard by the High Court on Monday June 18, with Judge Siraj Desai ruling in CBCRA’s favour.

Mr Willemse said the City had submitted to the court that the CBCRA should pay the City’s costs, on the basis that the CBCRA had insisted that the matter be heard rather than being settled, but the counsel for the City could not explain why it had failed to file its notice to abide by the decision of the court until late April 2018.

The City was ordered to pay CBCRA’s costs incurred in bringing the application and the developer, Schaefer Partnership, was ordered to pay its own costs.

“In our opinion, this is damning of the conduct of the City, as, usually, costs are borne jointly and severally by all parties on the losing side. It has been established by the court that the City is entirely responsible for the whole mess. Will they hold anyone accountable or will they simply continue with business as usual?” asked Mr Willemse.

The City’s mayoral committee member for transport and urban development, Brett Herron said: “All parties involved in this matter agreed that this decision should be set aside and the City notes the order relating to costs.”

The director of the Schaefer Partnership, Friedrich Schaefer, declined to comment on the matter.

Sinazo Mkoko

_____________________________________________________________________________

NOTES FROM AN INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS WILLEMSE

In the Western Cape High Court this morning, 19 June 2018, Mr Justice Siraj Desai found in favour of the CBCRA’s application to have the decision by the City of Cape Town, to remove title deed restrictions applicable to 96 Camps Bay Drive and approve plans for a block of 4 apartments, reviewed and set aside. Therefore the current construction on this site is without approved plans and construction must cease.

The Judge further ordered that the City pay the legal costs of the CBCRA and that the developer, the Schaefer Partnership of Camps Bay, pay its own costs.
This costs order goes to the degree of culpability of the City in its deficient planning approval process - something that the CBCRA has complained of for many years and which the DA-led administration simply ignores.

Some questions posted to Chris Willemse, chair of the CBCRA, from Sinazo Mkoko, Reporter - Atlantic Sun:

1. The matter was first heard in court on May 28, 2018 and the ruling was delivered today the 18th of June?

- No, the matter was heard and decided on the same day. Judge Desai was not interested in hearing argument in the matter as it was common cause that the City’s application and planning approval process was fatally flawed. He only wanted to settle the issue of costs. The initial application by the CBCRA for an urgent interdict was set down for 22 Nov 2017 but postponed at the request of the developer. By agreement, the postponed case would then be heard in late February as an expedited review case, with certain guarantees put in place that would not allow the developer to claim prejudice for work completed after this date, if the review was successful. This might sound quite mundane, but developers always claim that they have suffered severe prejudice of the cost of completed work if their plans are set aside at a later date. In any event, due to the unavailability of a judge and then other legal delays, the matter came before the court yesterday.

2. The application was filed after the MPT rejected objections from CBCRA and the Association appealed to the City's mayor which was declined?

- Yes. The MPT decided in favour of the application on 6 Dec 2016 and the CBCRA subsequently appealed this decision to the Executive Mayor of Cape Town. After an incredible initial mismanagement of the appeal process, the mayor dismissed the CBCRA appeal in late July 2017. By this stage, inexplicably, the developer was already busy with construction on site.

3. Please assist with the exact dates when this application was filed?

- After initial representations to the developer, and appeals to the City, were rebuffed, the CBCRA filed its application for the review and setting aside of the MPT’s decision, the Mayor’s dismissal of the appeal and the planning approval before the WC High Court on 18 Nov 2017, for an urgent hearing on the 22 Nov 2017.

4.  Reading through your report at the last public meeting, you were confident that you were going to win this case?

- Of course, it is never wise to first-guess the outcome of any case involving planning matters. However, the City planners had made so many fundamental procedural errors in the processing of the application - all in favour of the developer - and shown what the CBCRA considered incredible bias against the community in dealing with the application, that it did seem very likely that the court would grant the relief sought by the CBCRA. I must also add here that Ms Lana Stacey, an affected neighbour, took the responsibility of standing up for her rights and joined the application as a co-applicant. The CBCRA is indeed very grateful for her support and willingness to be involved in a matter that affects all ratepayers in Camps Bay - and, by implication, the ratepayers of Cape Town.

5. I understand you're briefing the association about the ruling today, how are the members taking it?

- Obviously, the members that have been briefed are both satisfied with the ruling and relieved that this is over. That the City is happy to force its ratepayers into continuous litigation to defend their rights is iniquitous.

6. Also, do you have an online link to the exact ruling by Judge Desai?  It would be great to quote him.

- Three points to bear in mind:
The City will, in all likelihood, claim that this was just a minor technical oversight and that the review was based on a narrow procedural point. They would then be ignoring the voluminous set of papers citing chapter and verse of the shortcomings and bias of the City planners, which the City has refused to argue against in open court.
Then there are the merits of the case and the fact that this DA-led administration is quite content to expropriate citizens rights without compensation or agreement. Restrictive title deed conditions have been held by all divisions of the high Court of South Africa as praedial servitudinal rights and are, in effect, real property rights.
So it is quite bizarre that the political party, the DA, fighting all others against the introduction of EWC in the country, is completely in favour of such expropriation when it suits its agenda of development at any/all costs in the city of Cape Town!

Public Safety & Security Meeting 5 June 2019

PUBLIC SAFETY & SECURITY MEETING 5 June 2018 @ 18h30 at The Rotunda (Bay Hotel)    Play YOUR role in Shaping Camps Bay’s Crime Solutions Topics Include: •  Vagrancy & Criminal Street Gangs – 20 min •  Car Guards vs Paid-for-Parking – 15 min •  Alien Vegetation / Bush Clearance – 10 min •  Crime Update, Analysis & Ops Feedback – 20 min •  CID / SRA / SLA – 20 min ATTEND – BE INFORMED – MAKE A DIFFERENCE   Thank you for your much-needed support - hope to see you all there Yours in Community Policing Bernard Schäfer 083 3003 380 Chair : Camps Bay Community Police Forum Ops. Commander: CB Community Safety & Security Chair : Cape Town Cluster Community Police Board

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