Johannesburg Property Company issues Pirates Sports Club with lease cancellation

One of the oldest sports clubs in the country, Pirates Club, is on shaky ground with the Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) after receiving a cancellation of their lease agreement, Rosebank Killarney Gazette reports.

The cancellation was issued as a result of the club allowing WastePreneurs to operate on the property. WastePreneurs currently operates under Adopt-A-Project and ADreach from Victory Road in Greenside on the property of Pirates Club, alongside Pikitup.

Chair of the Pirates Club Lloyde Hanson said that in 2015, ADreach approached Pirates Club as part of an agreement with the Joburg council to be involved with the Jozi@Work Project to assist recyclers who needed to find a site in the area to offload their materials from the suburbs.

ALSO READ: Waste pickers to be moved to formal recycling sites

According to Hanson, the closest alternative for the recyclers was a site in Newtown, which is a long distance from the space where these recyclers collect materials.

Hanson agreed to allow the WastePreneurs to set up a site at the club for free in 2016 because of a clause in the club’s lease agreement stating that the property is leased to the lessee for the provision of sports and recreation activities, among other things, including community service projects.

Hanson said that the club did not ask for permission for the club to offer this space to WastePreneurs since their work was a community service.

“We are not here as a club to take from the community. We take community service and charitable work very seriously.”

In June last year, Pirates received a notice from the Joburg Property Company (JPC) to remove the WastePreneurs from the property within 30 days, failing which the lease would be cancelled.

Hanson sent a letter back to the JPC stating that they did not believe that they were subletting the property since Pikitup had been there similarly, with no issue.

According to Hanson, JPC did not engage in due process before issuing Pirates with the notice.

Since then, there have been many engagements with the City’s MMC for economic development, Leah Knott, but to no avail.

In April this year, Pirates received a confirmation notice from JPC stating that their lease was cancelled last year.

In June, Pirates sent a letter to JPC stating that they would regrettably remove WastePreneurs within 90 days on condition that the letter from JPC stating that their lease would be cancelled.

In August, WastePreneurs received a letter from JPC stating that Pirates’ lease was cancelled and the property would soon go out to tender.

Hanson said: “If we were in breach of a by-law, we would be happy to comply, but we were not in breach of our lease,” adding that he believed the greatest consequences would be for the recyclers who would be forced to walk an additional 10km to exchange their recyclable materials for compensation.

The strategic advisor to Knott, Nicholas Botha, said: “The club is not being evicted. The City is in talks with them on resolving a contractual issue, which is between the two parties.

“We have scheduled a meeting to discuss their project and how it aligns with the City’s plans to support and manage reclaimers.”

Head of marketing and communications at JPC Zanele Mamba agreed with Botha’s statement.

Hanson responded to Botha’s comments saying: “JPC have in writing illegally (we contend) cancelled our lease and further advised that the property will be going to tender. So how do they arrive at the statement that the club is not being evicted? This is news to us.

“Further, are JPC saying the cancellation and tender process is on instruction from the City and they are not in agreement? Our meeting with both JPC and City officials suggest the opposite.”

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.