Court orders restoration of clubs’ electricity

RICHARDS Bay sport and recreation clubs are cautiously upbeat after their electricity supply was restored on Thursday.

Attorneys for both the Richards Bay Ski Boat Club (RBSBC) and Zululand Yacht Club (ZYC) immediately filed applications last Monday when the City of uMhlathuze cut electricity to the clubs.

RBSBC on Thursday obtained an interim interdict preventing the municipality from cutting the power supply in the future, while ZYC received its interdict on Friday.

While the clubs are happy that the power is restored, they await the possibility of the municipality opposing the interdict.

‘The municipality should stop harassing the Richards Bay sport clubs, which are major assets to the City of uMhlathuze,’ said Lucas Landman, Director at Bothas Incorporated, and attorney acting on behalf of ZYC.

‘The municipality should instead concentrate on its primary function of service delivery, including the fixing of potholes and filling of the open trenches in Empangeni CBD.’

Despite both RBSBC and ZYC’s electricity being restored on Thursday afternoon after only RBSBC’s application had been heard, ZYC went ahead with its application on Friday morning.

‘We are happy that the power is back on, and we still feel that we have a strong case, but for now we will wait to see what happens at the hearing on 12 November,’ said ZYC Commodore, Wayne Bird.

‘Despite all of this, we would still love to sit down and negotiate with the municipality.’

The municipality has until 26 October to oppose the interdict.

Ward councillor for the affected clubs, Christo Botha, said he had in December urged council to allow the clubs to submit presentations ‘in an effort to reach an amicable agreement of the extension of the clubs’ leases’.

‘They instead opted for a hard line approach and this decision set in motion a series of legal consequences,’ said Botha.

‘Legal fees are running into the hundreds of thousands of rand, with the taxpayer taking the brunt.’

The municipality was not forthcoming with a response.

Despite all of this, we would still love to sit down and negotiate with the municipality