Cape Town - Following a growing number of objections, the City met with representatives of Primrose Cricket Club in Claremont and has confirmed that a section of the land used by the club is to be withdrawn from its upcoming auction.
The property is one of 18 to be auctioned off during a live and virtual property auction by the High Street Auction Company on Thursday at the Cape Town Stadium.
The properties are located in areas of Claremont, the Strand, Mitchells Plain, Blue Downs, Belhar, Kleinvlei, Durbanville, Atlantis Industrial, and include a heritage site in Newlands.
“The City can confirm that the mayor met with the Primrose Sports Club and that processes have been initiated for the property to be withdrawn from auction to allow for further consideration of the matter,” the City said.
On Friday, the City said it was still awaiting a formal expression of interest from the national Housing Development Agency (HDA), regarding any of the properties.
Last week, the City said it had invited the HDA to express a formal interest in a 13 000m2 property in Eastridge, Mitchells Plain, due to be auctioned for mixed-use development by the private sector.
Prior to the mayor’s visit, the Primrose Cricket Club had kick-started a campaign objecting to the sale of the section of the land used by the club, located at 7 College Road, Kenilworth.
“Dating back more than 60 years, the erven advertised for sale formed part of the Rosmead Sports complex and is used for various sports and club activities. The portion of the erven in question is only accessible from the main sports field.
“Due to the lack of municipal grounds available in the area, the fields are also used by neighbouring schools for athletics, as well as their weekday cricket and rugby games,” Primrose Cricket Club secretary Mickaeel Collier said.
“Primrose members informed the mayor that we are not averse to development but that the public participation process was flawed, and the lack of engagement with the club as a stakeholder prejudiced the club and its members.”
Leader of the opposition, ANC MPL Cameron Dugmore had earlier called for the suspension of the auction to allow for a “thorough and transparent assessment” of all 18 properties, and their potential use for social housing in historically white areas.
“It is clear to us that the choice of properties is not guided by a policy rooted in the need for socio-economic redress, as required by our Constitution. It is ad hoc and in some cases developer-driven.
“We cannot allow valuable public land to be sold off to the highest bidder, while there are such massive demands for housing and land redistribution,” Dugmore said.