Municipality threatens Virginia airport tenants with eviction

ETHEKWINI Municipality has warned tenants at Virginia Airport that if they refuse to move out to make way for the site’s redevelopment, it will approach the court to have them evicted.

There are about 20 tenants at the airport and the city said all were on a month-to-month lease.

Asked what the city would do if the tenants refused to move as they had threatened, municipal spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said it would, “approach the courts for eviction, none of the tenants has valid leases, they are all on a month-to-month basis”.

The eThekwini council resolved last month to approve a proposal to redevelop the site and for bidders to approach the city with possible plans. The municipality wants to use the prime land to attract investment that will create a new rates base.

The proposal has come under fire from the DA and the tenants.

Some tenants have vowed not to move unless a new, suitable airport site was found. Recently, they met to form a committee that will tackle the issue.

Darryl Mann, owner of Aero Natal, one of the operators at the site, said they were considering all options, including taking the matter to court.

“We are not going anywhere,” he told The Mercury recently.

He said it was not true that many of the operators had agreed to move.

“That is not a true claim by the municipality, it was based on the claim that this was said during public consultation meetings, and I tell you now, there have been no public meetings, zero.

“They claimed that there were no objections, we don’t even know who we can object to” he said.

He said while the city said they were only paying what they termed “occupational damage”, it was in effect, rent.

“Yes we pay something called occupational damage, a term that is not in any dictionary and was coined by the municipality, but that occupational damage is the equivalent of rent, I pay R90 000 a month,” he said.

Mann said they would not go anywhere until the municipality directed them to a new, equally suitable land.

“The municipality has the responsibility to provide for general aviation in the city of Durban,” he said.

Mayisela said the city was spending R5 million a year on the airport.

“None of them (tenants) has valid lease agreements; all the leases have expired and they remained in occupation on a month-to-month basis. Tenants that were up to date with their rental were given offers to enter into new leases. However, they either declined or did not respond to the offers from the municipality.

“Nine tenants have been handed over for recovery of unpaid rental. They owe the municipality in excess of R3 million,” he said.