The Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) has put the Old Parkhurst Bowls and Soccer Club out to tender.
The tender was issued on the JPC’s website on August 29 with a deadline for submission on October 28.
Ward 117 councillor Tim Truluck said this was the fourth time JPC had put the property out to tender.
In an email sent by JPC to Truluck, it stated, ‘The permanent closure and long-term lease of Portions 246 and 247 were approved at council on November 29, 2012, as item 15 on the agenda. We regret to inform you that we are unable to allocate Portions 246 and 247 of the Farm Braamfontein 53 IR [ Parkhurst Bowls/Soccer Club] to the Department of Community Development.
‘Due to the above, it is suggested that the user department identify an alternative portion of land and forward the same to us to process.’
Addressing some of the issues of the neglected property, the chairperson of the Parkhurst Residents and Business Owners Association, Mike Rosholt claimed when the club stopped operating as a bowls club, the City of Johannesburg had done very little to try to change its purpose or find partners to take it over.
He added the effect of this neglect by the municipality was clear to see with the property overgrown, the erection of informal dwellings by displaced people and the clubhouse stripped of most of its fittings.
“Residents of lower Parkhurst have been victims of break-ins and burglaries as a result of their proximity to this neglected and lawless property. Not to mention the enormous and continuous flood of litter that the current inhabitants unleash on the area and the much-neglected Braamfontein Spruit in particular.”
Rosholt said his association, Truluck, and other civic bodies have tried to compel the municipality for years to sell the property or at least maintain and secure it, all to no avail.
“It is imperative that the city, under its new administration, work meaningfully with councillors, ratepayers and residents associations to identify and rehabilitate the many city properties that have fallen into such terrible states. We have to reclaim our neglected public spaces in a new spirit of civic cooperation,” concluded Rosholt.
The Department of Community Development and JPC had been contacted by the Gazette but both said they were unable to give comment on the club due to it being a complex issue.
Details: To view the tender on the Johannesburg Property Company site
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