Amazon HQ build halted

ECONOMICS CANNOT OVERRIDE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE Cape court orders stop to construction in Observatory.

An interdict has been granted to temporarily halt the construction of Amazon Africa’s headquarters in Observatory, Cape Town. The Western Cape High Court in Cape Town’s Judge Patricia Goliath said in her judgment last Friday, the rights of the Khoi and San people to culture and heritage was under threat if the development went ahead.

The Observatory Civic Association

and the Goringhaicona Khoi Khoin Indigenous Traditional Council argued the construction would cause irreparable harm to the groups’ heritage.

Last April, the City of Cape Town gave the go-ahead to privately held Liesbeek Leisure Properties Trust (LLPT) for a R4 billion 150 000m2 mixed-use development at River Club in Observatory for the Amazon Africa headquarters.

River Club currently features a golf course, offices, conference facilities, restaurants and a parking lot and is near the Black River.

The city argued the development would “significantly” improve the land and provide a more efficient use of it. The construction would solidify heritage commemoration, environmental rehabilitation, residential accommodation, including affordable housing, a multimillion-rand public road network and the creation of thousands of jobs.

Building plans have a total construction investment value of R2.2 billion, with R1 billion to be added by August.

Goliath questioned the relevancy of the developers’ claim to suffer financial losses, saying they were fully aware of the risks involved in developing the site.

The benefits outlined by the city were also dismissed by Goliath, who said the matter concerned the rights of indigenous people, a factor no economic perks could override.

The consultation process with first nations people was found to be “wholly inadequate”.

She said LLPT consultant Rudewaan Arendse’s reports exacerbated a divisive scenario and meaningful engagement and proper consultation had fallen flat.

Amazon may continue with work on the site with meaningful engagement with first nations people and a final determination on the validity of rezoning and environmental authorisation.

The Liesbeek Action Campaign said in a statement Goliath’s ruling had confirmed the “urgency of heritage grading” of River Club.

The site had been “abused” by developers, with public officials’ “collusion” over the living heritage “associated with the most significant precolonial landscape in the country”.

The organisation plans to demonstrate in a high court review why the decisions for permitting construction at River Club were wrong in the first place. –