The Goringhaicona Khoi Khoin Indigenous Traditional Council and the Observatory Civic Association have served contempt of court papers on the property developers of the facility that was to house Amazon’s Africa headquarters.
The Liesbeek Leisure Property Trust (LLPT) and its five trustees were served with the contempt of court papers for allegedly refusing to abide by judge president Patricia Goliath’s decision to interdict construction of the R4.6 billion River Club re-development in Observatory, Cape Town.
This, after a court interdict filed by the organisers of the Liesbeek Action Campaign halted the construction of the 15-hectare parcel of land, expected to house large commercial businesses, with US retail giant Amazon as its anchor tenant.
Despite the interdict, construction at the River Club had continued, according to the plaintiffs.
In the months-long legal battle, members of the Liesbeek Action Campaign, which include indigenous groups and environmentalists, have expressed concern that the construction on the floodplain between the Black and Liesbeek rivers would lead to the land losing its historical significance and result in increased risk of flooding and environmental exploitation.
They also alleged illegal construction procedures were followed by LLPT without the approval of all parties involved, in an attempt to hasten the building of the site.
“The LLPT’s rationale for disregarding the interdict is not plausible. They have argued that because they submitted an appeal to the Supreme Court on 31 May 2022, the fact that they have appealed automatically suspends the interdict,” according to a statement released by the Observatory Civic Association and the Goringhaicona Khoi Khoin Indigenous Traditional Council.
“This argument is incorrect, since the section 18.1 of the Superior Courts Act on which they rely applies only to final orders (meaning an order that brings a case to finality). It does not apply to interim orders and the interdict issued by Judge Goliath is clearly an interim order.”
The High Court rejected LLPT’s appeal on 5 May 2022. This was followed by a second appeal.
On 27 June, the LLPT announced on its social media sites that it was resuming construction on site, noting it believes the appeal suspended the interdict.
“This phase of work will result in 380 construction workers coming back to work and earning an income again, pending the final determination of the applications for leave to appeal the judgement and orders handed down by Western Cape deputy judge president Goliath. Those applications suspend the operation and effect of the judgement and orders,” said the LLPT in the statement.
However, the indigenous group points out that Section 18.2 of the Superior Courts Act expressly notes that interim orders are not appealable.
“There is no court that has agreed with the developers that the 18 March interdict is of final effect, nor that the interdict is subject to the provisions of the Superior Courts Act regarding appealability.
“The LLPT will learn that this site is not their playground to do as they wish. It is a ground zero site that is sacred to indigenous people and should be a heritage park that recognises it as a cultural landscape of infinite possibility from which reconciliation and restitution should flow.”
The matter is expected to be heard tomorrow.
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