116-year-old golf course in South Africa’s best-run city could be shut down
The King David Mowbray Golf Club in Cape Town could see its land redeveloped, potentially forcing it to close its doors.
The 116-year-old club is located near the Cape Town suburb of Pinelands, the first garden city in Africa, and was originally founded in 1910 as the Mowbray Golf Club.
In 1956, the King David Golf Club was founded in Matroosfontein, on an area of land adjacent to the Cape Town International Airport.
The two clubs merged in 2016 due to financial difficulties and formed the King David Mowbray Golf Club on the original Mowbray Golf Club grounds.
Now, 10 years after the club was saved from closing, it is under threat from a new mixed development proposed by the City of Cape Town.
The King David Mowbray Precinct has been proposed as a mixed-use, high-density development across 74 hectares of land in Pinelands, including the Golf Club and adjacent areas.
This development proposal includes 6,700 new residential units, more than half of the current housing units in Pinelands, as well as additional space for commercial and light industrial use.
The proposal has been strongly opposed by the Pinelands Ratepayers and Residents Association, with chairperson Desray Britz describing the scale as “astonishing”.
“The development of both the Pinelands sections and the neighbouring sections will likely exacerbate what is already difficult traffic congestion for both Pinelands and surrounds,” 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.”
The City’s Spatial Planning and Urban Design Department first identified the land as holding potential for a mixed-use infill development in 2015, before the two golf clubs merged.
A pre-feasibility assessment was carried out in 2022, while stakeholder engagements and public participation processes on the development have been underway since November 2024.
Recreational loss a huge blow for the area
The potential loss of recreational sporting space could be detrimental to the residents of Pinelands and its surrounding areas.
While the opposing parties understand the need for more residential space amidst the City’s housing crisis, they believe the benefit gained from this would be far outweighed by the value lost.
King David Mowbray Golf Club chairperson Mike Flax said there are many more appropriate pieces of land for this development, which would also not require billions of rands in civil works.
“This is not, and has never been, just about a golf club,” Flax said. “It is about whether the City is making rational decisions with a very valuable public asset.”
“Apart from being 116 years old, KDM is one of the most diverse and inclusive golf clubs in the country and is the only viable home of the South African Disabled Golf Association.”
Aside from the golf club, the Clyde Pinelands Football Club’s land has also been earmarked as part of the development proposal.
Situated just across the Elsieskraal Canal from the golf club, the 128-year-old football club was first established in 1898.
The club’s chairperson, Viren Jagarnath, has been similarly opposed to the development of the precinct, as it threatens the club’s future.
“We are the oldest non-amalgamated football club in South Africa and part of the social fabric of the area,” Jagarnath said. “Our fields support youth development, grassroots sport, and community participation.”
“People from every background come together here. Once a space like this is gone, or reduced to a single field, it is gone forever.”
The three organisations have 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.
The proposal has been opened for public comment, with the opposing parties urging Pinelands residents and stakeholders to review the proposal and submit comments before the 6 July cutoff date.
Images of King David Mowbray Golf Club
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