Rietvlei Zoo Farm in hot water
City to take legal action against alleged illegal building at Rietvlei Zoo Farm.
ACCORDING to a press release issued by Cllr Leah Knott, MMC for Economic Development, City of Johannesburg, numerous building control and environmental transgressions have allegedly taken place at the Rietvlei Zoo Farm.
Rietvlei Zoo Farm in the South of Joburg, is a substantial property that was originally used by the City Zoo as an animal rehabilitation centre. A portion of the property is also a wetland, while another portion contained a memorial site which was protected by the City’s heritage policy.
When the City Zoo decided to relocate their animal rehabilitation centre to Parys, the property was put out to lease as it was a substantial green space that was ideal for camping and other nature orientated activities.
It was determined that the lease to manage the property on behalf of the City, would be awarded to a local property company.
Negotiations broke down and no lease agreement was signed. It is alleged that the property company had engaged in illegal sub-letting and it is accused of having facilitated the construction of numerous illegal buildings that have no authorised building plans.
Further to this, a driving range has been built on the wetland and the memorial has been destroyed to make way for what the press release describes as ‘additional illegal construction.’
An operation has now been launched to address the issue. Entities involved are the Joburg Property Company and Building Development Management, Development Planning, GDARD and Environmental Health. A planned eviction order application was confirmed as part of the action plan.
The CHRONICLE spoke to Toni Mackrell, Rietvlei Zoo Farm Executive Manager, and she advised she wasn’t able to give any comment before she has sought legal advice.
More information will follow.
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