(Photo: Harlequins Rugby Club/Facebook)
The DA has seriously requested the Tshwane metro to urgently complete the rezoning application of the historic Harlequins sports club in Groenkloof.
The club is currently in a predicament, after the metro suddenly stuck an official stick in front of its activities.
According to Cilliers Brink, the DA’s mayoral candidate in Tshwane, it is unacceptable that the city has not yet made a final decision on the club’s land use.
“The rugby club was founded in Pretoria in the early 1900s and has since become a cultural beacon in the city. Over the years, it has played an important role in the development of young rugby players. This includes players from local townships in Pretoria such as Mamelodi.”
The club bought the Groenkloof property from the Pretoria municipality in the 1990s, but due to a historical anomaly the land use on the property was designated as “agriculture” and parts of it as “indeterminate”.
Brink says that despite the club’s efforts to correct these administrative errors on its own initiative, the city council has been dragging its feet with the paperwork for years now.
“In 2021, the club took steps to rectify the matter and applied to the city to upgrade the zoning of the property. Several years later, the city has yet to finalize the rezoning application, including the outcome of the objections heard.
“One of the complaints about the proposed rezoning stems from confusion about the meaning of ‘rehabilitation’ – the intention of the club is to facilitate sports rehabilitation, not ‘drug rehabilitation’,” says Brink.
Shaun Wilkinson, the DA ward councilor for Groenkloof, advised the executive committee and the management of the club on the options they have to ensure they comply with the city’s land use bylaws.
“While the matter is ongoing, an infringement notice was recently issued to the club by the Tshwane Metro requesting it to cease all activities as a club.
“In the meantime, it’s only fair that the city expedites the hearing of the long-delayed zoning application. It’s not as if Harlequins recently came to set up shop here – the property has been used as a club for decades.”
Brink says the zeal and drive with which Tshwane wants to enforce land use bylaws on Harlequins must match the efficiency of the process that enables property owners to comply with the provisions of the bylaws.
He emphasized that the city’s action elsewhere would definitely be more urgently needed, something that is clearly lacking at present.
“There is a clear double standard: in other parts of the city, even conspicuous violations of land use are accepted. One example is the nightclub that is still operated opposite the residences of the University of Pretoria.”