Cape Town – Further arguments on the protection of the Two Rivers Urban Park (Trup) precinct will be heard next month.
This after the Ministerial Independent Tribunal convened to hear oral submissions on appeals lodged by the City and two provincial departments - the Department of Transport and Public Works, and the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning - and the Liesbeek Leisure Properties Trust regarding Heritage Western Cape’s (HWC) decision to provisionally protect the Trup area.
This is the floodplain and river banks at the convergence of the Black and Liesbeek rivers below Observatory where the River Club Golf Course lies.
Faced with an application for development from the Liesbeek Leisure Properties Trust, owners of the River Club in Observatory, HWC resolved to provisionally protect the property from development.
Activists have slammed the City and provincial departments’ challenge, saying this was the site of a 100-year-old floodplain where three rivers converge, and apart from accommodating seasonal migrating birds and indigenous flora and fauna, it is also the cremation ground of the early Quena (Otentottu) people.
Members of the public, civil society and the provincial ANC picketed outside the hearing last week, calling for the HWC decision to be upheld.
The spokesperson for Cultural Affairs and Sport MEC Anroux Marais, Stacy McLean, said various interested parties, representing different communities, were in attendance.
The matter was postponed to November 27 at 10am to hear further arguments.
“A site inspection date will be determined at the next hearing. After the inspection the tribunal will draft its ruling, which will be communicated to all the parties through the secretariat of the Ministerial Independent Appeal Tribunal,” McLean said.
The ANC in the Western Cape said it attended the picket in support of the submissions by members and leaders of the Khoisan community, including Captain JC Witbooi, national leader of the Witbooi Traditional Council; Prince J Titus, chairperson of the Western Cape House of N!!ne; and Chief Melvin Arendse, national chairperson of the Kai !Korana Transfrontier.
“The River Club is in an area with significant heritage and environmental significance. The Heritage Baseline Assessment concluded that the entire Trup site itself could be regarded as being of outstanding historical, symbolic, scenic and amenity value.
“In our view, HWC has come to the correct view that the property is threatened and that an investigation is warranted for the protection of this heritage resource,” said the ANC.