War over prominent 116-year-old golf club in South Africa’s best-run city

The City of Cape Town’s plans to build a high-density housing development on land including the King David Mowbray Golf Club have been met with stiff resistance. 

A petition to save the golf club has gathered more than 3,700 signatures, with fresh calls for the deadline for public comment to be extended beyond 6 July. 

Founded in 1910 as the Mowbray Golf Club, the course and amenities are located near the suburb of Pinelands in Cape Town. 

The club later merged with the King David Golf Club from Matroosfontein in 2016 due to financial difficulties. 

Under pressure from housing activists, the City of Cape Town has been on a drive to create more affordable and social housing closer to the CBD. 

These developments are typically mixed-use and target households earning between R1,850 and R22,000 per month. 

Notable efforts from the city include the construction of 970 apartments in Salt River, 375 rental units in Woodstock, and the R1 billion Leeuloop Precinct in the inner city. 

As part of this drive, the city has identified land in Pinelands that can be converted into affordable housing, including the King David Mowbray Golf Club. 

The city plans to build the mixed-use, high-density King David Mowbray Precinct on 74 hectares of land in Pinelands. 

The precinct is expected to have 6,700 new residential units, coupled with commercial and light industrial projects. 

However, the King David Mowbray Golf Club has said that key documents are still unavailable to the public despite the participation process nearing its end. 

The club expects key foundational documents regarding the development will only be made available on 20 June at the public open day. 

“Without access to these underlying materials, stakeholders are not in a sufficiently informed position to provide substantive and constructive input,” chairperson of the club Mike Flax said. 

“A fair and credible public participation process requires that all relevant information be made available well in advance, allowing adequate time for review.” 

This has resulted in legal representatives of King David Mowbray requesting an extension of the deadline for public participation to 7 August to ensure a fair process. 

The club said it had written to Infinity Environmental, which is the environmental management consultancy hired by the City of Cape Town to manage the participation process.

Public opposition mounts

While the club itself is pushing back against the city’s proposal, there is also significant opposition from the public. 

A local petition to save the club has received over 3,700 signatures, with individuals sharing deep concerns about the loss of the 116-year-old institution. 

Concerns include the loss of employment provided by the club and the destruction of urban green space, with Pinelands being designed as South Africa’s first ‘garden city’. 

There are also questions surrounding the loss of Clyde Pinelands Football Club, which is the oldest non-amalgamated football club in South Africa. 

Situated just across the Elsieskraal Canal from the golf club, the football club was first established in 1898.

Residents of Pinelands have also questioned whether existing infrastructure will be able to cope with the additional strain placed on it by the new development. 

“The City is proposing a high-density mixed-use development of 6,700 residential units and additional industrial and commercial spaces. 6,700 units are more than half of the current residential units in Pinelands,” said Flax.

Increasing the residential size of Pinelands by 50% will put immense strain on infrastructure, with it likely to require millions in investment to upgrade. 

“The scale of public engagement and the breadth of issues at stake make it clear that this is not a routine planning exercise. It is a matter of significant public interest requiring careful and well-informed deliberation,” said Flax.

The club and concerned residents have said they support the need to build affordable housing and recognise the city’s desire to make use of the land. 

However, they have argued that these objectives should not come at the cost of established community assets where alternatives exist. 

Apart from the club, the Pinelands Ratepayers and Residents Association has pushed back against the development. 

“The development of both the Pinelands sections and the neighbouring sections will likely exacerbate what is already difficult traffic congestion for both Pinelands and the surrounding areas,” Britz said.

“Unsustainable pressure will be placed on municipal services such as water and sewage. The proposal also contains only one school, which is woefully inadequate considering the region’s capacity issues.”

Organisations have also questioned the proposal’s suggestion of at least 30% “affordable” housing as opposed to “social”, concerned that this would benefit private developers more than the public.