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Category: Liesbeek River Project
Amazon Cape Town headquarters fight turns personal
Steve Kretzmann – 15 October 2022 A bitter battle is playing out in the Western Cape High Court over who can speak for a First Nations tribe in the controversial R4.6 billion Amazon development in Cape Town. The development, at the confluence of the Black and Liesbeek Rivers where Khoi people were first dispossessed of…
The River Club redevelopment – the case is still ongoing
Dear Obs residents You may well have read about the withdrawal of our attorneys from the High Court review of the River Club redevelopment and what you have read is probably not accurate or is frankly misinformation. I am attaching a press release from the Liesbeek Action Campaign to clarify the situation. It is true…
No urgency to stop River Club development, rules court
Construction of the controversial multi-billion rand development at the River Club in Observatory continues despite legal challenges. This is how it looked on Friday 23 September 2022. Photo: Ashraf Hendricks/GroundUp Steve Kretzmann – 28 September 2022 Construction of the controversial multi-billion rand development at the River Club in Observatory continues despite legal challenges to…
River Club opposition subject to faceless smear campaign
Steve Kretzmann – 28 September 2022 Anonymous pamphlets and a website are being used in an apparent attempt to hijack the Observatory Civic Association in order to smother litigation against the controversial River Club development. Thousands of full-colour pamphlets were distributed door-to-door in Observatory on three different occasions in September. Each drop involved a different…
Update from our Chair
Dear Obs residents Just a quick update on the River Club campaign – The developers continue to pour concrete on site in violation of the interdict issued by Judge Goliath on 18th March. The OCA and GKKITC have submitted papers to hold them in contempt of court. The matter was meant to be heard last…
River Club property developers continue construction despite interim interdict
Sheree Bega – 15 July 2022 The strategy of the Liesbeek Leisure Properties Trust (LLPT) to forge ahead with construction in the controversial R4.6-billion redevelopment of the River Club site in Observatory, Cape Town, is an “attempt to build themselves into an impregnable position despite the law”. This is the contention of the Observatory Civic…
Protest against the River Club building that is in violation of the Interim Interdict
Dear Observatory residents, As you know, the Liesbeek Leisure Property Trust have elected to ignore Judge Goliath’s historic ruling on the River Club development, by recommencing construction work at the River Club. The OCA and the Goringhaicona Khoi Khoin Indigenous Traditional Council lodged contempt of court papers today against the LLPT on the basis that…
The battle for history and a river — the Liesbeek and the River Club site
Lalou Meltzer – 7 July 2022 It is significant that the early colonial history of the Cape has again become a battleground of ideas. Clearly, history is not dead — moribund rather are those interpretations that succumb to old relations of power and don’t look to nurturing a more resilient future. A case in point…
The River Club development — when the letter of the law clashes with ecological wisdom
Cormac Cullinan – 7 July 2022 The River Club development in Cape Town illustrates how developments that keep us on an unviable trajectory continue to be authorised. Even applying to court to review those decisions doesn’t solve the problem because courts will only intervene to stop unlawful decisions, not unwise ones. The Liesbeek Leisure Park…