Tenants kicked out of Athlone Stadium due to legal tangle

A DELAY in implementing the Safety at Sports and Recreational Events Act resulted in tenants at Athlone Stadium being “evacuated”.

The City of Cape Town, which won a court case against five tenants at the stadium, said the act, which is national legislation, was promulgated in 2010, but was never implemented by the government until 2017. Now the city is forced to do maintenance and general repairs at the facility or it will lose its grading certificate.

Executive director for Economic Opportunities and Asset Management Kelcy le Keur said the maintenance and repairs were scheduled to be completed by August 15.

“The Safety at Sports and Recreational Events Act means municipalities had to implement the new legislation and make sure that facilities were now compliant in terms of the act. Therefore, we now find ourselves in this situation to ensure compliance,” she said.

But this is of little solace to the tenants who have accused the city of “locking” them out of the stadium and shutting down the facility. Five of the 16 tenants at the stadium launched an urgent interdict in the Western Cape High Court last week to prevent the city from forcing them out of the stadium, but the court ruled in favour of the city. The tenants have been renting the suites on the third floor of the east wing of the stadium and paying rent as per an agreement with the previous management team.

Spokesperson for the tenants Achmat

Bennett Bailey

Williams said the tenants had been paying rent of R1 500 per month, but the city said they paid rent of R2 500.

“The suites were standing empty after the 2010 Soccer World Cup. We sent notices to evacuate the premises and it was our understanding that we would be allowed back once the maintenance and repairs were completed but this doesn’t appear to be the case any longer,” said Williams.

The tenants were given until June 19 to vacate the suites and, when negotiations with the city reached a stalemate, the tenants sought relief from the court but lost in their bid. There seems to be differing opinions on alternative accommodation for the tenants, with the city claiming that it had made arrangements for new premises, but this had been denied by Williams.

SA Football Association (Safa) Cape Town president Bennett Bailey said the “evacuation” notices from the city led to the postponement of the popular Coca-Cola Cup as organisers had to urgently find an alternative venue.

“100 000 children were meant to take part in the tournament. The city doesn’t have any idea of what to do with the facilities. We have had many major events at Athlone Stadium and safety was never an issue. The stadium was supposed to be our R500 million legacy and now our youngsters cannot even use the facility,” said Bailey.

He agreed with Williams that the “evacuation” notices appear to be a permanent move and at this stage it does not look like the tenants will ever return to the stadium. Three occupants have decided to vacate the premises while others have advised the city of their intention to vacate.

Le Keur said the space occupied in the east wing remains non-compliant, which is in contravention of the National Building Regulations and the City of Cape Town by-law relating to Community Fire Safety.

“Contrary to what has been perpetuated in the media, the city has continually and actively been engaging since November with the affected parties to meet the necessary compliance issues in order to ensure the continual operation of the stadium. Since November 2018, the city held numerous engagements and shared regular communication with the occupants (all of which are well documented), notifying them of the contraventions and the remedial action needed to comply with the relevant legislation. The implications of the non-compliance (the shutting down of the stadium) and the impact on the broader community was highlighted in every engagement with all the occupants. The refusal of a few occupants to comply has led to the shut-down of the facility on June 20, 2019,” she said.

The city doesn’t have any idea of what to do with the facilities SAFA CAPE TOWN PRESIDENT

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