Pirates Sports Club issued with lease cancellation from Johannesburg Property Company

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.

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. 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 is 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 do not believe that they are subletting the property since Pikitup has 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 will be cancelled be revoked.

In August, WastePreneurs received a letter from JPC stating that Pirates’ lease is cancelled and the property will 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 believes the greatest consequences will be for the recyclers who will be forced to walk an additional 10km to exchange their recyclable materials for compensation.

A statement from MMC councillor Leah Knott 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.”

The statement said, “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 the statement.

UPDATE:

Hanson responded to the comments from JPC 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,” said Hanson.

Rosebank Killarney Gazette is in possession of documents confirming that the lease was cancelled.

Related articles:

WATCH: 10km walk in support of the waste-pickers in Greenside

REMINDER: Waste pickers from Greenside to embark on solidarity walk TODAY